The Crossroads — Highways 61 & 49

The sculpture itself is hard to miss — three blue guitars mounted on a pole at curbside, right where the old routes of US-61 and US-49 once crossed in downtown Clarksdale. The Mississippi Blues Trail marker here is officially designated as marker number 222 on the trail, and the three-guitar sculpture was created by local metalsmith Vic Barbieri. The intersection became locally known as "the crossroads" as far back as the 1930s, and a 1999 Mississippi state resolution formally proclaimed it the official location of the crossroads of blues lore.

The legend attached to this spot — that Robert Johnson traded his soul for guitar mastery — is folklore, not documented history, and the Mississippi Blues Trail marker treats it honestly as such. Multiple other locations across the Delta have been proposed as the "real" crossroads, and the broader story drew from much older crossroads mythology found across many cultures. What is documented is that this intersection sat at the heart of a historically rich blues community: Clarksdale served as a major center of Delta blues activity, and Johnson's 1936–1937 recordings, including "Cross Road Blues," helped cement the intersection's place in music history.

The stop itself requires almost no planning — the sculpture is accessible around the clock, right at street level on the route riders are already traveling on US-61. It's a brief pull-over, a look at the marker text, a photo, and then back on the Blues Highway heading north or south through the Delta.