Black Creek Hiking Trail: Out-and-Back from Fairley Landing is a 9.2 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Wiggins, Mississippi that features a river and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking, camping, and backpacking and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
October 24, 2020September 6, 2020First of all, these reviews are correct. We experienced literally everything that others wrote about. The first 1.3 miles were interesting. Swampy, buggy, and overgrown. After that things got much better. Path was clearer, less bugs buzzing and biting, and a pleasant hike. Just stick it out through the first mile or so and it will be worth it!
August 15, 2020I hiked from Fairley Bridge Landing to just south of the Black Creek Wilderness part of Desoto National Forest. The trail was a bit muddy in spots as it had just rained the day before. The trail was very overgrown but wasn't horrible. The biggest thing was having to fend off all of the banana spiders and their webs. They were all over the trail. Long pants, trekking poles, and lots of water (I only brought 2 liters and ran out on way back to Fairley Bridge Landing). Stopping at the side trail to a little beach on the Black Creek, where I ended my hike, is a must. It is located at around 4 miles in and will be on your right if you are traveling westbound on the trail.
June 27, 2020June 13, 2020So, this trail is tricky to review. First leg is nice and a thin, but clear, path is available. However, there's a long and overgrown section that was very difficult and quite annoying to go through. Most of the trail had spots with overgrowth, but certainly not all. There IS some spots that are well maintained and quite beautiful, especially when you gain elevation. Overall a very, very mixed bag. Id recommend for a nice day hike with some length and about 1/3 being quite scenic and beautiful. The rest? Not quite good. Oh, and got lost for about 15min trying to find the trail when it hops and skips over across a road. More sinage is needed for sure, but not terrible.
May 23, 2020Hiked about 4 miles out and back on 5/23/20. The trail was a little overgrown but pretty easy to keep to. It was mostly shaded the whole time. There were lots of very large flies following us the whole way — which super sucked. We also found 5-6 ticks on us. The highlight was seeing a 5ft rattlesnake laying right beside the trail.
March 11, 2020Nice out and back!!
February 17, 2020Great trail for Mississippi! Extremely easy and flat. I would consider this more of a nature walk. We saw some turtles along the river which was cool to see. We only went about halfway. Very Kid friendly. A little difficult to find the trail head. People should also not leave their trash ;)
January 25, 2020Awesome trail. Took 14 boys from my scout troop. Great prep trail for high adventure scout camps. We will be back!
October 12, 2019Nice hike. 1.5 out 3 total back to car. Great nature break....Spotted two young white-tail and a large black snake.
September 15, 2019A group of Mississippi hikers and I did this trail, Fairley Bridge to Janice Lansing. l’m quite the optimist but this trail was a challenge. It IS overgrown, grass and scrub brush up to your knees. I didn’t really find it too problematic, it just slowed us down. There was one spot on the trail near the Red Hills that was overgrown with brush/trees enough it obscured the trail. We pushed through and it opened back up to tolerable. About 5 miles into the twilight the first night, we stopped just short of the first accessible sandbar. Camped close to the trail near a bridge. Day two we did about 9 miles through the wilderness. The wilderness is far less overgrown with long stretches of pine needle trail cover. Saw a family of otter. Crossed the tree bridge (no rope, had to balance that one). Camped on a sandbar after a welcomed soak in the river. Last day shorter hike out 4-5 miles. There was very little water between sand bar camp (flagged “good camp site” on map) and exiting the wilderness. Probably one accessible water source, but it’s sketchy at best even with a Sawyer. The most grueling part is the road walk back to Janice, but there’s a flushing toilet and potable water that makes up for it a bit. Saw four snakes, all on our last day. One black snake and three copperheads. All in all, I’d do this again after the trail has been recleaned (I’d do the Wilderness section tomorrow if I had the energy). Note to hikers, do not attempt this hike without a Sawyer and electrolyte source. You’ll be glad you did.
July 26, 2019a bit overgrown but thats just fine. good deep south forest trail. saw a beautiful black racer.
July 19, 2019Trail is very overgrown and some areas do not seem safe. Be cautious in these areas for snakes. Large banana spiders everywhere. Without these conditions I think this trail has great potential.
July 2, 2019We will definitely do this trail again, with some more time and cooler weather. It’s a good hike and worth the experience. So, parts of this trail is overgrown and others are fine. Towards the end it looks like a controlled burn was done so it looks kinda grim for a short time. This trail has plenty of shade, spiders, and armadillos. I don’t think we got to the end of the trail because a creek washed a gap in the trail. Yes this trail has a lot of bugs so bring bug repellent and reapply every so often. Because areas are a bit overgrown ticks are going to find the first person through the trail.
June 15, 2019Trail is extremely overgrown and mosquitoes are terrible. I had to turn around 4/10 of a mile in due to unsafe hiking conditions. I was with an new hiker and i am not very seasoned, but we were too afraid of snakes with the overgrown grass and bushes knee high.
May 11, 2019Beautiful trail through a few thickets of brush, pine forest, low lands with southern and bigleaf magnolias, oaks, cypress is also visible in certain parts of Black Creek. You will cross many branches that connect to Black Creek. Great place to swim if you're not afraid to go off trail or climb down a slope into the creek. From Janice landing to Fairly Bridge landing the trail is somewhat unkept although still marked well enough, its true some markers were on trees that have fallen. So pay attention. Lots of active nocturnal critters in the wilderness here. Part of the allure to me personally is how unkept and seemingly low traffic the area is. Be prepared to duck under and walk through bushes and/or occasional trees that has fallen into the path. Bugs can be ruthless in this south. Beautiful country. Moderate difficulty.
April 5, 2019This trail is just part of the overall Black Creek Trail.
March 25, 2019Good cardio workout. It’s a good precursor to future hikes elsewhere. It’s God’s beauty of South Mississippi. A few areas were muddy but I wore my waterproof hiking boots and took my hiking poles; so it was no problem. Also, the hiking poles assisted in pushing away briars and bushes. I will definitely do again because it will assist in preparing me for other hikes.
February 27, 2019Nice hike. A little sloppy in the rain but I was able to do 4 miles in a little over an hour hiking. Bridges very slippery when wet. I almost ended up in the creek. A nice walk in the woods
May 5, 2018This is actually a point to point trail covering some 42 miles from Fairly Bridge Landing at the southern most trail head to Big Creek landing west of Brooklyn, MS. This trail runs roughly along Black Creek, which is a large creek, would considered a river in most areas. That being said, it covers a lot of low lying swampy areas, when it rains it gets wet. The creek and its many tributaries are very prone to flash flooding. It can be perfect one day and near impassable the next. I just completed the 16.5 mile trek from Fairly Bridge Landing to Janice Landing. It was a perfect hike. But getting your feet wet on a perfect hike on this trail is probable. If you are expecting to see breathtaking overlook views, not there. But if you are an outdoors person and a nature lover you will absolutely love this hike. No heavy traffic, but you are likely to see other hikers. Pay attention to the water level at Brooklyn. When I left, the water level was just over 5 ft and falling.
October 15, 2017Not a good trail AT ALL!! About 1 mile in bridge is out & no way around water so had to turn around.
September 30, 2017Definitely not good for biking. Trails were boring and not well maintained. No inclines or excitement to it.
June 8, 2017Not a good trail. Do not go here after it rains, the trails will be completely washed out. Went out there a day after rain and made it about 300 feet before water was everywhere.
May 16, 2017This trail was very poorly marked, the very beginning was ok, very flat & easy, but when you hit the road in, there is no visible trail, so it appeared to be a short 3/4 mile treck, if there was more to it, we didn't see it. should have been better marked & maintained. I really had high hope for this trail
