Hike Location: Tombigbee National Forest, Choctaw Lake
Recreation Area
Geographic Location: southeast of Ackerman, MS (33.27327, -89.14497)
Length: 4.5 miles
Difficulty: 6/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: March 2019
Overview: A loop hike, first primitive with lots of
up-and-down, then developed along the shores of Choctaw Lake.
Area Information: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mississippi/recreation/hiking/recarea/?recid=28861&actid=50
Directions to the trailhead: From the intersection of
SR 12 and SR 15 in Ackerman, take SR 15 south 3.3 miles to the signed entrance
for Choctaw Lake on the left. Turn left
and drive the winding entrance road downhill 1.2 miles to the recreation area
entrance. Turn left to enter the
recreation area, pay the day use fee, and drive 0.2 miles to the Chata Trail
parking area on the left. There is room
for 3 or 4 cars here. If this parking
lot is full, you can either park at the nearby picnic area or at the Noxubee
Hills Trailhead parking area, which this hike will pass near its end.
The hike: As
the entrance road slowly descends the narrow ridge that leads down to Choctaw
Lake, top-down views into the beautiful open forest hint at the experience that
awaits. Indeed, Choctaw Lake Recreation
Area is widely regarded as one of the best national forest recreation areas in
Mississippi. The area offers a cozy
18-site developed campground, 35 picnic sites, a disc golf course with a real
water hazard, and fishing, swimming, and boating on its namesake lake.
Choctaw Lake is also the trailhead
for numerous hiking and mountain biking trails.
The area’s most popular and most developed trail is the gravel 2.5 mile
Lakeside Trail, which circumnavigates Choctaw Lake. The Noxubee Hills Trail System offers more
than 30 miles of trails and starts at its namesake trailhead on the northeast
side of Choctaw Lake’s dam. The hike
described here uses part of the Lakeside Trail but also ventures onto some of
Choctaw Lake’s more isolated and primitive trails, thus offering a sample of all
the area has to offer.
 |
| Chata Trail trailhead |
This hike starts on the Chata Trail,
a wide dirt path that departs from a large signboard located at the small Chata
Trail parking area. Marked by white
plastic diamonds, the Chata Trail appears to follow an old road as it passes
through a stone portal. Most of Tombigbee
National Forest was farmland before the forest was established in 1959, and
this portal appears to predate the national forest.
Past the stone portal, the trail
climbs steeply but only for a short distance as it heads straight up the
hill. Although the difference between
maximum and minimum elevation on this hike is only about 200 vertical feet, the
hills are quite steep, and the trails at Choctaw Lake tend to go straight up or
straight down the hills. Thus, the going
can be harder than you might expect for central Mississippi.
 |
| Hiking the wide Chata Trail |
After crossing up and over a pair of
low ridges, you drop to intersect the gravel Cabin Lake Trail at 0.5
miles. Visible off to the right, Cabin
Lake is a small impoundment located just upstream from the much larger Choctaw
Lake. Turn left to continue the combined
Chata and Cabin Lake Trails.
 |
| Start of Headwaters Trail |
In only another 200 feet, you reach
the signed west end of the Headwaters Trail, which is marked with orange
plastic diamonds. Angle left to leave
the gravel and begin the Headwaters Trail.
The Headwaters Trail is Choctaw Lake’s most primitive trail, and you
will need to use the orange plastic diamonds to direct your steps because the
path on the ground is often indistinguishable.
I hiked here in mid-March before spring had sprung in earnest, but I
suspect this trail becomes quite overgrown in the summer. The steep grades up and down the ridges
persist, and overall the going is fairly difficult.
The trail stays along the south wall
of a ravine as it climbs toward its highest point. Pine trees dominate the ridges while large
numbers of sweetgum and hickory trees live in ravines. During the leafless months the entrance road
you drove in on can be seen uphill and to the left.
 |
| Crossing a steep-banked creek |
After curving right and dropping to
cross a steep-banked creek on a wooden footbridge, the trail climbs to
intersect closed dirt FR 969A. The trail
turns right to join the ridgetop forest road for a few hundred feet before
turning left to leave it and descend into the next ravine. Watch for the orange plastic diamonds to stay
on the trail in this area.
The trail drops into and climbs out
of three more steep ravines as it embarks on a northward course. Another closed forest road is crossed on the
ridge between the second and third ravines.
After climbing out of the third ravine, the trail curves right and
descends into a lowland area with a wetland on the left.
 |
| Hiking through a lowland area |
At 2.7 miles, you reach the end of
the Headwaters Trail at its intersection with the gravel Lakeside Trail. Turn left to begin heading clockwise around
the Lakeside Trail. Now you quickly
realize that your time in the primitive backwoods is over. A scarcely visible dirt trail with few
constructions or amenities is replaced by wooden boardwalks crossing the main
creeks that feed Choctaw Lake, a front-country gravel path, distance markers
every 0.25 miles, and numerous benches overlooking the lake. Surely one of these benches is worth a sit,
rest, and trail snack while you watch the ducks and other waterfowl that enjoy
the lake.
 |
| Choctaw Lake |
The trail crosses two boardwalks and
begins heading south along the east bank of Choctaw Lake. My approach on a cool afternoon sent several turtles
that were sunning on logs plopping into the lake. Choctaw Lake’s disc golf course, which goes
all the way around the lake, passes near the trail. This disc golf course looks like a wild one:
one hole requires a forced carry over one of the lake’s wider inlets!
At 3.6 miles, you reach the
northeast end of Choctaw Lake’s dam and the Noxubee Hills Trailhead’s large
parking lot. The Lakeside Trail turns
right and begins a long, sunny walk across a wooden boardwalk built along the
dam. After crossing the lake’s spillway
on an iron bridge with wooden deck, the trail curves right and reenters the
woods.
 |
| Choctaw Lake's spillway |
The balance of the hike heads
northwest with Choctaw Lake immediately to your right. At 4.3 miles, you reach a large cluster of
picnic tables and a small swimming area.
Angle left and climb the steps to reach the entrance road. The Chata Trail parking area that contains
your car is a couple hundred feet down the entrance road on the left.
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