Page 100 - Play Coastal Mississippi - Summer, 2025

GOLF & OUTDOORS
HIDDEN ADVENTURES FOR NATURE LOVERS
Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, you can enjoy beautiful beaches, magnificent casinos, hotels, restaurants, and numerous recreational opportunities, but some people like to get off the beaten path. Fortunately, Coastal Mississippi offers many places to get back to nature.
At Shepard State Park in Gautier, visitors find biking or hiking trails, campsites, a disc golf course, and a “Bark Park.” At the enclosed Bark Park, let the tail-waggers run and play freely. Try fishing, kayaking, or motorboating on the nearby Pascagoula River with easy access to the Mississippi Sound.
Not far away, hikers and birdwatchers might spot the rare subspecies of Mississippi sandhill cranes at the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. Only about 200 Mississippi sandhill cranes exist. Most live on or near the 20,000-acre refuge near Gautier. Hike the 3/4-mile- long C. L. Dees Trail or the one-mile-long Fontainebleau Trail looking for cranes and other wildlife. The refuge protects and restores the nation’s last remaining wet pine savanna habitat in the nation for the endangered cranes. Stop in the Visitor Center to see interactive exhibits and watch a 12-minute film.
The Gulf Islands National Seashore covers 160 miles and 140,000 acres of the Gulf coastline and Barrier Islands. Petit Bois and Horn islands between Biloxi and Pascagoula receive additional federal protection as designated wilderness areas. Visitors can camp on all the Mississippi Barrier Islands except Ship Island. Anyone can board an excursion boat to Ship Island and fish, swim, sunbathe, or tour historic Fort Massachusetts.
Story by John N. Felsher
Mississippi Sandhill Cranes
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