Page 91 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2020

One of two designated National Recreational Trails in southern Mississippi, the Tuxachanie Trail begins at the U.S. Highway 49 trailhead between Saucier and McHenry. It meanders eastward 11.4 miles through the 518,587-acre De Soto National Forest, the largest national forest in Mississippi. A portion of the
trail near Highway 49 follows a “dummy line,” an abandoned railroad track used to transport timber from the forest to a sawmill about a century ago.
“The trail goes through a variety of habitats and vegetation types,” explained Robert Reams, a U.S. Forest Service spokesperson in Brooklyn, Miss. “The rst several miles are pretty level because they encompass a dummy line railroad. Once the trail leaves the dummy line, it’s still pretty level because that area doesn’t have much of a topography change as the trail heads eastward.” The rst ve miles of the well-marked trail remain fairly at and very easy to
walk. For
the rst quarter of a mile from Highway 49, the hard-packed trail surface allows people in wheelchairs access to nature. Near the western trailhead, people go past a pond lled with water lilies. Longleaf and loblolly pines dominate low sandy ridges in the uplands crisscrossed by some hardwood-lined creeks owing under various oaks, beech and magnolia trees in the lower elevations.
“I was really pleased with the hiking on the trail,” commented Don Redman of Slidell, Louisiana, who visited with his wife, Karen and their grandson Noah Reis. “I really enjoyed the diversity of vegetation going from a wet bottomland to an elevated piney forest. It’s very easy to walk, which makes it a great place for families to go together.”
On the trail, hikers might spot white-tailed deer and other animals. Depending upon the season and location, birdwatchers could also see various herons, egrets, owls, hawks, woodpeckers, assorted songbirds, possibly waterfowl or other feathered creatures.
The trail continues generally northeastward to the Airey Lake Recreation Area. Open all year long, the campground sits on the edge of a three- acre lake. Many people sh the lake for largemouth bass and other species. From Airey Lake, the Tuxachanie Trail swings
southeast to a section marked “POW Lake Recreation Area” on the map.
What people call the “German POW Camp” was actually a U.S. Navy ri e range during World War II. Don’t expect to see barracks, barbed wire and guard towers. In fact, the area never housed enemy prisoners of war at all. Little remains of the ring range except the ruins of several concrete ammunition bunkers.
However, more than 20,000 German and Italian POWs were held in four camps in Mississippi including Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg. Prisoners from Camp Shelby helped build the lake at POW Lake Recreation Area, cut timber in the forest and other projects during the war.
“I enjoyed walking the trail very much,” summed up Cheryl Warner Lavigne,
also from Slidell who visited with her friend Kevin Roberts from Picayune. “The scenery was lovely with pretty little owers here and there and some running water in the creeks. I had no idea about the prisoners of war in this area. That’s pretty interesting history.”
Visitors need not walk the entire distance. Besides the Highway 49 trailhead, people can drive to the Airey Lake Recreation Area and the POW Lake Recreation Area.
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living | www.smliving.net
July 2020 | 91
The crumbling ruins of concrete ammunition bunkers mark where a U.S. Navy ri e range existed during World War II.