A Walk In The Park With Parker | Lake Lowndes State Park

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – We’ve reached another weekend, and it’s perfect for a quick stay-cation.

For our next stop of our summer-long series “A Walk In The Park with Parker,” we take you to a park that is very near to us at WCBI, quite literally.

It’s just down the street; Lake Lowndes State Park.

“Lake Lowndes was started to be constructed in 1961, and then it became opened in 1964,” described Park Manager, Penny Wyers.

Originally part of Lowndes County, it wasn’t long before this park added “state” next to its name.

“In 1971, it was deeded to the state park commission, and it became Lake Lowndes State Park,” Wyers said.

Just north of 700 acres, a large chunk of that is taken up by its namesake, Lake Lowndes.

“The lake is man-made, and it is a beautiful 150-acre lake,” the manager said. “People kayak, they canoe, they boat, they ski, and inner tube on weekends, which is Saturdays, Sundays, and major holidays. Then Monday through Friday we have it idle speed only.”

Lake Lowndes’ handicap accessible pier gets a good number of people from across the area.

On land, the Opossum Nature Trail is your best bet for a hiking experience.

“It’s 3.5 miles. It goes over little creeks, up and down hills,” Wyers said and would later show us.

Another option allows you to tour nature from a higher point of view.

“We also have a 7 mile horse trail that can also be used as a mountain bike trail,” said Wyers.

With so many miles of trails, the state parks department has color-coded the paths so no one gets lost.

While we didn’t see any, Wyers says the best part of the trail isn’t on the ground.

It’s in the trees.

“We also have a family of bald eagles that live on the horse trail,” she said with a grin.

At the end of the day, Lake Lowndes can help you make a weekend of your stay, with 6 cabins, a primitive section, and 50 campsites, all of which are full serviced.

If you decide only to stay the day, the park has plenty of recreational options that make it unique to the parks department.

“We are the only one in the state that has a basketball court,” Wyers said. “People just come out on a daily basis and shoot basketball. And then we also are the only ones that have a football field, and it’s also used for soccer. Then six tennis courts, we have three playing fields for baseball/softball, and we also have a walking track that is used on a daily basis.”

For Wyers, she’s been working for Lake Lowndes nearly eleven years, but her history with the park, personally, goes beyond that.

“I actually grew up here a Lake Lowndes, since I was a little girl,” she reminisced. “I’ve loved this park; it’s been a part of my heart. I have a large passion for this park. I would have never imagined or dreamed that one day I would’ve been the park manager here at Lake Lowndes, and I’m blessed and fortunate. This is definitely the place that I want to be, and it is definitely in my heart. I love this place, and I know if you come and check it out you’ll love it just as much as I do.”

RELATED: A Walk In The Park With Parker | Tombigbee State Park

Catch us next Friday for another walk in the park.

As always you can find the fascinating stories we found at each park, on our website, A Walk In The Park With Parker.