• Type:
  • Loops
  • Out and Backs

  • Difficulty:
  • Easy/Medium

  • Scenery Ranking:
  • 4/5

  • Accessibility:
  • Easily Accessible

  • Trail Maintenance:
  • Well Maintained

  • Facilities:
  • Bathrooms
  • Camping
  • Cabins

Tishomingo State Park Trails

Intro:

Tishomingo State Park offers thirteen miles of scenic hiking trails along the banks of Bear Creek. There are seven different trails located at the park. Each trail at the park is unique in what it has to offer. Tishomingo State Park is located in the only part of Mississippi that has these kind of rock formations.

Trail Head:

Each trail head is located on state park property

To access the trail head: When you enter the state park you will pay at the entrance gate. Be sure to let them know you are hiking. They will give you a map with each trail head location.

Difficulty:

The trail is easy to medium. Some of the trails are really easy while the Outcropping trail is a little more difficult due to some tricky footing.

Hiking the Trail:

Since there are seven trails located at the park I only had time to hike two. However, they all tend to share the same characteristics in what to expect. For this trip I chose the Outcropping trail and the Saddleback Ridge trail. When hiking the Outcropping trail you will start your hike at the swinging bridge that crosses Bear Creek. Once you cross over the swinging bridge you can begin the trail. If you head straight after crossing the bridge this will take you atop the outcroppings in the Bear Creek valley. You will end up walking on top of several scenic overlooks before making your loop back around. I suggest taking the Waterfall trail that is located at the end of the Outcropping trail. It's a short trail that will take you to a small waterfall and then loop back around to the Outcropping trail. From here, you will follow the Outcropping trail along side Bear Creek and it will loop back around to the swinging bridge. In all the trail is just over two miles in length.

The Saddleback Ridge Trail: This is a short 3/4 mile out and back trail. It will take you atop the Saddleback Ridge giving you scenic views of outcropping and rock formations. It ends at Haynes Lake which is quite scenic.

The CCC Pond Trail: This is a short 3/4 mile loop trail that will take you around a pond built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the great depression era. You will see an 1800s style cabin at the beginning of this trail that is really cool. This trail may be short but it's very scenic.

The Other Trails:The other trails located on the park property are the Natchez Trace trail(2 miles), Flat Rock trail (3 miles), Bear Creek trail (1.5 miles) and the CCC Camp trail (3 miles).

Scenery:

You will see the scenic Bear Creek, rock overhangs, a 1800s cabin, a scenic lake and also a scenic pond at TSP.

Trail Maintenance:

The trails are well maintained

Facilities:

TSP has camping for tents and RVs, cabins,picnic and pavilion areas, and a disc golf course. There is a $4.00 fee to get a day pass for the park.