The United States Congress designated the Black Creek Wilderness (map
) in 1984 and it now has a total of 5,033 acres
All of this wilderness is located in Mississippi
and is managed by the Forest Service.
The Black Creek Wilderness is located in the gulf coastal plains of southern Mississippi. Most of this Wilderness, the state's largest, lies in the broad valley of Black Creek, stained a deep caramel color by the tannic acid of decaying vegetation. The creek is Mississippi's only designated Wild and Scenic River (for 21 miles) with the emphasis exclusively on scenic. It bisects the Wilderness, creating a hardwood floodplain of oxbow lakes and thick stands of sweet gum, sweet bay, red maple, oak, pine, and bald cypress. The 5- to 20-foot banks offer plenty of white sandbars suitable for camping or a picnic. You may want to float the meandering creek leisurely paddling your canoe. If the water level is running low, keep an eye out for logs. The Black Creek National Recreation Trail (open only to foot traffic) runs about 41 miles along the drainage of Black Creek, with about 10 miles within the Wilderness. Here you'll be on a part of the Lower Coastal Plain: piney woods growing over low rolling hills with a few moderate ridges. The relatively flat terrain rises 100 feet on Black Creek itself to only 270 feet on nearby uplands. Bass and panfish attract anglers, and hunters come in their season, mostly for deer. On many days you'll see no evidence that a human has ever stepped foot in the Wilderness or dipped a canoe paddle into Black Creek.