Homochitto National Forest is a U.S. National Forest in southwestern Mississippi. It is located about 56 miles west of McComb, MS or 40 miles east of Natchez, MS. Of course for us, it’s a two and a half hour drive NNW from New Orleans, but it’s worth the effort for the silence and isolation. This trip post is from 2017, but we’ve been back to Homochitto too many times to count, especially for scouts. The kids always have a great time in this true escape from the city. Homochitto is a large National Forest, with over 191,000 acres of pristine pine trees. We always camp near Clear Springs Lake, at the established RV/tent sites or the tucked away primitive sites.

On this particular trip in April of 2017, my son (five years old) and I hiked a 10+ mile loop consisting of parts of the Richardson Creek Trail, Mill’s Branch Trail, and the Tally Creek Trail. I’ll never forget that it was on this trip, not even ten steps in, that a snake fell out of a tree and right next to my son. That really set the tone for the hike. At some point on our march through the woods, my son and I got tired and lazy, and due to a few missteps, we gave each other the nicknames “slip” and “trip”. I can’t remember who was who, but does it really matter?

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