Tishomingo State Park, MS-Part 4 of Natchez Trace Parkway Series

Tishomingo State Park in northeast Mississippi is right off the Parkway around mile post 305.  The really great things about this

park is the trails, the scenic beauty and the history of the park itself.  The downside is that there are not many good camping spots here.  We had visited this park before so we knew to reserve #14.  When we arrived around 4:20 in the afternoon, the person at the guard shack said they had been trying to keep people out of it all day.  The lake had a decent amount of water in it due to the heavy rains this area had received prior to our visit.  There had been a problem with water leaking out

and the water level was way low when we visited before. Most of the other campsites on this side of the lake have very narrow parking pads and steep drop-offs on each side.  There are several good camping sites along the back loop but in our opinion (and apparently many others), #14 is the best spot.

This site has a large backyard area that backs up to one end of the lake.  The sites are $18 per night for elec/water.  There is a dump station in the campground.  There were 2 bathhouses open while we were there.  Both were well lit and clean with hot showers.  


Here is a view of the lake from our campsite.




Many of the buildings in the park were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the Depression.  The trademark cut-stone buildings are all over the park.

No telling how long this sign has been out here.  I believe this may have been the original entrance and park sign.

There is all kinds of trees and vegetation at Tishomingo but I noticed a large number of tulip poplar trees.  I have always liked

this tree so I stopped and snapped a picture because you don't get to see the flowers most of the time.






This park is located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and contains massive rock formations throughout much of the park.  You can see some of these large rock outcroppings just driving through the park, but you really can't appreciate their massiveness until you walk some of the trails. These pictures are from a relatively easy loop trail just on the other side of a swinging bridge.

Here is the swinging bridge (built in 1939), shown with the massive tie-down cables, which goes across Bear Creek.

One of the prettiest areas is the restored 1840s log cabin in a natural setting which makes you think about what life was like back when the Trace was merely a Native American trail and passage for mail delivery between Nashville and Natchez.

We camped at Tishomingo State Park for 2 nights and we would go back again.  This is a very unique state park in the MS state park system.  I wish there was adequate funding to repair and overhaul some of the campsites that are in disrepair.  We camped here Sunday, May 5 and Monday, May 6, 2013.

Natchez Trace Parkway part 3- Mile Marker 444 to Tishomingo

Technically, we traveled the Trace "backwards".  We started at the north terminus (marker 444) and traveled south to the south terminus at Natchez.  

One of the first awesome items that you come across on the Trace is the Double Arch Bridge at Birdsong Hollow at mile marker 438. There is a pull off at the north end for a scenic view from above.  This bridge was completed in 1994 and received the Presidential Award for Design Excellence.  There is an exit at the south end of the bridge where you can go to the bottom and park for a view from the bottom looking up.

We stopped at mile marker 407 to see the historic Gordon House.
This house was built in 1817-1818.  It was the home of John and

Dorathea Gordon.  They operated a ferry at the nearby Duck River from 1801 until traffic on the Trace declined.  John died shortly after the home was completed but his wife lived there until her death in 1859 and carried on the ferry operation.

Our next stop was just a few miles down the road to take a short but steep walk to Jackson Falls.  This was a beautiful natural falls which was flowing very swiftly due to the recent heavy rains.

The walkway is paved and a fairly easy walk.  It is not near as difficult as Fall Creek Falls (as a comparison).  

The free Meriwether Lewis campground is at mile marker 386.  Even if you are not going to camp there, it is worth pulling into just to see a few of the items of historical significance.

This is the burial place of the famous explorer, Meriwether Lewis of Lewis & Clark fame.  It is hard to believe that he was only 35 years old when he died.  There is some controversy about his death.  There are reports that someone shot Mr. Lewis but the theory that he committed suicide is the more accepted story about his demise.  You can visit the log cabin exhibit which goes into great detail about his life and death.  Meriwether Lewis is a decent size park with 3 campground loops, bathrooms (no showers), trails, exhibits, and a creek.  We did see water spigots so you can fill your fresh water tank for camping in self-contained campers.

On an amusing sidenote, we visited this campground earlier in the year and did not realize it has 2 entrances - one on the Parkway and one on Hwy 20.  We entered from the Parkway and drove around, got out, looked at the exhibits and then left, we thought, the same way we came in.  Once we got back on the road, nothing looked familiar.  We turned around and went the other direction but still nothing looked familiar.  We had just about decided we had either completely lost or minds or entered some twilight zone parallel universe when we figured out there was more than one entrance/exit to the park.  

At mile marker 377, we stopped at the Jacks Branch picnic area for lunch.  A walk down the stone steps leads to a flat picnic area with tables and grills next to a flowing creek.  It was a tranquil place to stretch our legs and have a little bite to eat.

Our final stop of the day before we pulled into Tishomingo State Park was Rock Springs nature trail along Colbert Creek.  It started

to rain as we began our walk and by the time we reached the creek, Ms. Sally Mae was getting annoyed at being out in the rain.  She wanted nothing to do with the split concrete steps that crossed the creek so we turned around and headed back to the truck.

We began this day at mile post 444 and ended at Tishomingo State Park in northeast MS at mile post 305.  Next post is a review of Tishomingo State Park.

Montgomery Bell State Park TN (Part 2 of Natchez Trace Parkway Series)

To start our trek down the Natchez Trace Parkway, we first traveled up to Dickson, TN to camp overnight at Montgomery Bell State Park.  This TN State Park is a little west of Nashville. The park appears to be pretty large but the campground is a bit smaller than we imagined.  I think the narrow campground road has a lot to do with the cramped feel while driving through the campground.

Now, with that said, our campsite was fantastic.  Very spacious and long enough to park a large motorhome in.  Our fifth wheel and truck seem dwarfed by comparison.  This is site #108.  All sites are reservable through the new TN State Parks reservation system which can be accessed through their website:  http://www.tn.gov/environment/parks/    For some reason, TN tacks on a bunch of extra fees.  They charged an Occupancy Tax, a Local Tax, a State Tax and a $3.00 reservation fee.  We are not used to paying all this extra to camp, as MS state parks do not charge any of this.  When you reserve a site in MS, you pay exactly what the advertised campsite fee is and that is it.  This site was a full hookup site (water, elec, and sewer).  It was $25 per night (with the taxes and reservation fee it came to $31.69).  Some sites are water & elec only for about $3 less (I think-my memory is not what it used to be).


We would like to go back to this area when we have longer to stay. It looked like a great place to fish (they had a lake in another part of the park) and we saw someone catch a nice size bass from a bridge that goes across the lake.


If you like golf, they have a course at this park.  There is also an inn; however, we did not have a chance to drive around to see it.  

I preferred the campsites that backed up to the creek.  There had been a good amount of rain right before we got there and the creek was moving pretty swiftly.  I can see that flooding could be a problem with extended periods of rainfall. 


The bathhouse was old and somewhat dim but was clean.  We could only pick up a few TV stations but our Sprint internet service worked ok (slow but accessible).  

This campsite made a nice overnight rest stop to begin our journey down the Trace.  I would like to return to it when we have more time to stay.  We camped here Saturday, May 4, 2013.

Natchez Trace Parkway Overview- Part 1 of Natchez Trace Series

We had gotten the idea sometime last year about traveling down the Natchez Trace Parkway, stopping at some of the historical and scenic sites, and camping along the way.  We finally did it in early May of 2013.  We took a week to make the journey and it was a  great experience.  

There are many (very many) sites to see along the way and several choices of campgrounds to stay at.  The sites range from architectural marvels like the famous double arch bridge

to historical sites like the final resting place of the famous explorer, Meriwether Lewis

to beautiful scenic natural sites like Jackson Falls.

 The best resource for information on the parkway can be found at the National Park Service's website at:  http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm

If you do decide to travel the parkway, especially in a large vehicle or camper, please be aware that the entire parkway is a designated bike route.  You WILL encounter a good number of cyclists on the parkway, especially near the north terminus and the Jackson, MS area.  There is not a dedicated bike lane and they have the right of way.  I was amazed at the number of cyclists at the north terminus. It is the hilliest section of the parkway and I could feel my lungs burn just watching them.

There are no commercial vehicles allowed on the parkway so traffic  is generally light.  Posted speed limits vary from 40 to 50 mph.  There are also no commercial establishments along the parkway (no gas stations, restaurants, etc.); however, there are plenty of exits to visit some of the towns along the way.  

The parkway has several visitor centers and rest stops with restrooms and picnic areas.  This is the rest area at Jacks Branch.  There are picnic tables and grills.  Our kitchen area and refrigerator in the camper is accessible without pulling out the slides so we were able to stop, fix a picnic lunch and stretch our legs a bit without leaving the parkway.                             

There are 3 free, no hookup campgrounds along the parkway.  We have visited all of them, but have not camped at any.  We would like to try them out some time.  One, Meriwether Lewis, is in Tennesse.  It is a large campground and it looks like there is quite a bit to do there.  The other two are in MS (Jeff Busby and Rocky Springs).  

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip.  I will publish a series of posts about each campground we stayed at and the sites we visited along the way.              

  

The Narrows Campground at Greers Ferry Lake - Memorial Day Weekend 2012

This post is almost a year overdue.  We camped at The Narrows campground at Greers Ferry Lake near Heber Springs, Arkansas (about 60 miles north of Little Rock, AR) over the Memorial Day weekend 2012.  We had a great time once we got there.  There was a little TOO much adventure in the getting there – but that will be saved for another story.

Greers Ferry Lake is a popular outdoor recreation spot for people who live within a days drive to the area.  As you can imagine, all of the campgrounds were packed Memorial Day weekend.  The main attraction is the large lake (about 40,500 acres).  On any pretty weekend, you will see it dotted with ski boats, fishing boats, jet skis, and party barges.  The lake is actually 2 lakes connected by a narrow gorge that is filled with water.  This narrow part is called “The Narrows” and that is the campground we stayed at.  As I recall, we made reservations several months in advance but most of the spots were already reserved.  They book up fast for a holiday weekend.  There is also a dam at one end with The Little Red River on the other side.  The JFK campground borders the Little Red River which is very popular with the fishing crowd. 

Most of the campgrounds that border the water are run by the Army Corps of Engineers.  There are 10 that I know of:  Heber Springs, John FKennedy, 

Dam Site, Old Hwy 25, Shiloh, Hill Creek, Narrows, Devils Fork, SugarLoaf, and Choctaw.  Click on the names to see a map of each campground.  A good number of the sites are first come, first serve but many are reserveable at reserveamerica.com.  I think all of the sites are without water hookups (most have electricity, but some have no hookups).  There are several water spigots that you can get potable water from to fill your camper’s water tank.

We stayed at site #B-2 at the Narrows and we liked it pretty well.  The one thing that I did not like was that the “living area” was at the street.  What I mean by that is the picnic table, grill, fire-pit was all on the street side and because the campground was so busy, it felt like you were on display.  Next time, I might pick #B-1 for that reason.  Both sites have a short walk to get to the water.  A very popular campground is the G loop at Old Hwy 25 campground.  It seems to be perpetually booked up, but I would like to stay there sometime as well. The Old Hwy 25 campground has more modern facilities.  I avoided the restrooms/showers at The Narrows (my only real complaint).  Glad we had a fully contained camper.  Of course, the campground was packed that weekend.

We bought some plastic floating pool chairs at the dollar store nearby and went out to where the boats were making big waves with their wake. (Doesn’t take much to make us happy).  It felt great to get out of the near 100 degree temps into the cool waters of the lake. 

Anyway, if you enjoy camping and boating or fishing or just being near a lake, you may want to plan a trip to this area.  We will definitely go back!

Camper Mods

Even though we really love our new Keystone Laredo 5th Wheel, there were a few things we decided we could do to make it more user-friendly when we camp.  No camper ever comes equipped with enough storage or it may not be arranged the way you would want it to be.  Now, the 5th wheel has much more storage than our travel trailer did - there is no comparison there.  But, my main problem with a lot of the storage in the 5th wheel is that it is up high and I am "vertically challenged."

So - here is just a few things we did to the inside to make some of the storage a bit more usable for us.

The cabinet under the sink has one shelf inside and it is where I keep my assorted pots and pans.  I needed a space to keep dishwashing liquid, glass cleaner, etc.  We (and by "we", I mean Rick) installed a door-shelf that is perfect for this.  He also installed on of these in our bathroom under-sink cabinet.

Before

After

Unlike our travel trailer, this 5th wheel has kitchen drawers (that I love) but I didn't have anywhere to store long items like foil, plastic wrap, etc.  Our camper has a great pantry/closet right at the entry door and across from the kitchen area, but it is very narrow.  We saw these contraptions at the store and thought we might  use them underneath the upper cabinets in the kitchen area, but when we got them home we realized that they were not going to work like we intended.


So...Rick, the great maker of things from other things, made this handy gadget to install in our narrow pantry.   Love it!

Before

After

Kitchen Drawers

Not an upside-down UFO - it's a paper plate dispenser installed under
one of the upper kitchen cabinets

 



                     












Since neither one of us can seem to remember anything, we thought this magnetic-dry erase combo board might come in handy.





These were all very simple modifications designed to make our camper more like home and to use the storage space more efficiently. Now that the weather is starting to warm up a bit, we just need some time off from work so we can enjoy our camper!

Our Home When We Leave Home

The first time Rick and I went camping (many years ago), we camped in a tent.  It was in beautiful Fall Creek Falls State Park in early spring and even though we had an air mattress and a portable heater, it was very cold at night.

Year before last, when we started talking about going camping again, we decided that our bones couldn't take sleeping on the ground anymore so we bought a camper.  It was a basic no-frills model that was easy to pull with our F-150 truck.



After a few camping trips, we realized that our little camper was a bit too "no-frills" for the way like to camp.  With no slide, we were always squeezing past each other (and trying to step over the dog).  Once we bought a larger truck, an F-250 Super Duty, it was logically time to upgrade the camper :)

A few months ago, we traded in our basic model for a new 5th wheel.  After looking at several floor plans, we decided that the Keystone Laredo 289SRE was very well-suited for our needs.  It has a rear living area with 2 slides that are opposite each other.  When they are both pulled out, there is a tremendous amount of room.  We also discovered that a 5th wheel camper has a lot more storage compartment space than a bumper pull.  

We picked up our new camper in November of 2012 and we only had a chance to camp in it one time before we had to winterize.  We are chomping at the bit to get out in it again.  Here are some more pictures of the Keystone: