Tuxachanie Trail De Soto NF Mississippi

Tuxachanie National Recreation Trail, a 11.9 mile hiking trail in the Desoto National Forest in southeast Mississippi

         The Tuxachanie National Recreation Trail, a 12-mile hiking trail in the De Soto National Forest north of Gulfport, MS, does not make a good first impression.  At least it doesn't when a hike starts at the western trail head off U.S 49.

        The thunder of car and tractor-trailer traffic from the highway washing over the trail is more than annoying and trumps any "wilderness experience" gained from exploring the small pond of water lilies just yards from trail head or viewing the brightly colored spring wildflowers there.  The sparse and straggly pine forest, not yet recovered from the destruction of Hurricane Katrina nearly ten years ago does nothing to enhance the broad, flat, straight-as-an-arrow trail--a former railroad grade.
         (The pond is well-known for its population of insect eating pitcher plants.)
          But soon, very soon, the vista from the trail begins to improve.   White diamond blazes suddenly veer to the south taking the trail over a low rutted ridge and east to a stretch of beech and magnolia hardwood forest flanking a small creek.  Coming just after the one-mile marker,this pretty grove offers deep shade, a good thing when the sun is out and the air is hot.
     The five miles or so of the trail from the western trailhead at US 49 to Airey Lake, is the most popular section of the trail.   Mile posts ever mile mark the distance.   From Airey Lake the path bends to the southeast for another 6.6 miles and deadends at the trail's eastern terminus at the POW Camp.  The total distance for the trail, one-way is 12 miles.

Trail was first blazed about 40 years ago

      The trail is out and back: there are no loops.  When the trail was first blazed in the early 1970's old-timers will remember it was 17-miles long and contained a loop at its eastern end.  But about five miles of the trail east of Tuxachainie Creek has been cut because of drainage problems.  This eliminated a loop leaves the total mileage at about 12 miles.
       Trailriders on horseback are often seen on Tuxachanie Trail east of Airey Lake.  Bicycling is not permitted on Tuxachanie Trail but you will probably see some anyway.
     In this bottomland hardwood forest about a mile from the trailhead on US 49 the traffic noise diminishes, overtaken by the sound of the wind rustling through the broad deep green leaves of the magnolias.  Near mile post two, a substantial iron bridge crosses over a larger creek.  The creek banks here offer plenty of space for a picnic or to sit with your "dawgs" dangling in the cool creek water.
     From here it is about three miles to the Airey Lake Recreation Area, (UTM R16 0302609E, 3396941N).  The trail is mostly straight or curves gently.  Long, shallow grades, up and down, deal with what little elevation change there is--about 30 to 40 feet separate the lowest creek bottom from the highest ridge.  This is not surprising.  From U.S. 49 to Airey Lake the trail follows an abandoned logging railroad built early 1900's using hand tools and mule-powered scoops.  Here the broad smooth path passes through an upland pine forest, recently scorched by a prescribed burn.  Between the ridges are pine savannas and wetlands where the lucky might find a wild orchard.  Spiky green palmettos dot the scorched black and brown forest floor.

        Only a few minutes drive from Gulf Coast population centers, Biloxi and Gulfport, the trail can get busy at times.  Most days you will see as many pairs of brightly colored, high-tech jogging shoes as old school hiking boots pounding the trail's hard packed natural clay surface.  Largely root and stob-free, the trail  is favored by the physically fit who, in groups or solo, use the trail for trail running or power hiking.  The trail is not wheelchair accessible.

Airey Lake has a small primitive campground, drinking water

     At Airey Lake there is a small, free, primitive campground.  It has water, pit toilets, picnic tables and there is a fishing lake.  Located on all-weather Airey Tower Rd,  hikers often camp there using it as a base for day hikes on the trail.  Camping is permitted most anywhere in the forest, and this section of De Soto is crisscrossed by dirt jeep trails and gravel roads maintained by the Forest Service. But you must camp away from the roads and the trails.  And you are not likely to find a site near water.  Be careful with fire, build only small fires, and pack all garbage out.  No alcohol is allowed in any De Soto NF campground.
     Shuttling vehicles back and forth between U.S. 49 and Airey Lake to eliminate having to hike back to the trailhead is a hassle. The shuttle is a long, roundabout drive and requires a map.  Even with a map it is easy to get lost.
     East of Airey Lake the trail bends south another 6.5 miles to end at the POW Camp near FS 402. Citing seepage problems with half of what used to be a loop trail back to Airey Lake, the Forest Service has now shortened the trail, eliminating half of the loop.
     The old P.O.W. camp, now the trail's eastern terminus, was used to house German prisoners of war during WWII.  You could camp here but there are no facilities and the area has a history of vandalism.  Also east of Airey Lake, are a number of horse trails and forest roads making staying on the trail difficult.
      The De Soto National Forest headquarters in Wiggins, MS, sells a brochure ($4) about the trail that includes info on the trail and a map of the trail in 1:24,000 scale (the scale of a USGS quad map).  However since the piece was printed in 1983, the trail has had minor revisions not reflected in the map.  A more recent map can be found at http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/southern/TuxachanieTrail/index.shtml.  This site also has lots of information about wildflowers found along the trail.
    The only drinking water on the trail is at the Airey Lake Recreation Area, so leave the trailhead with enough water and snacks for the entire time you plan to be hiking, especially in summer.  How much is enough?  At least two quarts.  Bug repellent, with DEET, is also recommended for hikers year-around.  There is a nearby mountain bike trail at Bethel.  A map of the Bethel bike trail can be found at the national forests of Mississippi web site. 

      When driving to the U.S. 49 trail head north from Gulfport, MS, watch carefully for the small (10 cars) parking lot.  It is just over a small hill and if you are not in the right lane and looking for it you will miss it.  The parking lot is about 17 miles north of the 110/U.S. 49 interchange in Gulfport, MS.

     For more information call the U.S. Forest Service in Wiggins, MS at 601-528-616.

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Busy New Orleans street popular with cyclists to be striped with bike lanes

This map shows the 1.5 mile section of Esplanade Ave. where one traffic lane will be striped a bike lane.

      A 1.5 mile stretch of Esplanade Ave, between Moss St. and N. Claiborne Ave., is trading two traffic lanes-one in each direction--for bike lanes..  The lane-restriping is the finishing touch on a street resurfacing project that will also see a section of City Park Ave., from Canal Blvd. to Orleans Ave., resurfaced, said the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development in a press release dated March 6, 2013.
     The project is scheduled to be completed in the summer of this year (2013).  No bicycle friendly improvements are in this project for this stretch of City Park Ave.
     The work is part of the Paths to Progress, a collaborative effort among the Federal Highway Administration, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, New Orleans Regional Planning Commission and City of New Orleans.  Contact them by phone, 1-800-574-7193, at paths2progress@gmail.com or www.pavinglaroads.com or www.facebook.com/paths2progress.
    
COMMENTARY
      
     Esplanade Ave. has long been used by bicyclists to connect Mid-City, City Park and Lakeview with the French Quarter and downtown.  Lined with leafy live oak trees and stately 19th century homes, the street sees a daily stream of riders--everything from hipsters riding with no hands on "fixies" to eco-tourists on single speed cruisers-- mixing it up with tour buses, school buses, delivery trucks and commuter traffic.
     But the two and a half miles from Bayou St. John at City Park to the French Quarter has often been a white-knuckle experience on a bicycle.  Striped for two narrow lanes of traffic in each direction and parallel parking, the 1.5 miles now being resurfaced had no room for a cyclist.  To avoid a sideswipe from a passing driver trying to squeeze by or being "doored" by a driver exiting a parked car cyclists often had to share a traffic lane with drivers who may or may not have been willing to share.  And the deteriorating road surface made it worse.  Luckily it was a quick trip for a speedy, fearless rider.
     The other option for the trip downtown, Canal St., is even riskier.  Wider by a lane but carrying heavier traffic, Canal St. is the main route for trucks and motorists into the CBD.  Once in downtown cyclists face a variety of risky car and streetcar intersections not to mention the hazard of the streetcar tracks themselves.  Definitely a ride limited to the experienced cyclist and the traffic-hardened bike-commuter.
     A third option, the paving of the path on the 3.1 mile Lafitte Greenway, is not slated to be ready to ride until 2014.
     The work resurfacing and re-striping Esplanade Ave. now underway, has made conditions for cyclists on the street more dangerous for the time being.  The street, reduced to one lane in each direction has meant increased competition between drivers and cyclists for the limited asphalt.  A detour on Desoto St., from Moss St. (along Bayou St. John) almost to Broad Ave. will offer some respite from the traffic on Esplanade Ave.  
     When the resurfacing work is complete this summer, conditions for cyclists on Esplanade Ave. should improve.  But cyclists will still have to  be careful, paying full attention to passing traffic and parked cars, just as they should do now.  Riders will have to be alert for car doors flung open from parked cars by drivers unaware of the new bike lane. Cyclists themselves may also become a hazard as novice riders are more likely to stop suddenly on the bike path than they are on a busy street.
     Esplanade Ave., from N. Claiborne to Decatur St. at the Mississippi River levee, a distance of about a mile, is not included in the bike lane plan.  This one-mile stretch is one-lane already.  The lane is just wide enough for cyclists to squeeze between the moving traffic at their left shoulder and the parallel parking on their right.  Parked cars should be watched carefully to try and anticipate an exiting driver opening a car door suddenly.  Have and use a rear view mirror.     
     Critics of the move to reduce Esplanade Ave. to one traffic lane and one bike lane say the loss of a traffic lane will increase congestion on the street and slow traffic as drivers get stuck behind tour buses that ply the avenue.  They also argue that the plan had already been decided upon before it was presented at public meetings.

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Gulf Islands National Seashore campgrounds could see hefty hike in fees

     The two campgrounds in Gulf Islands National Seashore-Davis Bayou near Ocean Springs, MS and Fort Pickens near Pensacola Beach, FL-could see camping site fees jump 50%, according to a press release from Dan Brown, Gulf Islands National Seashore superintendent.
     The current fee for camping at Fort Pickens, $20, would increase to $30 per night.  At Davis Bayou the current fee of $16 would increase to $26.  The camping fees at both campgrounds include electric and water hookups.  The press release did not say when the proposed higher fees, if approved, would take effect.
     Senior Pass (available to those over 62) and Access Pass holders would continue receive 50% off the campground fees, Brown said.
     Brown said the "proposed new rates would make the camping fees at Gulf Island National Seashore comparable with those of other camping facilities in the area to avoid unfair competition."
     The public is invited to comment on the proposed fee increase.  Comment should be submitted by March 25, 2013 either via email at GUIS_superintendent@nps.gov or regular mail to: Gulf Islands National Seashore, Attn: Fee Program, 1801 Gulf Breeze Pkwy, Gulf Breeze, FL 32563.
     By federal law, 80% of the camping and entrance fees are retained by the National Seashore and can be used to help repair, improve or replace visitor facilities.  Upcoming projects at Gulf Islands National Seashore include replacing the restrooms in the Fort Pickens campground, remodeling the Fort Pickens campground store, redesigning the entrance stations at Fort Pickens and Perdido Key to speed entry and reduce lines and installing solar panels on West Ship Island to provide clean and renewable energy for visitor facilities, Brown said.

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Chicot (LA) State Park Canoe Trail Map

This is a scan of the Chicot SP map of the canoe trail in the lake.  I have added where I think the back country primitive camping sites are but I am guessing about their location.

Canoe Camping in Chicot State Park (LA)

Paddlers from the Lafayette (LA) Paddle Club perform maintenance on canoe trail signs in Chicot State Park north of Ville Platte, LA.  They are from left; Mike VanEtten, Kathy Knierim and Thomas Junk.

      The eight-mile paddle trail in the swamp-like lake at Chicot State Park north of Ville Platte, LA is marked with signs.  The yellow, rectangular signs are nailed to towering tree trunks rising from the brown lake water and can be easily seen by paddlers floating amid the watery forest of bald cypress and tupelo gum trees that reach into the lake from the low wooded hills surrounding it.  The signs show where the designated camping sites are (there are six) and keep paddlers following the mapped trail on track.
     Without the signs, navigation on the 2,000-acre lake requires a GPS or map and compass skills to locate a destination because once on the water landmarks that were so distinct when standing at the launch quickly disappear from view.  It is a lot easier to get lost on a lake that is seldom more than a quarter-mile wide than you might think.  Not really life-threatening but certainly embarrassing.         
     That's why on a cool day in early March, Mike VanEtten, president of the Lafayette (LA) Paddle Club, spent a sunny afternoon leaning from the bow seat of a faded red canoe to wipe each trail marker clean.   He reattached loose signs to the massive trees being careful to leave some of the nail sticking out so the tree could grow and not pop the sign off.   And he made mental notes on missing signs that will need to be replaced later.  VanEtten's stern paddler, Thomas Junk, another LPC member, scouts for upcoming signs and slowly pilots VanEtten into position through stubby cypress knees and clumps of green, floating aquatic vegetation.
     The setting for the chore is beautiful--the busy paddlers surrounded by a tupelo gum/bald cypress swamp, the tall trees draped with Spanish moss swaying in the breeze, the air filled with the chirps, chortles and songs of migrating song birds.  But the work is not without risks.
     "Look behind every sign before touching it.  There could be a wasp nest there," VanEtten cautions LPC member, Kathy Knierim who is helping him administer to the signs from the seat of a smaller blue solo canoe.  The lake is rife with alligators but the trio sees none.  Apparently it is still just too cold on this early spring day for the cold-blooded reptiles to climb out of the water to sun on a log.
     The signed trail is accessed from the three boat launches in the park.  Canoes, located at the South Landing rent for $20 a day.  Pay at the entrance station.  The eight miles of paddle trail is divided into three sections: the Northern Loop Trail, connecting the North Landing and the East Landing is 4.5 miles, the trail from the East Landing to the South Landing is 1.5 miles and the trail from the South Landing to the south end of the lake is two miles-one way.  Bring bug repellent every trip, even in winter. 
     The paddle trail is one of two popular trails in the 6,400 acre Chicot State Park.  The other is the Buckeye Trail, a 20-mile hiking/backpacking/mountain bike trail; a root and stob strewn loop through the hilly beech/magnolia forest surrounding much of the lake; difficult for a mountain biker, taxing for the hiker/backpacker.  "Up" is only 30 feet higher than "down" along the trail with little level trail so flat-landers are especially challenged.  One of the Bayou State's longest backpacking trails, the Buckeye Trail is also the venue for an ultra-endurance run each December attracting competitors from around the world.
      The volunteer labor provided by the three members of the Lafayette (LA) Paddle Club tending to the canoe trail signs is both welcome and comes at a good time of the year, said Chicot State Park assistant manager, Keith Broussard.
     "In the spring when the weather is warm but not hot, the trails are very popular.  The Easter holiday is a busy time here at Chicot," Broussard said.
     Members of outdoor clubs such as the Lafayette Canoe Club and the Louisiana Hiking Club, based in Baton Rouge (LA), provide valuable assistance in helping maintain the trails in the park at a time when trail maintenance is not a top priority in tight state park budgets.
     Mountain bikers, hikers, backpackers and paddlers will find the park welcoming.  The staff is friendly and savvy to the needs of non-motorized recreationalists.  Don't be surprised to be offered a map of the park's canoe trail even before you ask if a staffer sees your paddle craft on top of your vehicle.
     The efficiency and friendliness of  "those kids" working the entrance station in the park is a point of pride for residents of Ville Platte, six miles to the south.  One fisherman from a group of men having coffee at the Ville Platte McDonald's, heaped praise on the Chicot staff after seeing my canoe and hearing I had paddled in the park.
     Because the park is about a three-hour drive from New Orleans, paddlers, hikers and bikers from the Crescent City usually stay one or more nights in the park, either at a back country site, in the campground or in a cabin.  To avoid the disappointment and inconvenience of arriving at the park after a long drive only to find all the camping is taken, plan your trip carefully.  And if your goal is one of the six back country sites, which cannot be reserved, hope you are lucky.

How to get a back country site.

     Drive to the Chicot SP entrance off LA highway 3042, seven miles north of Ville Platte, LA.  This is the main entrance.  You must register here to camp at the back country sites.  The fee for back country camping is $1 per person, per day.  There are six back country sites sprinkled along the seven-mile long lake's shoreline.  ALL BACK COUNTRY SITES ARE FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE.  BACK COUNTRY SITES CANNOT BE RESERVED.  Five are accessible from the lake and by foot: one is only accessible from the lake.  (Somewhere there is a map with the GPS coordinates for the back country sites.  I used to have a copy but I don't any more.) Arriving at a campsite in a motorized boat is not permitted.  All back country sites are open to both hikers and paddlers.
      Because everyone camping at a back country site registers in person at the entrance station, staff at the entrance station know immediately when all six back country sites are filled.  If you are the seventh person to appear at the entrance station to ask for a back country site YOU WILL BE TURNED AWAY!  (Plan B: If there is an unreserved site in the campground you are welcome to stay there.  Fees start at $16 per night plus the reservation fee of $6)  Staff at the park said they don't like to turn people away but they do when all the back country sites are taken.  Do not call from New Orleans, Baton Rouge or Lafayette to ask if there are any back country sites left.  NOBODY KNOWS HOW MANY WILL BE LEFT BY THE TIME YOU GET TO THE PARK.  BACK COUNTRY SITES CANNOT BE RESERVED! Staffers say there is high demand for back country sites on holidays and weekends in the spring and fall and all six sites can be occupied by Friday night.   Planning to snag a back country site Saturday morning?  DO YOU FEEL LUCKY?
     The entrance station is open later on Friday and Saturday nights but call to confirm entrance station hours.  You can register for a back country site only if the entrance station is open.  The park opens earlier and stays open later than the entrance station so make sure you know the different times.
     Ask for both the trails/facility map and the canoe trail map.  The canoe trail map does not show the location of all the back country camping sites.  (You know somebody cares when you get a hiking trail map with the trail highlighted by hand using three different Sharpie marker colors!)
     Reservations are strongly recommended for the 198 camping sites ($16 and up per night) in the parks two campgrounds.  Call toll-free, 877-226-7652, to reserve a campsite or cabin.  Back country sites cannot be reserved.  There is a $6 fee to make a reservation.   You don't have to reserve a site--drive ups are welcome if there is an open spot--but you pay the $6 reservation fee for a camping site no matter if you reserved it or not.  This is the policy for all Louisiana State parks.
     The park and the adjoining Louisiana State Arboretum schedule a variety of family activities, such as guided canoe treks, bird hikes and nature programs.  After paying the entrance fee, the scheduled activities are free.  Visit the arboretum blog http://louisianaarboretum.wordpress.com for program information or call 1-888-677-6100.
     Recently a beautiful new building housing the arboretum visitor center has opened in Chicot SP off  North Landing Road in the park.  The old entrance to the 600 acre arboretum on the highway is still there as is the tiny museum at the Caroline Dorman Lodge.   The six miles of trails in the arboretum connect the two locations.
     The lake is very popular with fishermen, dating back to the day the park opened in 1942.  Chicot is one of the oldest state parks in Louisiana.
     For more information call the park toll-free at 1-888-677-2442 or not toll-free at 337-363-2403.  The E-mail address is chicot@crt.state.la.us.

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Cold weather puts a chill on attendance at Louisiana Hiking Club's 2013 Campfest

Clair Anne Johnson, 14, of Ponchatoula, LA gets ready to savor a s'more she just made at the Louisiana Hiking Club's Campfest held at Chicot State Park, March 2-3, 2013.

     When making the decision to go or not go to the Louisiana Hiking Club's Campfest at Chicot State Park just north of Ville Platte, LA, March 2-3, some prospective campers apparently got cold feet after hearing the weather forecast for the park included night time temps below freezing and daytime temps struggling to reach 50 degrees.
     The blustery weather may have been the reason only 65 people attended this year, down from the usual of about 100, said LHC acting president, Nancy Hall.  The event is held annually the first weekend in March. 
     "I thought the weather was fine.  I had a great time at this year's fest," said the veteran backpacker and hiker referring to the partly cloudy and breezy weekend.  Temperatures in nearby Ville Platte for the weekend were: Friday 60H-40L; Saturday 49H-34L; Sunday 57H-30L, according to wunderground.com.  There was no rain but there was frost Sunday morning.
     No records are kept of who plans to attend and who actually does--people just show up, said Hall, so there is no way to poll members to ask why they did not attend this year.  The LHC provides the meat grilled Saturday night to serve as the entree for the potluck supper and the Sunday morning pancake breakfast but because the number of attendees is about the same every year, the same amount is food is purchased every year--no RSVP needed.
     Attendees tent camp on the grounds of a conference center on the eastern side of Chicot Lake.  There are no hookups there for R.V.s.  Saturday, during the day, participants join groups to learn about map reading, how to pack a backpack and emergency medicine among other topics.  Also speciality outdoor shops from Baton Rouge and Lafayette set up tables featuring the latest and greatest outdoor gear. 
     Members pay $5 for the event and two nights camping.  LHC membership is $10 and the process can be completed online.
     The highlight of the fest, not counting renewing old friendships, is the potluck supper and raffle Saturday night.   Perhaps because of the smaller turn-out this year, everyone won something at the raffle.   The pile of swag included gift certificates, freeze-dried entrees, gift boxes of jerky, packs and other stuff, donated by outdoor merchants from across south Louisiana.  Later a film was shown about three young men hiking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail (four started the hike) and the personal challenges each faced in completing the journey.
     Sunday morning began with an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast, prepared by a team of cooks under the supervision of the crusty but kind "Larry the Pancake King."  (Larry hung up his spatula after this year saying that after nine or ten years it's time.)  Many of the group left after breakfast but some stayed and hiked a portion of the scenic 22-mile "Buckeye Trail" surrounding the the lake.  Volunteer work crews from the LHC help maintain the trail.
     After Sunday breakfast this year, some atendees got a prize--free food.  Because of the reduced attendance plenty of grilled chicken and sausage were left over.  It was quickly distributed to members who wanted it, the free protein destined to become a succulent addition to many a delicious gumbo and jambalaya.

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Mill Creek Trail in Mississippi's Homochitto NF

Signs, signs.  Everywhere a sign.  Louisiana Hiking Club members start their hike on the 5.5 mile long Mill Branch Trail in the Homochitto National Forest in southwest Mississippi.  The trail is one of three trails in the 24-mile long Clear Springs Trail complex. 

     Mill Branch Trail is a 5.5 mile long loop trail in the Homochitto National Forest in southwest Mississippi.  The trail is the shortest of three interconnecting loop trails used by both hikers and mountain bikers in the 24-mile long Clear Springs Trail Complex.
     Mill Branch is considered by bikers and hikers to be less strenuous than the 11-mile Tally's Creek Trail or the seven-mile Richardson Creek Trail.  Unlike the other two trails, there are no short, steep lung-busting climbs to reach the rounded ridge tops along the Mill Branch pathway.  Gentle grades transit to elevations ranging from about 400 feet at the highest point to about 260 feet at Richardson Creek.
     Springtime hikers on Mill Branch see forested ridges of tall pines--loblobby mostly-- and at lower elevations, hardwoods leafy and green.  But that is not what the area looked like just 90 years ago, says Dave Chabreck, operations team leader at the Homochitto National Forest District headquarters in Meadville, MS.
     "The lumber companies came in here back then and cut everything they could, leaving nothing standing higher than a knee cap," Chabreck said, referring to the days before the land became a national forest and under the protection of the Department of Agriculture in the 1930's.  "I have seen many photographs where it looks like you could stand on any hill here and see for miles in all directions with nothing to block your view,"  he said.
     So, while the forest hikers enjoy today may look "old," all the virgin timber is gone: the trees seen now are 90 years old or younger, planted after the forest was clear-cut a century ago, Chabreck said.
     Hikers who see blackened bark on the pines along the trail are seeing first-hand traces of one of the tools foresters have to control the risk of a devastating forest fire: fighting fire with fire.  Sections of the forest, on a rotating basis, are burned under controlled conditions to keep the accumulation of dead leaves, pine needles, branches and smaller trees from building to a level that would make it nearly impossible to contain a forest fire should one erupt.  The controlled burn along Mill Branch was about two years ago, Chabreck said.
     Because regular burning removes the under brush, hikers can see long distances, making it easier to spot wildlife and see the trail ahead.
     Getting an accurate count of trail users, both hikers and bikers, is not easy but Chabreck said he thinks the trails are popular.  About a decade ago a forester at Homochitto making an informal count of license plates in the Clear Springs campground estimated that up to 90 percent of the campers were from Louisiana.
     Spring can be a busy time on the trails at Clear Springs.
     "The whole forest is full of dogwoods which will be blooming in three to four weeks.  On a nice April day a lot of people are on the trails," Chabreck said.
     The first recreation trail to be built at Clear Springs, the Tally's Creek Trail, was blazed in the early 1980's.  Underused by the hikers it was designed for, mountain bike riders began to use it and to organize work details supervised by Homochitto NF staffers to keep the trail maintained.  Mill Branch was the second trail to open, providing  a trail easier and shorter than Tally's Creek.  Lastly, Richardson Creek, designed by mountain bike experts, opened.  That seven mile trail is considered one of the most technically challenging mountain bike rides in Mississippi.
     Finding your way on the Mill Branch Trail is fairly easy.  It is not heavily blazed--blazes are not painted on the trees. But the path sees enough use to be distinct from the surrounding forest and can be followed easily if you pay attention.  Also pay attention to where you step.  The trail is strewn with exposed roots and stobs ready to trip the inattentive hiker.
     At the trailhead, hikers can pick up copies of an excellent map showing the trails, each trail a different color.  These colors match with colored trail signs on the trail.  Match the color and the letter on the sign with the color and the letter on the map and you know where you are.  Signs are at trail junctions and when the trail crosses a FS road.  As always, pack a compass, a map, snacks, water and rain gear.  And bug repellent with DEET.  A map of the  Clear Springs Trail Complex can be downloaded free from http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/mississippi/maps-pubs   For more information call the Homochitto District headquarters at 601-384-5876.
     Day use at Clear Springs is $5 per car.  Camping is $20 per night in the developed (water, electricity) campground and $7 at the primitive sites.  Hot showers but the water in one bath house is reported to be hotter than the other.  Money is collected at an honor box; have the correct change.  Checks are accepted.  A detailed description of the campground, and other NF sites, can be found at www.forestcamping.com.  To the left of the opening page, click on national forests and campgrounds.  From the list of all the national forests scroll down to Homochitto.  Clear Springs is the only campground listed.   An important prohibition omitted from the description is that alcohol is NOT permitted in the campground and that sharp-eyed law enforcement officers patrol the recreation area.  The fines are stiff.

     But you knew that.

Okhissa Lake Anniversary

     November 7, 2012 was the fifth anniversary of the opening of Okhissa Lake, a 1075-acre recreation reservoir three miles south of Bude, MS in the Homochitto NF.
     The lake was a long time coming.  There was local support for the construction of a recreation reservoir in the Homochitto NF for decades before the lake project impounding Porter Creek was approved in 1999.  An observation deck was built overlooking the massive construction site so people could see the earthmovers build the impoundment.   Opening day saw long lines of cars and pick-ups towing boat trailers waiting to launch into the new lake stocked with largemouth bass, channel catfish, black crappie, white perch, shad and others.
     Its not just the fishers who enjoy the lake, Chabreck said.  Paddlers in kayaks and canoes explore the many forested coves creasing the lake's 39-mile long shoreline, he said.  The northwestern third of the lake, near the impoundment, is a designated ski area and can be reached launching from the northernmost boat launch.  However, in the rest of the lake, motorized boats are restricted to idle speed.  This is the area most popular with paddlers.  It's where the lake's pool reaches deep into narrow ravines with steep sides covered with pines and prickly underbrush giving paddlers their best chance to spot wildlife.  Launch from the southernmost boat launch for this part of the lake.  The lake closes at 9 p.m.   Overnight parking is not permitted.
     There is an ongoing effort to attract a private sector partner to develop and operate major recreation facilities at the lake such as a lodge, cabins, restaurant, marina, and campgrounds.  The original development plan drew no response from investors.
    

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