Is there any good hiking around the Jackson metro area? (Gulfport: 2015, neighborhood)

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

Also...what about semi-affordable summer pools? I am considering a move to Jackson, and I know most things about it as I'm from near there, but just curious about these specifics.

I am guessing Lefleur's Bluff, the Trace, Roosevelt State Park, maybe Bienville NF would be my best bets. I guess there aren't many hills, and it really looks like I would be out of luck.

What about public golf courses?

[GrandviewGloria]

For trails, this will probably be your best resource: Best Trails in Mississippi | AllTrails.com

In order to have access to its pool(s), most people will join a gym. The Courthouse (Now University Wellness Center), and The Club, both have multiple locations with pools. The Courthouse is now part of the UMMC Teaching Hospital complex. The Club is now affiliated with the giant Catholic healthcare complex. If Baptist is your flavor, Mississippi College has a gorgeous facility, with an indoor pool, and there's a giant Baptist "Sports Performance Center" (or somesuch), in Madison. Additionally, joining the right Baptist megachurch, may give you access to a pool (if it's one of those with their own food service directors, athletic directors, gyms...).

Joining an actual private club, is also an option. River Hills has an excellent pool, with a great 'scene'. If your new employer can find someone to sponsor you, it's not grotesquely expensive. And there are other clubs...

Public pools are not considered viable options, by middle class people, in the Jackson area. There are some, though. And Jackson-proper supposedly has several public golf courses. I don't know anyone who golfs, but my guess is that Lefleur's Bluff is your best bet.

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

Originally Posted by GrandviewGloria

For trails, this will probably be your best resource: Best Trails in Mississippi | AllTrails.com

In order to have access to its pool(s), most people will join a gym. The Courthouse, and The Club, both have multiple locations with pools. The Courthouse is now part of the UMMC Teaching Hospital complex. The Club is now affiliated with the giant Catholic healthcare complex. If Baptist is your flavor, Mississippi College has a gorgeous facility, with an indoor pool, and there's a giant Baptist "Sports Performance Center" (or somesuch), in Madison. Additionally, joining the right Baptist megachurch, may give you access to a pool (if it's one of those with their own food service directors, athletic directors, gyms...).

Joining an actual private club, is also an option. River Hills has an excellent pool, with a great 'scene'. If your new employer can find someone to sponsor you, it's not grotesquely expensive. And there are other clubs...

Public pools are not considered viable options, by middle class people, in the Jackson area. There are some, though. And Jackson-proper supposedly has several public golf courses. I don't know anyone who golfs, but my guess is that Lefleur's Bluff is your best bet.

That's what I was afraid of. I'm more middle Methodist type rather than the big megas. I don't like big gyms either. I just want a neighborhood pool. I'm thinking a golf course membership might be the best route. LFB and that one out by the airport are goat ranches, I do know that much.

[viverlibre]

Hiking is what you'd expect (or worse). If you're moving here, move into a neighbor hood with a good pool.



Next problem.

[JacksonPanther]

Originally Posted by Mississippi Alabama Line

That's what I was afraid of. I'm more middle Methodist type rather than the big megas. I don't like big gyms either. I just want a neighborhood pool. I'm thinking a golf course membership might be the best route. LFB and that one out by the airport are goat ranches, I do know that much.

Patrick Farms, Lake Caroline, Whisper Lakes, Bay Pointe.

Annandale, Reunion, if you're wealthy.

There are public pools, but they are tiny things for kids and teens, not for doing laps and such. Adult pools are all attached to a gym, whether it be a YMCA or some more expensive choice.

Jackson closed all the real public pools shortly after desegregation. Livingston Park, and Lake Hico, for example.

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

Patrick Farms, Lake Caroline, Whisper Lakes, Bay Pointe.

Annandale, Reunion, if you're wealthy.

There are public pools, but they are tiny things for kids and teens, not for doing laps and such. Adult pools are all attached to a gym, whether it be a YMCA or some more expensive choice.

Jackson closed all the real public pools shortly after desegregation. Livingston Park, and Lake Hico, for example.

Pool would be for the kids, and just cooling down in summer in essence.

But yeah, seems like joining a CC or golf course is the best option.

[dwashington]

Originally Posted by viverlibre

Hiking is what you'd expect (or worse).

Isn't that amazing. That such a rural state with as many woods, streams, ponds, and lakes is pretty much a crap-shoot when it comes to hiking?

If you do manage to find a pretty decent area, you'll most likely stumble upon the area's trash or spare tire dumping ground. Amazing how many illegal dumping spots this state has all over, many of them can be seen from the interstate.

No one cares about anything anymore.

[GrandviewGloria]

Originally Posted by Mississippi Alabama Line

That's what I was afraid of. I'm more middle Methodist type rather than the big megas. I don't like big gyms either. I just want a neighborhood pool. I'm thinking a golf course membership might be the best route. LFB and that one out by the airport are goat ranches, I do know that much.

You'll mostly be in the midst of Baptist exuberance (rather than Methodist rationality) in Rankin County, but Palisades has probably the most beautiful pool complex of any planned community in the metro http://cdnparap90.paragonrels.com/Pa...bb3/271267.JPG (the Architect now works exclusively for the ultra-wealthy Power Elite of the South http://kentatearchitect.com/wp-conte...3-15.19.14.jpg , left Mississippi a long time ago, and presumably can no longer be hired by developers : so you'll never see common amenities of this quality, for a planned community around Jackson, ever again). Too, 'The Northshore' is as far from 'The Element' as you can get, in the Jackson Metro. Waterfront Property Brandon, MS in the Jackson Metro area

[brickpatio]

There are lots of public-access golf courses. Lake Caroline, Annandale, the Reserve, Bay Pointe to name a few. Also some great locations for tennis including River Hills and Ridgeland.

Mississippi is best for walking, biking, sailing, and canoeing. There are lots of rolling hills in residential areas as well as countryside across Mississippi that are beautiful for biking, walking (in places or nearby), and driving. Examples are highway 13 south from Mendenhall, highway 51 south from Crystal Springs and highway 35 south from Kosciusko. There are so many others. There is also the Natchez Trace and of course the Coast.

For canoeing, south Mississippi has lots of clear creeks and rivers with the occasional rapids. Black Creek, Red Creek, Okatoma, Chunky, Leaf, Bear Creek, Strong River, Bogue Chitto, Wolf, Biloxi, and Pascagoula Rivers for starters. Also, kayaking from Ocean Springs out to Horn Island and around the Pascagoula River wilderness area is phenomenal.

For sailing, there are yacht clubs all up and down the Coast (Bay-Waveland, Pass Christian, Ocean Springs, and Gulfport are some ver popular ones). Also the Jackson Yacht club is very nice and a blast, with a gorgeous pool area overlooking the big water. And of course in Iuka you can sail and boat along Pickwick Lake which goes on for hundreds of miles through Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Near Jackson, Vicksburg is hilly and the Vicksburg national military park is a 12-mile loop with one steep hill after the next, lined with monuments and scenic, grassy hillsides. Meridian is also very hilly, as are Yazoo City, Natchez, Laurel, Oxford, Grenada, the area between Brookhaven and McComb, Mendenhall, Philadelphia, and so many other areas.