I have probably been to Natchez State Park about 5 now and it is a beautiful state park, but there are much better ones in the state. The easiest access to Natchez State Park is by going on the Natchez Trace. It is right before the trace ends, and within a few miles of Natchez.

There are some good things to say about Natchez State Park, but for me the cons outweigh it. I lived about 1 1/2 hours away and there are just better ones that do not take that much longer to get to.

The first good thing about the park is that there is a HUGE lake. You can rent boats for $5 a day and there are plenty of places to fish. Plus the MS state record bass was caught here. The bass weighs in at over 18 lbs. They have it mounted in the Ranger's station. If you do go, make sure that you see it, it is quite impressive.

Another good thing about the park is that it is pretty. It will not blow you away, but it serene in some areas of the park. It has many many pine trees that are quite beautiful and if you can go somewhere by yourself, you can be at peace.

The last good thing about the park is that it is right near many historical sites on the Natchez Trace. Emerald Mound is right across from the park and this is the largest Native American burial mound in the state of MS. It really is very amazing. The view from up top is unbelievable. Make sure that you see this, I had never seen anything like it before. Also, you are right by Natchez which is an extremely historical town with many antebellum mansions and other historical buildings. If you like history you will love Natchez.

Now for the bad parts about the park. From my experience the park is very crowded most of the time with many many RVs and fisherman. Most of the time, the people are very loud, so it is not a good place for families or people that want to go to sleep early.

The camp sites are decent (and I mean just decent) for car camping, they are very close together so don't go camping here if you are looking for personal space! As I said before, expect to have many neighbors in these crowded sites. You cannot get by yourself here. The sites average $10, but are more expensive if you want electricity.

Also, there is no wildlife in this park for some reason. As I said earlier, you get to the park on the Natchez Trace and generally the Trace is loaded with deer, turkeys, rabbits, and all kinds of birds. For some reason, the animals are smart and they avoid the park too!

Now for the main disappointment, they have such a beautiful lake, but there aren't any fish that want to bite. I am a decently experienced fisherman and I can say that the fishing is pathetic. The lake is over used because the state record bass was caught here, so everyone thinks that they can catch the big one. It is really in need of stocking.

I worked in a group home for 1 year, where I worked with at-risk youth and I took them to this park a lot because finding a lake was somewhat hard as people were afraid of law suits. The kids had fun because they loved fishing, but they never caught any fish. And I really mean that, never did any of my kids catch a fish and I have taken many there, many times. It was just disappointing for them.

As you can tell, my main reason for going to the park was for the fishing, and I have to say that I was extremely disappointed with it. Because of this and the park always being jammed full of people, I do not recommend it to others. There are many better parks in MS.




Recommended: No

Best time to go: Never
Recommended for: Nobody
Review Topic: Fishing