Best time to go
Come in daylight, since reading the signs is the whole point of the stop. Morning or late afternoon light is softer on the open grass and easier for photographs of the mound and fence line.
Overview
About Mangum Mound
Why stop
- A rare sacred burial mound with a clear cultural story
Heads up
- Easy to mistake for an ordinary hill
This is a sacred American Indian burial site at milepost 45.7, shaped from a natural hill nearly 1,000 years ago and still sacred to American Indian tribes today. It is a short, quiet interpretive stop rather than a long outing, and the signs are what turn a low grassy rise into something worth a few minutes of your time.
Parkwolf’s verdictWhy stopMap
Where it is
Loading the Natchez Trace map
Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
Best time to go
4 active Natchez Trace alerts
- ClosureParkway sections closed for bridge and road constructionTwo Natchez Trace Parkway sections are closed to through traffic; follow the signed detours.Official details
- ClosureMount Locust historic stand closedThe historic stand at Mount Locust Inn & Plantation (MP 15.5) is closed because of structural concerns.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Natchez Trace Tour Guide
Your drive to Mangum Mound, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Natchez Trace Parkway. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Grindstone Ford and Mangum Mound0:00 / 0:26
“You're nearing the access road for Grindstone Ford and Mangum Mound. At the ford, a short, flat walk follows a sunken piece of the old Trace toward Bayou Pierre.”
Plays as you drive up to Mangum Mound in the Parkwolf Natchez Trace Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Figure on the Copper
- The Innkeeper at the Boundary
- Purple Rings on a Stem
- The Red Bird with Black Wings
- 272 audio storiesacross Natchez Trace’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor American Alligator, White-tailed Deer, Wild Turkey, and 9 more
- Works offlinemaps, 26 trails, 62 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
More about Mangum Mound
What you actually seeA low grassy mound behind a split-rail fence, with a wooden "Mangum Mound" sign and trees…
- A low grassy mound behind a split-rail fence, with a wooden "Mangum Mound" sign and trees around the clearing.
- Interpretive signs that explain the site's age and meaning.
- At first glance it looks much like an ordinary hill, and the whole site is walkable in a few minutes.
Cultural contextThe mound is associated with the Plaquemine culture, ancestral to modern tribes of Mississippi…
The mound is associated with the Plaquemine culture, ancestral to modern tribes of Mississippi and Louisiana, and belongs to a late-prehistoric world of farming and ceremony. Use of the mound is dated to roughly 1350 to 1500 CE. It takes its name from farmer Spurgeon Mangum, whose land included the site; early digging here reported human remains and two copper plates.
Respectful visitingThe mound is fenced, and it is not something to climb.
The mound is fenced, and it is not something to climb. View it from the designated area beside the fence and treat the ground as what it is, a burial place that remains sacred.
Practical accessThe site has a parking area with a reserved accessible parking sign, plus interpretive signage.
- The site has a parking area with a reserved accessible parking sign, plus interpretive signage.
- The access road passes under a bridge with only 11 ft 6 in clearance. Tall vehicles should not attempt it. Park instead in the Grindstone Ford parking lot, which shares the same Parkway exit, and walk the short distance along the access road.
- The turn and approach can feel a little awkward, so slow down early.
The honest drawbackThis is a modest stop.
This is a modest stop. There is no view from on top and no dramatic profile, and visitors who have seen the larger Emerald Mound often find the scale here small by comparison. Come for the meaning and the history, not for spectacle.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Natchez Trace
39 sightingsAmerican AlligatorMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
35 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
53 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
28 sightingsGreat Blue HeronMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
29 sightingsRed-headed WoodpeckerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
32 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around noonSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Natchez Trace. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
