Homochitto NF Richardson Creek Trail

Homochitto is one of Mississippi's beautiful forests, and the first National Forest in MS. It is named for the Homochitto River, which is a Choctaw word meaning "Red River". The river in shallow and wide for the most part, although it is believed that it once was narrow and deep.

The terrain in the Homochitto NF is typical of MS. Gently rolling hills,
ridges and minivalleys. The hiking trails in this forest are moderate in
difficulty. There are 4 marked trails in the Clear Springs Recreation area
of the forest. One of these trails is a 1 mile recreation loop around the
Clear Springs Lake. The other 3 are loop trails that are accessed from the
trail head parking lot in the Clear Springs Recreation Area. These three

trails Mills Branch, Richardson Creek and Tallys Creek trails. The trails are over 25 miles of combined hiking surface which loop and overlap each other, allowing one to begin on one trail and at some point join one of the other trails until you have completed them all. Or, you can hike them seperate. Mills Branch Trail is 4.7 miles, Richardson Creek Trail is 6.9 miles, and Tallys Creek Trail is 11.7 miles. The Clear Springs recreation area also has restrooms facilties with cold water showers. There is a day use fee of $5 per car, an overnight camp fee of $7 (the $5 fee is good for backcounty).

In April of 2009, because of damage from Hurricane Gustav on Labor Day
of 2008, Mills Branch and Tallys Creek Trails were still offically closed. So
we backpacked the Richardson Creek Trail. Unfortunately, I had not conceived this web site at the time, so I did not bring my GPS unit with me. At this time I will not be able to give a detail of what you will encounter on this trail using proper mileage. I will return to get these details in the future.

One of the first things that strikes you is the beauty of this forest. The under
growth in much of it is slight (in some places none exsists at all) and it allows
you to see far through the trees. The next thing that strikes you is the hills. You will see minivalleys all around and you will encounter climbs of 70' to 100' up on some of the hills. None of them are very steep, though some are quite taxing. The good thing is the downhill sections are easy on your feet as the slopes are gentle.

Mills Branch or Tallys Creek Trails. You must follow Mills Branch for quite some distance (around 2.5 miles) before
you come to the actual begining of Richardson Creek Trail. Likewise, at the end of the trail, you will have to get on Tallys
Creek Trail to exit back to the trail head. Richardson Creek Trail is like a jumper between the two trails. Ultimately, although this trail is listed as 6.7 miles, you will hike 10 miles with the Mills Branch and Tallys Creek sections to get to and from the trail head.

The Mills Branch Trail from the trail head reaches a point where it crosses a Forest Service road (124) where it is intersected by another Forest Service road (187 ), effectivily making a T. You go straight on road 187 and are presented with choice of following Mills Branch on the left (currently this option is closed) or continueing up the road for about .25

mile to the spot where Mills Branch recrosses this road and continues toward the Richardson Creek Trail (to the right side of the road. This will cut down on mileage for your trip if you use the road hike. If you prefer more miles, the Mills Branch section will add another 1 mile to this trek, as well as some beautiful forest views.

Once you have made it to the Richardson Creek Trail, you will exit the Mills
Branch trail to your right. The Mills Branch Trail is blazed in blue, the Richardson Creek Trail is blazed in red. The Forest Service uses plastic diamonds to blaze the trails and they are pretty frequently placed. On the section of the Mills Branch Trail that leads to the Richardson Creek Trail, you will find blazes for both trails. This is also true on the part that merges with Tallys Creek Trail (Tallys is marked in yellow).