Note: This post contains 7 photos. Photos by me (Bruce) taken with a SONY alpha 6400 or Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated. Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.
WEDNESDAY 25 October 2023 — NTNP 8 of 14 — Choctaw Lake Campground, Choctaw Lake Recreation Area, Tombigbee National Forest, US Forest Service (USFS)
Our very generous campsite backed up to a spur of Choctaw Lake in the Choctaw Lake Recreation Area. Our trailer rear bumper was still quite a way from the water and the site was elevated well above the Lake level.
If you look carefully, you will see a “walking stick” on the trunk of this tree, mid-frame. I did not have a convenient way to show the scale of this insect, but I estimated it to be 6” – 8” long. I have always been fascinated by these creatures.
Many years ago, when we were much younger, we were tent campers. On a few occasions we camped in national forest campgrounds. Some of these “campgrounds” were remote and very rustic. While that is no longer “how we roll,” the campgrounds in some of the national forest recreation areas are a bit more developed. Our basic requirements are: 1) a relatively level, and sufficiently large, site (but not necessarily paved); 2) Electricity at the site, and 3) a dump station. A bathhouse is appreciated, but an outhouse (pit toilet) in place of a dump station is a “no go.”
Choctaw Lake CG more than met our basic requirements. As with all of our camping spots, we stayed here for two nights, and used the full day to continue exploring the NTNP.
Another view of our site at Choctaw Lake CG. Both the USACoE and USFS campsites included substantial concrete picnic tables. This site also had something we had not seen before. Note the black, upside down, “J-hook” at the left of the image. Every site had one of these. There were for hanging a camp lantern. We didn’t have a camp lantern to hang (or didn’t want to dig ours out), but we thought this was a nice amenity that all campsites should adopt.
And another photo of our site at Choctaw Lake CG, taken by Linda and featuring yours truly. (Photo by Linda)
And yet another shot of Choctaw Lake while strolling the USFS campground near the shore.
We have no idea what this was, and the staff at the Choctaw Lake CG didn’t either. It was clearly some kind of living organism, and the staff indicated that biologists have been here to study it, but also didn’t know. I am not one for swimming in lakes, rivers, or oceans, but if I was, I would have given this lake a pass. Even so, I thought it was visually very interesting.
This gravel path extended along the lake shore for quite some distance. The developed area actually wraps around Choctaw Lake far to the right, out of the frame.
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