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The two RV Gypsies
at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge
2970 Bluff Lake Road
Brooksville, Mississippi
May 4, 2016

USA map showing location of MississippiUSA map showing location of Brooksville

Mississippi map showing location of Brooksville

The two RV Gypsies parked their RV at Country Dogs RV Park in Starksville, then drove their toad into Brooksville to explore Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge. If you are interested in comments about the campground, click here. Otherwise scroll down this page for Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge.

directional signs to Brooksville and Noxubee Noxubee Hills Scenic Byway
Welcome to Brooksville sign

Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge is a 48,000 acres National Wildlife Refuge located in the U.S. state of Mississippi, in Noxubee, Oktibbeha, and Winston Counties . The refuge serves as a resting and feeding area for migratory birds and as example of proper land stewardship. Also, the refuge extensively manages land for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (although the two RV Gypsies did not see any).

history book clipartLand for the Noxubee NWR was obtained in the 1930s through the Resettlement Administration. During the 1930s, the land was controlled by the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act. In 1940, the land was established as a National Wildlife Refuge in 1940 to ensure the wetlands would continue to be protected, providing migratory bird species and other animals a safe haven. Of the 48,000 acres (190 km) of land, approximately 44,500 acres consists of bottomland and upland forest. A variety of species inhabit these lands including quail, deer, and turkey.

Two major lakes, Bluff with 1,200 acres and Loakfoma with 600 acres provide much of the wetlands within Noxubee. Additionally, there are four green tree reservoirs and sixteen smaller reservoirs which provide a habitat for wood stork, American alligator, bald eagle and other waterfowl. (Again, the two RV Gypsies did not see any of the above mentioned wildlife).

The refuge partners with nearby Mississippi State University in an extensive research program with the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Department of Forestry.

Originally named the Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge, the refuge was renamed for Sam D. Hamilton, a former director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, in February 2012.

Above Quote From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sam D Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge sign Sam D Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge sign
Sam D Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge sign

Bluff Lake behind the Visitor Center.

Bluff Lake, behind the Visitor Center Bluff Lake, behind the Visitor Center

Cypress Cove Recreational Boardwalk - a short easy walk on a boardwalk with views of Cypress Trees and a turtle.

Cypress Cove Recreational Boardwalk sign
cypress trees cypress trees
cypress trees a turtle on a log
cypress trees The two RV Gypsies
the boardwalk

Woodpecker Trail: All species of woodpeckers native to the Southeast might be found on this half-mile round trip trail. This trail is one of the shortest found on the Refuge. Periodically throughout the trail are informative signs explaining the plants and animals you may find.

Woodpecker trail sign
woodpecker trail woodpecker trail
sign about the dead tree

A large piece of a tree was laying flat on the ground across the trail and it was full of holes made by the woodpeckers. Unfortunately, the two RV Gypsies never saw any woodpeckers even though they walked very slowly throughout this area and often stopped to listen and look up into the trees.

woodpecker holes in a dead tree
Lee Duquette on the Woodpecker Trail Woodpecker Trail
Woodpecker Trail Woodpecker Trail

Goose Overlook has a 30-foot-high observation platform overlooking Bluff Lake. This area provides a wildlife viewing area for animals such as white-tailed deer and migrating Canada Geese. The two RV Gypsies did see the Canada Geese, but no deer.

Goose Overlook sign Lee Duquette on the Goose Overlook boardwalk
Goose overlook boardwalk canadian geese across the water

From the overlook, the Canada Geese could be heard, and they are in the two pictures below, but are hard to see. Binoculars were mounted on the overlook platform.

view from the overlook geese

Morgan Hill Overlook and Prairie Trail connects the parking area to the Morgan Hill Overlook. The trail goes through an Alabama Black Belt Prairie Restoration Area. The trail surface is packed gravel and the overlook has a wheelchair accessible ramp. The Morgan Hill Overlook, equipped with a binocular telescope, provides visitors a panoramic vista of 600-acre Loakfoma Lake.

Morgan Hill Prarie sign sign

From this trail visitors may see a variety of plants and animals including Indian grass, white-tailed deer, fox and various species of waterfowl and songbirds. Spring and summer are the best seasons to see several varieties of butterflies. Fall wildflower viewing can be spectacular in this grassland habitat. In winter bald eagles can be seen regularly from this overlook. However, on this date, the two RV Gypsies did not see much at all.

wildflower wildflower
wildflower wildflower
Lee Duquette Lee Duquette on the overlook
view from the overlook wildflower

There were some other trails here that the two RV Gypsies did not go on. The Trail of the Big Trees is a a 4-mile round trip paralleling the Noxubee River. Brochures said there would not be any beavers on the Beaver Dam Trail which is just over two miles in length, so the two RV Gypsies decided not to walk that one either. The two RV Gypsies did not find the Bluff Lake Boardwalk.

look below

This is not a linear site. So visitors can now view any of the three sites below in any order.

bullet Memphis South RV Park in Coldwater Mississippi

bullet Whitney Lane RV Park in Kensett, Arkansas.

bullet Branson, Missouri: A Segway tour, city sights and more.