Emerald Mound, tucked just 10 miles northeast of Natchez along the Natchez Trace Parkway, is a jaw-dropping reminder of the Mississippian mound-builders, a sprawling earthen plateau rising about 35 feet and covering nearly eight acres, topped by two smaller mounds and once flanked by a ring of at least six more. Built between 1250 and 1600 C.E. by the Plaquemine culture, ancestors of the Natchez, it served as a major ceremonial and political hub where temples and elite residences once stood. The site was taken over and preserved by the National Park Service in the 1950s and is now a National Historic Landmark. Today visitors can walk the trail to the top and soak in the same commanding views that once overlooked rituals, gatherings, and a whole way of life.