Mississippi's largest national forest, the DeSoto, covers more than 500,000 acres. There are winding streams, slow moving most of the year, which form the wet bottomlands that grow excellent hardwood. These are "black-water" streams, tinted by tannic acid from decaying vegetation on the forest floor. This is where the Black Creek flows, renowned for its 40-mile float trip, hiking trail and wilderness. There are wide, white sandbars for camping and picnicking and quiet pools for fishing.

Big Creek and Fairley Bridge landings serve as the end points for both the float trip and the Black Creek National Hiking Trail. Another hiking trail leads to Leaf Wilderness, a 960-acre tract in the floodplains of the Leaf River consisting mainly of sloughs, oxbow lakes and pine forests. The 22-mile Tuxachanie National Recreation Trail follows an abandoned railroad bed, then crosses plains, savannahs and swamps.