Nestled along the back roads of Tishomingo County, this park feels like a second home. With hiking…read moretrails for every level of experience, there's truly something for everyone. The campground offers over 60 sites, plus six cozy cabins. Three of these are rustic stone cabins with two rooms each, while the other three are smaller, single-room cabins. Cabin Six has been beautifully updated with new floors, furniture, appliances, and a modern bathroom. For larger groups, the park also has three group camp cabins--each with 20 bunk beds and spacious bathrooms that include showers, toilets, and sinks. The park is full of history and adventure. Visitors can explore the Pioneer Cabin and its nearby waterfall, or cross the famous swinging bridge--a suspension bridge that stretches 25 feet over Bear Creek. On the other side, you'll find two trails perfect for bouldering, rock climbing, or simply wandering through the forest. Wildlife is abundant, with deer, squirrels, raccoons, and plenty of other critters calling the park home. There are three scenic pavilions for picnics or gatherings. Pavilion One has restrooms nearby, Pavilion Two overlooks Haines Lake, and Pavilion Three also offers a beautiful view of the water. The dining hall is available for weddings, reunions, meetings, and other special events. Fishing enthusiasts will love the three fishing spots: Haines Lake, a quiet pond behind the Pioneer Cabin, and Bear Creek beneath the swinging bridge. For families, the park includes two playgrounds, a sports field, and plenty of picnic tables with cast-iron grills scattered throughout. Outdoor fun continues with three disc golf courses designed for different skill levels. And when it's time to clean up, the campground features two bathhouses that are always kept tidy by the hardworking park staff. Tishomingo State Park is more than just a destination--it's a place where history, nature, and community come together.

Beautiful park. Stayed in cabin 6. Updated and well kept. Doesn't feel like Mississippi at all here.read more

Great place to picnic, swim, fish, kayak, hike, and mountain bike. Most mountain bike trails are…read moreacross the road from the river near ranger station.

We loved hiking in this nature preserve. It is definitely off the beaten path (literally a drive…read moredown a gravel road). There are beautiful wooded trails and a pretty overlook. Our hike was a loop that took us through a waterfall, woods and an overlook. The hours are limited: weekend hours only and it closes at 5 pm. It is part of a land trust. I recommend this preserve for hikers, nature lovers and those that love exploring trails off the beaten path.

Such a lovely private preserve! Clean, well managed, clear signage & maps. We went when there was a…read moredrought, but would love to go back k when we can see the waterfalls.

This is my experience as someone who came here just to hike. The trails are great! They are not…read moreovergrown and the trail markers are bright and large! I would appreciate some wood signs discerning the junctions from one another. There are several social trails that will mislead you and could easily be fixed with a social trail sign or caution tape. I color coded the map attached to this review to show my route. I parked at the trailhead for the fitness trail. I walked the pink line to the museum and walked the yellow line back. Once I took a break, I did the green line. Due to poor planning I didn't realize the bike trail wasn't a loop and so I didn't intend to do two there and back hikes I'm not sure why it's not a loop as it could likely be connected from where it ends at the amphitheater to the 0.40 mile mark on the part of the bike trail headed straight to the museum... The visitor center/museum can be walked to from the bike trail. It's got information and artifacts from David Crockett's life and stuff. They also have several birds of prey outside that you can view anytime. The park rangers are very friendly and helpful when kids want to learn about the birds.

Stayed here for one night camping in hammocks. We actually got an tv spot because we were on the…read moreHarleys and it was a good place to park and also the bathhouse. Extremely clean park and the facilities were excellent. Will stay again if in the area.

What a nice gem of a park, right in the middle of Florence. Accessible from almost any direction…read morequickly. The staff does a fantastic job keeping the grounds. Plenty of wide walking and running trails around a couple of beautiful ponds, and in mature woods. The playground and picnic areas look good also. It is safe, the people are great.

Favorite place to walk, run, cycle, and hang out anytime of the year. The park is actually well…read morekept, clean, and secure. Lots of park benches, trash cans, and pet poopie bag disposal stations spaced out along the trail for your convenience. Oh yeah, pets are welcome at this park, so watch your step as some folks let there pets poop and fail to clean up after them. The park does offer city water fountains but I would bring my own water since I have seen folks let there pets drink from the water fountain. Gross! This park has several ponds full of fish and turtles. Lots of pine trees perfectly spaced out for hanging your hammock. Several grassy areas to picnic, yoga, sunbathe etc. The playground area is very nice also. This park does have restrooms.

This is a really cool park. It was decorated for Christmas but we were there during the day. Down…read moreby the river there are a mirage of ducks. There is a food stand where you can put a quarter in and get a handful of corn to feed them. Do that and they will follow you around. They were well behaved ducks, not obnoxious in any way. We were here in December. There are concessions, merry go round and little train that would. E operating in the summer. We were just traveling thru after visiting the Helen Keller house and grounds and happened to find this park. Glad we did.

An amazing park to while away a bit of time. I especially liked the waterfall.the setting is serene…read morewith fountains, water wheels, ducks, a statue to commemorate the Trail of Tears and more besides the waterfalls. The park was quite busy on my day there. It was a particularly beautiful Tursday afternoon and people were just enjoying being alive and spending time in this beautiful park. Large trees kept the sun at bay in places, plus provided a beautiful contrast to walking through nature's landscape, walking between brilliant sunshine and the serene calmness of a step in the shadows. I sit in a little picnic area as I write this, enjoying not only the scenery that surrounds me and the calming sound of the waterfall, but the calmness that this park evoked within me, a realization how brilliant the gift of life truly is.

This is a hidden treasure of North Florence area. It's on Wood Avenue , in 7 points. This quiet…read morelittle park is a great place to go read a book and let the fresh air and serinity just take you away. If you wanted to take your dog to a nice little walk and look around at the art on the buildings, it's right down your alley.

The flora, fauna, and typography of this canyon are not very different from any other hiking area I…read morehave hiked in Alabama. It's very similar to Bankhead National Forest. The size of the sheer bluffs (and many of the rocks) at Dismals is fairly unique, though. We visited this past weekend and I thought the whole experience was okay. It's not a National Park, or a National Forest, Dismals is a "National Natural Landmark" that is privately owned. The cost in my humble opinion to hike (without a guide) the Dismals *and* take the night tour with a guide is expensive! It was approximately $28.00 per adult. The trail is around 1.5 miles - at least the trail we explored in the daytime before taking the night tour. The creek running through the base was deep enough that there needed to be ways to cross it that were navigable, preferably with handrails. In photos, I've seen concrete blocks, which would have been okay (note, not handrails) but there were no concrete block crossing at areas we needed/wanted to get across the water. There were random pieces of wood, even fallen trees and my husband, who is both a "daredevil" and in great shape, managed to traverse the waters to see the other side, but he did land in the water (on his feet) and absolutely soaked his shoes and socks. The three of us opted to backtrack and not deal with the water. To me, this is very poor planning on the part of the Dismals owners. The trail map we got from the "General Store" had landmarks which were just "cute" names for the features, like "The Pulpit" and "Witches Den" - to me, they were fairly unremarkable "landmarks." Fast forward to the night tour which was scheduled for 9:00 PM. We were told to arrive at 8:30 and if everyone was early, we could start early. I did not note the time we started, however, it was about a 45 minute hike. Parts of this hike were in total, 100 percent darkness to ensure we had the utmost opportunity to view the "Dismalites." That's fine, except, I'm not a fan of walking in uneven/unfamiliar terrain in the pitch dark, with my husband dragging me forward in a group of 13 people counting the guide. This was unnerving and I moved at a snail's pace, and held up those who were stuck behind me. Also, I was hanging onto the rail with one hand and couldn't physically rubberneck around to try to catch a view of a glowworm. I think I saw a total of twelve glow worms. After exiting the night tour trails, we saw firefly larvae that glowed in the shallow water at the entrance to the trail. To me, this was the highlight of the glowing visuals. Another con is the numerous wooden staircases at the Dismals trail's entrance/exit. There is absolutely no way these are constructed to code! These stairs are so narrow in depth that my size 8 ladies shoes, (which is an average women's shoe size) hung off the edge about 2 inches, forcing me to "duck walk" down the stairs. Even if they are built to code, the stair treads are completely worn off, providing absolutely no traction whatsoever. The guide told us due to the "drought" the Dismalite glowworms were not out in abundance. If you keep your expectations low, and really enjoy a sandstone gorge/canyon, and are not risk averse, you will have a nice time here. Our tour guide did a good job providing information that was geared towards the audience which included age ranges from children to senior citizens. I can't comment on the "General Store" food options because we didn't eat anything there, or the campsites (note, the on-site cabins are closed and unavailable). The sole restroom which is a little walk from the General Store and is clean with a barely working hand dryer and no paper towels. The parking lot is ridiculously small with each space being beyond small. The owners of the Dismals need to invest in their property to make it worthwhile, easy to traverse, and safe for their visitors.

Parents Beware Before Approving School Field Trips Here…read more I want to share my recent experience as a concerned parent. Our children's school scheduled a field trip to Dismals Canyon and collected payment for the students. Parents were originally told that we could attend for a $20 fee -- but at the very last minute, the site informed the school that parents would no longer be allowed to go. When I contacted the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce (who were kind and helpful), they reached out to Dismals Canyon for clarification. The canyon's staff claimed the decision was due to parking limitations, parents distracting the kids from learning, and tight spaces. However, this change was communicated only after money had already been collected and plans were finalized. Parents deserve transparency, especially when it involves children's safety at a location with cliffs, caves, and water features. I strongly urge other parents and schools to ask clear written confirmation of parent policies before sending children on field trips here. Families should not be excluded or misled after payments and plans have been made.

Definitely a pretty little park in downtown Florence. Big fountain and a statue of W. C. Handy…read more Nice for a quick walk around the park on a pretty day.

The park is nice and beautiful and it's right in the middle of Downtown Florence and right next to…read moremy daddy's workplace as well which is even better! I highly recommend it!

My kids love this park. Everytime we're in Decatur they ask to come here. It's beautifully designed…read moreand very safe.

A decent park in Decatur, Alabama. It is decently sized and pleasant to walk. Parks offer a respite…read morefrom the hustle and bustle of this ever building world, a glimpse of nature that is quickly disappearing in the name of "progress."