My mother and I just finished walking the entire Trace, both ways. It took us about two months, walking once or twice a week, 2 or 3 hours at a time, for a total of 12 walks.

Now that we’re done, it’s hard to believe we walked almost 80 miles! We were wondering if anyone else had walked the whole trail. Although we met a lot of bikers, we only saw a few walkers along the way.

Anyway, for us it was a wonderful experience. It allowed us some much needed mother-daughter time together. We enjoyed our walks on the Trace, plus the project gave us something to talk about and look forward to. Mom posted a Trace map on her fridge with a magnetic pointer that she perma-marked “We are here”. Once we started tracking our progress on the map, completing the Trace turned into somewhat of a challenge to us both, and we could hardly wait until the next week to walk again.

People have asked us which parts of the Trace are the prettiest. We loved the pond near Epley, the streams between Carson and Parkman Road, and the long bridge near Prentiss.

These were our favorites, but really, it’s all very nice. The changing scenery along the way makes the entire Trace worth seeing - every mile of it.

Special thanks to all who made the trail possible, and to those who continue to maintain it. The Longleaf Trace is definitely something Mississippians can be proud of. I hope more people will take advantage of all it has to offer

Thanks,

June Owens

P.S. I’m including a brief summary of our walks, in case others would like to use it as a sample guide. Here’s the way we did it: