A Walk In The Park With Parker – Trace State Park

LEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Another week is behind us, but that means another weekend is in front of us.

With another installment of A Walk In The Park with Parker, here is Trace State Park.

If you know this park’s history, it’s got a little bit less water than it normally does, but there’s still plenty to do on it’s 2,500 acres of land.

Let’s take a look at Trace State Park.

According to Park Manager, Josh Massey, “In the late 60’s, it started off as being an NRCS lake, watershed lake, and then the county used it as a park. Then, the state took it over in ’84, I believe.”

Named after the famous Natchez Trace Parkway, this park’s unique hiking experience has been drawing visitors from all over for decades.

“We have 14 miles of mountain bike and hiking trails,” Massey said. “They were just put in the last couple of years by the mountain bike club and took in our hiking trails so they can do both. We also have 35 miles of ATV trails. You can ride ATV’s, dirt bikes. You can ride horses out there.”

Another outdoor activity is Trace’s disc golf courses.

It may look like a normal course, but its layout is what brings the challenge.

“It’s one of the top professional courses in the area,” said Massey, who’s played disc golf himself for 22 years, “We’ve actually had a tournament out here a few years back, and one of the number one players in the country… that’s when he became the number one player.”

Staying for a few days or over the weekend?

Trace has plenty of rental sites to serve campers, however they prefer to set up.

“We have eight cabins, so we can rent out the cabins and cottages. We have 76 campsites, developed campsites, and we’ve got 16 primitive campsites,” the park manager described.

As we mentioned, there’s a little less water in Trace than there normally is.

The 500 plus acre Trace Lake has been drained since April of last year, due to levee complications.

Massey says work continues to get water and people back in the lake as soon as possible.

“We’re coming back with it,” he said. “We’re going to do, hopefully, the work on the front side of the levee either this year ofr next year, coming up. We’re hoping to get it done pretty soon. It’s a rain-fed lake, so it kind of depends on how much rain we get and how quick it will come back.”

Until then, the park’s smaller 12-acre lake serves visitors who like to fish.

“This is where we do our catfish rodeos every year, so there’s catfish in it. There’s bass and there’s brim in it,” said Massey.

Massey has been with Trace for 12 years, manager for the last three.

He says working for the state’s second largest park can keep any person on their toes.

“I really enjoy this park,” he said. “I enjoy the faster pace of this park. We’d love for everybody to come out and just enjoy the day or spend a weekend with us. It’s going to cool off soon, and it’s perfect camping weather.”

That’ll do for us here.

Be sure to tune in next time for another walk in the park.

You can find more information on Trace State Park here.