Tag Archives: CCC

Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee

Natchez Trace Parkway

October 22, 2025 Raven About The Parks 2 Comments

Natchez Trace Parkway

Mississippi-Alabama-Tennessee

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1938

52,302 acres

Website: nps.gov/natr

Overview

The Natonal Park Service (NPS) administers the Natchez Trace Parkway, a two-lane All-American Road that extends 444 miles from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. The trace started as a game trail that was utilized as an American Indian footpath. Some of the mound builder sites protected here were inhabited when Hernando de Soto led the first Europeans into this area in 1540. The Natchez Trace was heavily used in the 1800s by “Kaintuck” flatboatmen returning from New Orleans who left the Mississippi River from Natchez, Mississippi and continued on foot north to Kentucky and beyond. Today you can still follow portions of the sunken trail worn down by travelers for centuries. The parkway began as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) project during the Great Depression and the final two segments were completed in 2005.

Highlights

Rocky Springs, Owens Creek Waterfall, Emerald Mound, Mount Locust, Chickasaw Village, Meriwether Lewis Monument and Gravesite, Cypress Swamp Walk, Witch Dance Horse Trail, Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail

Must-Do Activity

Near Tupelo, the Parkway Visitor Center at Milepost 266 is a must-do stop to learn the history of the trace, and it also serves as the NPS contact station for tiny Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site and Tupelo National Battlefield. There are numerous roadside informational pullouts and trailheads along the route, so use the NPS app or pick up an official “unigrid” map. You can easily spend days exploring, but at a minimum we recommend you check out Emerald Mound, Mount Locust, Cypress Swamp, and Meriwether Lewis Monument and Grave Site.

Best Trail

Our favorite trail is the Cypress Swamp Walk at Milepost 122, where a boardwalk crosses a scenic tupelo-baldcypress swamp. The Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (click here for our blog post) does not follow the entire 444-mile parkway, but exists in five segments totaling 67 miles in length. There are also 15 miles of equestrian trails at Witch Dance (Milepost 233.2) in Tombigbee National Forest.

Photographic Opportunity

Not far from Natchez National Historical Park, Emerald Mound (a short detour at Milepost 10.3) is the second-largest American Indian ceremonial mound in the U.S. It stands 35 feet tall and 770 by 435 feet at its base.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

https://nps.gov/natr/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

The entire 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway is paved from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee with commercial traffic prohibited and a maximum speed limit of 50 miles per hour. There is a detour from Milepost 181 to 204 due to ongoing construction. Watch for bicycles and white-tailed deer on the road.

Camping

There are three free NPS campgrounds (at Milepost 54, 193.1, and 385.9) along the route, as well as those in sites like Mississippi’s Tishomingo State Park. The three NPS campgrounds have water and bathrooms (but no RV hookups), plus there are also five bike-only campsites along the route. Jeff Busby Campground closed in June 2025 for repairs.

Related Sites

Natchez National Historical Park (Mississippi)

Tupelo National Battlefield (Mississippi)

Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site (Mississippi)

Vicksburg National Military Park (Mississippi)

Nearest National Park

Hot Springs

Explore More – When were Ackia Battleground National Monument and Meriwether Lewis National Monument disbanded and added to the Natchez Trace Parkway?

New Mexico

Lincoln National Forest

June 11, 2025 Raven About The Parks 3 Comments

Lincoln National Forest

New Mexico

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Southwestern Region

1,271,064 acres (1,103,897 federal/ 167,167 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/lincoln

Overview

Lincoln National Forest is best known as the birthplace of Smokey Bear, a black bear cub that survived a 1950 wildfire in the Capitan Mountains and became a national symbol. The nearby Smokey Bear Historical State Park is the final resting place for the famous bear that passed away at Washington D.C.’s National Zoo in 1976. Lincoln National Forest includes parts of the Guadalupe, Sacramento, Sierra Blanca/White Mountains, Capitan, and Gallinas ranges. There are several long trails through the National Forest, including the 20-mile Crest Trail in the White Mountain Wilderness and the 11-mile South Base Trail in the Capitan Wilderness. All but one mile of the 29-mile-long Rim Trail is open to OHVs.

Highlights

Sunspot Scenic Byway, Billy the Kid Scenic Byway, Trestle Recreation Area, Sitting Bull Falls, Sierra Blanca Peak, Rim Trail, Willie White Trail, Dog Canyon National Recreation Trail, Capitan Peak Trail

Must-Do Activity

Sunspot Scenic Byway (State Road 6563) provides great views and access to one of the world’s largest solar observatories that is open for tours on summer weekends. At its remote southern end, the National Forest borders both Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks. Roads only connect with the latter, where a short detour takes you to the half-mile trail for 150-foot-tall Sitting Bull Falls. In 1898, the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway was constructed to access timberland 4,747 feet in the mountains above. One of its scenic remnants is the 320-foot trestle over Mexican Canyon near Cloudcroft. Lincoln National Forest has six fire lookouts listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the stone Monjeau Lookout built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) that is accessible on a steep dirt road. Given its proximity to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, it is not surprising that there are hundreds of caves in the National Forest that require a permit to explore.

Best Trail

Dog Canyon National Recreation Trail follows a prehistoric travel route into the Sacramento Mountains east of White Sands National Park. The trailhead starts in Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, which has a nice campground and charges a day use fee (though we have seen cars avoid this by parking just outside its entrance). The 5.5-mile one-way trail climbs quickly above a beautiful canyon providing views of the Tularosa Basin before leveling out. Past the cabin ruins at the three-mile point, look for fossils along the trail as it again steeply rises into the agave and cacti-studded mountains. After gaining more than 3,000 feet in elevation, it dead ends at Forest Road 90B.

Watchable Wildlife

Ecosystems in the National Forest vary widely since it is spread across several mountain ranges and encompasses Chihuahuan Desert, pinyon-juniper woodlands, pine forests, and alpine meadows above 11,000 feet. Game species include elk, mule deer, black bear, mountain lion, and exotic Barbary sheep.

Photographic Opportunity

Look for fossils in the rocks along Dog Canyon National Recreation Trail.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Fees

None

Road Conditions

The Sunspot Scenic Byway and the road into Oliver Lee Memorial State Park are both paved and maintained, although the paved access road (137) through Lincoln National Forest to the north part of Guadalupe Mountains National Park has many potholes in it. Be aware that there are also four-wheel-drive only roads to some trailheads.

Camping

There are a few developed campgrounds in the middle of the National Forest off Highway 82. Although not all areas are open to dispersed camping, popular spots include Upper Bonito Dispersed Camping Area northwest of Ruidoso and Lower Karr Canyon south of Cloudcroft.

Wilderness Areas

Capitan Wilderness

White Mountain Wilderness

Related Sites

Cibola National Forest (New Mexico)

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument (New Mexico)

Gila National Forest (New Mexico)

Nearest National Park

Carlsbad Caverns

Conifer Tree Species

ponderosa pine, pinyon pine, limber pine, one-seed juniper, Engelmann spruce, Douglas-fir, white fir

Flowering Tree Species

New Mexico locust, quaking aspen, bigtooth maple, Rocky Mountain maple, mountain-mahogany, hophornbeam, Texas madrone

Explore More – What was the Lincoln County War of 1878?

Learn more about this and the 154 other National Forests in our new guidebook Out in the Woods

California

Tule Lake National Monument

September 11, 2024 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Tule Lake National Monument

California

Managed by National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Established 2008

1,391 acres

Website: nps.gov/tule

Overview

Following the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order authorizing the detention of more than 110,000 U.S. citizens of Japanese descent at ten concentration camps in the contiguous United States. At Tule Lake War Relocation Center, 7,400 acres were enclosed by barbwire to hold about 12,000 people in northeast California. Once a loyalty questionnaire was distributed throughout the ten camps, those considered disloyal to the U.S. government were all shipped to the renamed Tule Lake Segregation Center, which held 18,789 inmates at its peak. Overcrowding, harassment, beatings, and a fatal farm accident led to riots and mass demonstrations, and martial law was declared from November 13, 1943 to January 15, 1944. This camp was the last to be closed on March 20, 1946, months after the end of the war. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 2006, and two years later became one of nine sites within World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument (which included Pearl Harbor National Memorial). When that was disbanded in 2019, Tule Lake National Monument was created.

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments. It is now available for sale on Amazon.com.

Highlights

Tulelake-Butte Valley Fairgrounds Museum, Tule Lake Segregation Center prison

Must-Do Activity

Most of the buildings at Tule Lake Segregation Center were moved elsewhere following the war. One of the few remaining structures is the prison, which is only accessible on ranger-guided tours offered Memorial Day to Labor Day on Thursdays through Sundays (call ahead for required reservations). The concrete jail had six cells to hold 24 men, but incarcerated over 100 at one time mostly outside in Army tents used as unheated punishment quarters. The prison is always visible from the National Park Service (NPS) visitor center off Highway 139. It is worth getting a tour to go inside to see original graffiti from inmates and the reinstalled metal doors that were purchased by a private citizen in the 1940s and kept at their farm for decades. Tulelake-Butte Valley Fairgrounds Museum (fee) has a one-hour audio tour and there are online virtual tours that show several sites within Tule Lake National Monument, including the inside of the jail prior to the restoration.

Best Trail

There are no designated trails there, but from the NPS visitor center near Newell you can photograph the rock formation known as Peninsula/Castle Rock (solely managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). It is also visible while checking out the rock art at Petroglyph Point within Lava Beds National Monument.

Photographic Opportunity

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was stationed at Camp Tulelake from 1935 to 1942, constructing 23 buildings and repairing canals. Several small groups of Japanese Americans were held at Camp Tulelake to separate them from the general population at Tule Lake Segregation Center. Later in the war, Italian and German POWs were stationed there before the buildings were transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Currently, tours of Camp Tulelake are not available due to ongoing preservation work, but you can photograph it through the fence on Hill Road and hike to bird viewing blinds in Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/tule/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

Ranger-guided tours require a reservation, but they are free. There is an entrance fee for the museum at Tulelake-Butte Valley Fairgrounds.

Road Conditions

Highway 139 and Hill Road are paved, but most of the roads through the former Tule Lake Segregation Center and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge are unpaved.

Camping

Indian Well Campground is located in Lava Beds National Monument near the visitor center and Cave Loop Road. Dirt roads in the nearby Modoc and Klamath National Forests provide free dispersed camping.

Minidoka National Historic Site (Idaho-Washington)

Amache National Historic Site (Colorado)

Tulelake-Butte Valley Fairgrounds Museum

Explore More – Providing crucial habitat along the Pacific Flyway, what type of migratory birds can be seen at Tule Lake, Clear Lake, and Modoc National Wildlife Refuges?

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments

Mississippi

Homochitto National Forest

March 6, 2024 Raven About The Parks 2 Comments

Homochitto National Forest

Mississippi

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Southern Region

373,497 acres (191,839 federal/ 181,658 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mississippi/recarea/?recid=28865

Overview

In southwest Mississippi, Homochitto National Forest is comprised of former cotton fields purchased and replanted with trees by the federal government in the 1930s. It is named for the 90-mile-long Homochitto (“huh-mah-CHIT-ah”) River that runs through the forest on its way to the Mississippi River south of Natchez. All six National Forests in Mississippi are managed as one administrative unit, including Bienville, De Soto, Delta, Holly Springs, Homochitto, and Tombigbee National Forests. The Homochitto district ranger station is located in Meadville.

Highlights

Clear Springs Lake Recreation Area, Pipes Lake Recreation Area, Mt. Nebo Recreation Area, Stephenson Lookout Tower, Pellucid Bayou, Brushy Creek Loop, Tally’s Creek Trail, Richardson Creek Trail

Must-Do Activity

Homochitto National Forest has developed facilities at three small lakes: Clear Springs, Pipes, and Mt. Nebo. A one-mile trail encircles scenic Clear Springs Lake, which has a picnic shelter built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1935 listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Elsewhere, Brushy Creek Loop is a 5.7-mile horse trail that is not recommended for hikers due to abundant mud and manure.

Best Trail

Just north of the Clear Springs Lake Campground is a trailhead (fee) for three long hiking trails, also maintained for mountain biking. Only the 10-mile-long Richardson Creek Trail was open during our visit with Tally’s Creek (10.8 miles) and Mill Branch (5.6 miles) closed due to downed trees. The route was well-marked with red blazes and had several nice bridges as it wound through the forested hills around Richardson Creek.

Watchable Wildlife

Clear Springs Lake has a sign warning of alligators, but we did not see any reptiles other than painted turtles. While camping overnight we heard what possibly was a frog making an interesting call that sounded like a lightsaber from Star Wars. Birds we spotted were a wild turkey, cardinal, goldfinch, and tufted titmouse. It is likely the National Forest allows hunting for white-tailed deer, wild turkey, ducks, and invasive wild pigs. Fishing for largemouth bass, catfish, and other species is allowed at Clear Springs, Pipes, and Mt. Nebo Lakes.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The picnic shelter at Clear Springs Lake was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1935 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Fees

Clear Springs Lake Recreation Area charges a day use fee of $5 per vehicle or half price with the America the Beautiful pass.

Road Conditions

The road is paved to Clear Springs Lake, about 32 miles east of Natchez.

Camping

There is a nice campground with showers on Clear Springs Lake, accessed by a paved road four miles south of Highway 84. Campsites with hookups cost $20 per night and those without cost $7.

Wilderness Areas

None

Related Sites

De Soto National Forest (Mississippi)

Natchez National Historical Park (Mississippi)

Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (Mississippi-Alabama-Tennessee)

Nearest National Park

Hot Springs

Conifer Tree Species

baldcypress, shortleaf pine, loblolly pine, longleaf pine

Flowering Tree Species

tulip-poplar, American beech, water oak, Nuttall oak, cherrybark oak, southern red oak, sweet bay, red maple, swamp red maple, horse sugar, chesnut oak, sweetgum, devil’s walkingstick, American holly, hophornbeam, southern magnolia, umbrella magnolia, tupelo gum, flowering dogwood

Explore More – The Homochitto River still carries its Choctaw name, which translates as what?

Learn more about this and the 154 other National Forests in our new guidebook Out in the Woods

South Dakota, Wyoming

Black Hills National Forest

May 11, 2022 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Black Hills National Forest

South Dakota, Wyoming

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region

1,534,471 acres (1,253,308 federal/ 281,163 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/blackhills

Overview

Straddling the Wyoming-South Dakota border is a region known as the Black Hills, where a gold rush took place in the mid-1870s. The area was a traditional hunting ground for American Indians and site of the sacred Bear Butte, which led to numerous conflicts. The hills may be called black because of the ponderosa pine forests that dominate the rocky landscape that rises above the surrounding prairie. Explore some of its 353 miles of trails on foot, drive the miles of back roads, and be sure to keep an eye out for wildlife.

Highlights

Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway, Black Elk Peak, Pactola Reservoir, Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, Bridal Veil Falls, Centennial Trail, Old Baldy Trail, Flume National Recreation Trail, Buzzards Roost Trail

Must-Do Activity

In Wyoming, scenic Bear Lodge Road cuts through the forest between Sundance and Alva, east of Devils Tower National Monument. In South Dakota, we love Black Hills National Forest because it offers tranquil dispersed camping not far from the hubbub that surrounds Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Roughlock Falls, and Deadwood. To escape the crowds, hike a portion of the 111-mile Centennial Trail or 108-mile George S. Mickelson Rail Trail (which is free to hike or bike, but requires a parking fee at its official trailheads).

Best Trail

Rising in the center of the Black Elk Wilderness is 7,242-foot tall Black Elk Peak (formerly Harney Peak), the highest spot in South Dakota and the highest point in the U.S. east of the Rocky Mountains. Trails to the summit start from near Mount Rushmore National Memorial (4.7 miles one-way) and Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park (parking fee, 3.8 miles one-way).

Watchable Wildlife

Elk can be found spread throughout Black Hills National Forest, but these nocturnal ungulates are elusive. Mule deer, white-tailed deer, bighorn sheep, pronghorns, prairie dogs, and turkeys are more commonly sighted. While driving past Mount Rushmore National Memorial keep an eye out for mountain goats that were introduced to this area. Both Wind Cave National Park (free) and Custer State Park (entrance fee) have herds of bison, but fences keep them out of the National Forest.

Instagram-worthy Photo

West of Rapid City, South Dakota on Highway 44 is the trailhead for the Buzzards Roost trail system. Loops of different lengths connect to the scenic overlook at Buzzards Roost Lookout, the shortest option being 1.1 miles one-way.

Peak Season

Summer, plus Buffalo Roundup weekend (late September)

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Iron Mountain Road (Highway 16A) is part of the Peter Norbeck National Scenic Byway where you will discover the meaning of the term “pigtail bridges.” Although it cuts through Custer State Park, you do not have to pay the entrance fee if you are driving straight through. We have found the dirt roads in Black Hills National Forest to be well maintained throughout the year.

Camping

The U.S. Forest Service operates 32 campgrounds (no RV hookups) with nominal fees, especially compared to Custer State Park. There is also a campground at Wind Cave National Park, but we prefer dispersed camping along Forest Service roads although you have to be careful of private property boundaries.

Wilderness Areas

Black Elk Wilderness

Related Sites

Mount Rushmore National Memorial (South Dakota)

Jewel Cave National Monument (South Dakota)

Badlands National Park (South Dakota)

Nearest National Park

Wind Cave (South Dakota)