Aiery Lake is a great place to fish, a great place to camp and a great place to take photos. It is…read morealso a great place for an embarrassing story from yours truly. This area of The Desoto National Forest is a good stopping point while hiking the Tuxachanie Trail. Depending where you begin your hike, this area is either 13 miles or 8 miles from the beginning of the trail. Personally I would rather do my long hike on the first day and the short hike the next day, but either way, Aiery Lake is a good stopping point. There are several areas to camp at Aiery Lake including some closer to the parking area. I think if you get away from the parking area you will have a more enjoyable experience, but if you want to be close to your vehicle, you can be. There aren't many facilities here, but there are actual bathrooms which is much nicer than digging a latrine in the middle of the woods (I know from firsthand experience). The Lake itself is beautiful. On a calm day the surface of the lake looks like glass and gives the perfect reflection of the sky and surrounding wilderness. If you're like me and love the view of objects reflected in the water, this is a must see. My kid thinks it would be pretty neat if I could somehow catch the mirror image of my Jeep reflected on a lake, but I have yet to find a suitable location. The lake here doesn't have vehicle access to the opposite side so I will have to keep searching. I am not much of a fisherman, but based on the number of people fishing, I suspect fishing is pretty good in the lake. If I would have had a pole I would have gladly sat around all day taking in that view, drinking beer and pretending to fish. Since I didn't have any of those items, I just watched others fish. So there are all of the reasons to go to Aiery Lake. Even if you are just passing through, it is a beautiful area and I encourage you to stop. As for this area being the location of an embarrassing story, I am somewhat reluctant to tell it, so please don't ridicule me too badly. Many years ago when I was a 13 or 14 year old Boy Scout, my troop hiked the Tuxachanie Trail. When we were almost to Aiery Lake we noticed two or three similarly aged girls and decided to try and impress them. In my underdeveloped juvenile brain I decided that the way to impress the girls was to use my "talent" of singing. I chose what was quite the popular song at the time and as we approached them I started singing. I must have underestimated the distance between us and them because by the time we passed I had come to part of the song which went a little something like this: "I did it like this, I did it like that, I did it with a wiffle ball bat sooooo I'm on the run, the cops got my gun........". As you can probably guess my lyrics were overwhelmingly unsuccessful in impressing anyone, much less the girls. I don't know if it was my singing, or if they saw some sort of poisonous reptile, but they ran as fast as their legs would carry them in the opposite direction. Later that evening in the camp site we decided a reconnaissance mission was in order. My friends and I walked over to their area and stood in the darkness trying to work up the courage to talk to them. I guess lurking behind a tree wasn't very impressive either as we got the cold shoulder once again. Looking back all I can do is laugh at how awkward and embarrassing the entire experience was. So there you have it. Aiery Lake is a great place unless you're a goofy awkward teenager.

Loved this place for a day hike! The trails are well maintained and there is plenty of parking…read more There are also trash cans and a public restroom at the parking location. They have several large campsites as well right by the lake.

A great trail! It feels like it goes on forever and they have all sorts of different scenes in the…read morewoods. The actors can come out of nowhere. It's good for all ages because they take each group seperately, if you want to bring kids but dont want them completely freaked out, they give you the option to tone it down for your group. Or if you're adults they just go all out!

We stayed a week at the POW campsite. The trails were great. We'll marked and easy. The pons is…read morebeautiful with a beaver dam raising the level a little. I would recommend this site for a short boondocks stay. Now the drawbacks. No water , no dumpsite. No picnic tables or fire rings. My wife and I spent one day just picking up the garbage and the remains of homeless tents and garbage. Busy with hunters and campers.

Years ago someone started the trend of the milestone review. Every 100 reviews, you're supposed to…read morereview something special. For my 1400th, I've chosen somewhere that was very special to me as a kid, but remains special as an adult. This review will be a little long winded so if that scares you off, go ahead and stop reading now. Back when I was a teenager my scout troop came here because it was the starting point of our backpacking trip on the Tuxachanie Trail. I was pretty much uninterested in history then, but when I learned the area once housed a WWII POW Camp, I was fascinated. Not much was left of the camp back then. It was just a few concrete bunkers that my juvenile mind thought were the remains of prison cells. It wasn't until much later that I realized they were the remains of ammo bunkers. My friends and I ran around like maniacs and climbed all over that bunkers. Had we known what was in store, we would have chosen to rest instead. The Tuxachanie Trail is 22 miles one way if you hike the whole thing. Most people start at the opposite end, but we started here as it is 13 miles to the nearest camping area. While on the trail we saw snakes, birds, trees, wildflowers and a whole lot of woodland scenery. I packed smart, but most of my friends did not. Those packs began to get mighty heavy around mile five. The memories of that hike are much more vivid, and in some cases funny, but for brevity sake, I will explain why it's still special today, and why I think you should visit this area. Despite the ominous sounding name, there really isn't much that would make you know this was once a POW camp for German soldiers. The aforementioned bunkers are still there, but now that I know what they were for, it isn't as frightening as when I thought they were prison cells. The area near the bunkers is a giant space that's been cleared of trees. Next to that area is a large and beautiful lake filled with water lilies, bullfrogs and small fish. The view from the shore was quite beautiful in particular the reflection of the surrounding forest and sky on the surface of the lake. The juxtaposition of the perfectly still water and the ever changing clouds was truly magnificent. Had it not been so sweltering hot, I could have stood there for hours. So for most people, this is where the review would end. But as you may have learned from my previous reviews, I am not most people. I noticed it as soon as I started driving away from the lake. There it was just calling to me. A good ole American dirt road and I just had to explore it. The road from the POW Camp is not for the faint of heart (car drivers). While it is mainly gravel and suitable for 2WD vehicles, it was rutted in some areas so higher clearance would help. The drive through the woods was peaceful and fairly uneventful. But the little trail I found off of the dirt road led me to paradise. I took that trail not knowing where it led or what was in store for me. It was blocked by a fallen tree, but it was no match for my well-equipped, yet stylish vehicle. I just put it in 4WD and climbed right over that thing. Hell Yeah! Enough of that badassery and back to the reason I mentioned the trail. The trail ended up leading to a different area of the lake that I had not seen before. This area was even more beautiful as it was filled with lilies as far as the eye could see. This is the area where I felt the most at peace. I felt fulfilled. I realize that will probably sound too touchy feely especially after I just mentioned the badassery of driving over a tree, but I am never happier than when I am out in the wilderness. Maybe it's all the time I spent in the woods as a kid. Maybe it's the fact that the woods let the hustle and bustle of everyday life seem like just a distant memory. Maybe it's something else. All I know is that being surrounded by trees is an experience every red blooded American should have, and one they should have regularly. Did I lose you? If not, thanks for reading.

Well maintained facility, lovely drive to location, great parking, cute little museumread more

Outstanding national park by gulf coast. Yelp gets no stars for surveys. Excellent ranger serviceread more

This is a great little trail in town and close to everything. Yet you feel like you are miles away…read morefrom everything. It's easy to get to. Parking is a gravel lot. The trail is partially improved and partially worn trail. There were several spots impassable due to the recent rains. We had a ton of fun.

Great time! Office was very responsive! I was able to call and reserve our tubing trip and all…read morepaperwork was ready for us when we got there!

Did a Groupon for one of the zip lining adventures for two. We came during off season so it was…read moreonly the two of us lol. Approx 1.5 hours away from Destin but the drive wasn't terrible. You sign a waiver and you have to weigh between 70 to 250 pounds for the zip line. Our two tour guides Jaeda and Spencer were amazing. As someone who's never zip lined before, they were comforting and patient. I think this zip line tour was good for beginners and kids. I think there were 10(?) zip lines that were approx 300 feet each. I'd prefer a longer one next time!

Beautiful scenery about a hour and a half from Jackson, MS. Locating it using Waze and Google Maps…read morewas difficult. It could use publicizing and signage. It's not a well defined hiking path, but worth it.

This hike did not disappoint! It was well worth it. So breathtaking. Trail isn't maintained, but…read moreyou can still see a path well enough to follow it.

A trip to New Orleans... You must experience the bayou. There are plenty of parking. I highly…read morerecommend going in the morning especially when the weather is warm. Bring bug spray. If you are like me, bugs love me! Came here September 2018. It was warm. It was closer to 11am. We had hats. We also had umbrellas. There is trail. A lovely board walk that is well kept. It is very accessible for all ages and all abilities. Wheelchairs accessible is a plus in my book! Lots of huge dragon flies and big butterflies here. Some bugs we couldnt see but we sure can HEAR THEM!!!! Didn't see a gator. We were looking though! Check this trail out! It's nice!

Born on the bayou…read more.. This could a bit biased, I'm from NY and there are no bayous. The wooden plank trail is in very good shape, noticed more trail has yet to be completed. It's a ridge trail boardwalk is about 1/2 a mile long. I wish I was able to explore more of the 25,000 acres as boating, fishing, crabbing/craw-fishing and bird watching opportunities. Plenty of parking and clean restrooms. Unfortunately, did not see any gators. Will be back!