CCC Camp Trail (Tishomingo State Park) Hiking Guide
The men who built Tishomingo State Park during the Great Depression lived along this trail, and their building foundations are still in the woods. From the Pioneer Cabin area it crosses springs and streams, passes the old camp, then drops down roughly 98 stone steps to Bear Creek's Horseshoe Bend. It's a one-way route, so plan for a car shuttle or a walk back.
Permit: Everyone over age 5 pays the state park entrance fee of $2 per person at the Tishomingo gatehouse. No separate hiking permit is needed.
The Route, Start to Finish
Begin at the Pioneer Cabin area and follow the red blazes alongside the park road, past fern beds and small streams. A spur to the left leads to a natural spring, which the 2015 park brochure pitches as a cool drink, though carrying your own water is the safer plan. Cross the gravel road that was once the park entrance and you reach the camp site. Further on, the path splits at some large rocks. The upper branch stays high and ends below Pavilion 1, while the lower one goes down the stone steps to the creek and on to the Swinging Bridge.
Distance and Climbing
The park calls it approximately 3 miles. Trailforks measures 2.8 miles with 188 feet of climbing and 225 of descent, and that's the figure in our stats, for one direction only. Walk it both ways and you'll roughly double the mileage. To make a circuit, Komoot routes a 3.6-mile loop with the Bear Creek Trail at 183 feet of gain, and Gaia GPS lists a 3.9-mile waterfall loop through here at 151 feet. Those mapped routes aren't an agency product, so have a phone map loaded.
What the Corps Left
The Civilian Conservation Corps built the roads, most of the park's buildings, the pond and the Swinging Bridge, which dates to 1938. Remains of the buildings are visible near the old gravel entrance road, and they're easy to miss when leaves are thick. Please leave everything where it lies; the park as a whole is on the National Register of Historic Places. Combine the walk with the short circuit of CCC Pond, about three-quarters of a mile, for a fuller look at their work.
Fee, Hours and Pets
The charge is $2 per person at the gate on County Road 90, reached from Parkway milepost 304, and the park lists 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours seven days a week. Dogs are fine on the trail on a six-foot leash. Note that the family cabins sit on top of the Horseshoe Bend cliffs, and pets are banned from that area and the group camp, so stay on the lower path with a dog. The disc golf courses share space with other park trails, not this one, per the brochure.
Timing and Conditions
Wildflowers line the road section in season, and winter leaves the rock formations and foundations easiest to read. The Park Service's regional figures point to summer highs into the upper 90s, so go early in July. Stone steps and creekside rock are slick after rain. The January 2026 ice storm closed the whole park with downed trees; it was off the state's closed list by mid-March, but we couldn't find a report on this trail specifically, so allow for deadfall.
Hiking tips for CCC Camp Trail (Tishomingo State Park)
- Leave a second car at the Swinging Bridge if you don't want to walk back.
- Take the lower fork for the stone steps and Horseshoe Bend.
- Carry your own water rather than counting on the spring.
- Take the steps slowly when they're wet.
- Allow extra time to look for the camp foundations past the old gravel road.
Nearby trails to explore
- Outcroppings Trail (Tishomingo State Park)
- Blackland Prairie Section (Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail)
- Peavine Falls and Peavine Gorge (Oak Mountain State Park)
Hike this trail with TrailMates
A one-way trail is simpler with two cars and a few friends. Post a CCC Camp hike on TrailMates, work out the shuttle between Pioneer Cabin and the Swinging Bridge in the event's group chat, and meet at the gate. Download TrailMates on the App Store or Google Play.