By:
Submission
Trace State Park is located 9 miles West of Tupelo, MS and 8 miles East of Pontotoc, MS on MS Hwy 6. Signs are present on MS Hwy 6, the park is located approximately 2 miles off of MS Hwy 6 on Faulkner Road in Pontotoc County.
Rugged ATV trails were very enjoyable. The paths covered a lot of ground. At times they were difficult to find or follow; but overall a well kept park. Easy to spend a lot of time there. We plan on returning to camp in the future.
Great park.. Right off the Natchez Trace.. Around the half way mark.. Lots of wildlife in park.. Good sites, lots of trails , fishing hiking biking.
We spent 3 nights, camping and riding OHV trails and it was fantastic. The park is super clean and well maintained. Rangers are friendly and helpful. RV pads are flat and bug free, no ants to be seen.
The OHV trails offer a little bit of everything for all levels of rider. They could use better markings and the map only scratches the surface.
The wildlife is amazing to see! Deer are not really scared of bikes so you can just stop and watch.
This was our first trip but will not be our last. Looking forward to going back.
We stayed at Trace State Park in January in the Eagle Ridge loop, site 38. We had previewed the park while staying at Barnes Crossing in Tupelo to make sure the cell service would be good enough to work. It is! We full-time and spent just over a week here. We hadn't planned on that long but we had an issue with our truck and had to extend a few days. That was not an issue as we were one of only 4 campers this time of year. It was cold most days but the setting is so serene and quiet that we didn't mind.
As others have said, the roads in the park are horrible but just go slow and you'll be fine. We had no issues in our 40' fiver. We were in site 38 which is about a mile and a half long and sits out on its own little peninsula. Even if someone had been in sites 37 and 39, this site sits so far out that we wouldn't have seen either of them when looking out our windows. I work from the road so cell service is critical. On Open Signal I was testing at around 100 Mbps on Verizon, so needless to say, signal is good. We were able to stream and work at the same time.
Across the lake is the Pontotoc Country Club and campers at the state park get to golf for free! You just pay the $15 cart fee. Tee times are needed on weekends but on weekdays you can just walk in. "Country Club" may be a bit of an exaggeration but the course is nice.
They have laundry, 3 washers and 3 dryers (in the Eagle Ridge loop) which are $1.50 each. Just be sure to bring quarters as the not-too-friendly staff at the front office don't ever seem to have quarters. Wash time is 29 minutes, dry is 60 and you can add time with each additional quarter before the cycle ends.
There are no trash cans actually in the campground, which is odd. There are 2 huge dumpsters at the split in the road between the Eagle Ridge and Deer Run loops but it's quite a hike to get to them. There is also no recycling anywhere in the county. Big negative.
There are 3 main hiking trails between 3-6 miles. Not terribly challenging but not just flat trails either and you go through some beautiful scenery.
We loved this campground and definitely want to come back when it's a little warmer and we can enjoy sitting outside without freezing. There is sometimes a little road noise in the distance but not bothersome at all. You get some fishing boats going by now and then, some geese, but man is it normally really quiet! The town of Pontotoc is about 15 minutes away but there's not much else around so be sure to stock up before you come in. We camped at Trace State Park in a Fifth Wheel.
Checked out park for possible retreat spot - drove through - have not stayed here. Friendly park attendant at guardhouse. The park has a very rural, isolated feel with cabins and tent/RV camping along a large lake. Fairly densely wooded, quiet, and feels safe.
