Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Reservoir Overlook: Mile 105.6
This overlook on top of a hill gives you a good view out over Ross Barnett Reservoir,
alongside which the Trace goes for about eight miles. Double-crested cormorant, Canada
goose, and various duck species can be seen on the lake during winter.
Note: Highway 43: Mile 114: Highway 43 east will take you a short distance to Pearl River
waterfowl refuge and Ross Barnett Reservoir (discussed later in this chapter).
Cypress Swamp: Mile 122.0
Leading through a truly impressive cypress and tupelo swamp in an old portion of the
Pearl River, this trail includes boardwalks that give easy and excellent views of prothonotary
warblers and Louisiana waterthrushes in the early summer. Watch the trees for the warblers
and the waterline for the waterthrushes. Numerous great-crested flycatchers can be found
here, and the trail goes through a wooded area to an arm of the river for views over water
and over marshes. The marshes are a good spot to listen for king rail, and the woods between
the swamp and the river seem to be a focal point for migrants headed to more northern areas.
Migrants such as magnolia warbler can be found here until quite late in the spring migration.
Summer tanager and red-headed woodpecker are common in these woods. Watch the skies
over the river for possible Mississippi kites in summer.
Myrick Creek: Mile 145.1
This area displays the effects that beavers have had on the landscape, and the swampy bot-
tomlands here are a regular spot for prothonotary warbler, pine warbler, red-bellied wood-
pecker, white-eyed vireo, and other woodland species.
Hurricane Creek: Mile 164.3
Various soil conditions are encountered along this short trail as it goes through bottomlands
and up to a dry ridge. The woods here collect migrants; I have spotted Swainson's thrush here
during spring migration.
Cole Creek: Mile 175.6
This short trail leads through a tupelo/bald cypress swamp. Prothonotary warbler is a reg-
ular here during the spring and summer.
