Finding a great campground to split up a long drive can be a relaxing and cheap way to get some rest and see a bit of local nature and history. Between Hot Springs, Arkansas and New Orleans we were looking for such a stop and freecampsites.net pulled through again with another great free camping spot. We made the Rocky Springs Campground on the Old Natchez Trace in Mississippi home for the night.

One of three “primitive” campgrounds on the Natchez Trace Parkway, this campground has great tent and pull through sites, picnic tables, and fire pits with grills. The bathrooms even had running water and soap! How’s that for primitive?

The campground can be found about 45 minutes south of Vicksburg, where we stopped at the National Military Cemetery. This historic site is scattered with memorials of the soldiers who fought and died during the 47 day siege to control the Mississippi River. There is a very large and impressive memorial to the 9,075 soldiers from Wisconsin who participated in the Siege of Vicksburg. I will begrudgingly admit the Illinois memorial was more impressive. This stop is a must see if traveling through, and gave us another opportunity to use our America the Beautiful pass.

Later in the day we hiked on a small section of the Old Natchez Trace which was connected to the campground. This century old trail was first established by Native Americans then used by early settlers. The trail extends 440 miles and links the Mississippi River and the Cumberland River in Tennessee. The mile we hiked was an overgrown road slowly being retaken by beautiful thick forest.

Along the trail were the remains of the Ghost Town of Rocky Springs. While Rocky Springs was a thriving town for almost a hundred years it began its decline during the Civil War. Not long after the war an outbreak of yellow fever and a boll weevil infestation were too much for the town to survive. The church is the only remaining standing structure, but foundations, remnants of the past, and graves of the first settlers still lay undisturbed.

We’ve noticed that more often than not, areas providing free or close to free camping get trashed. Even during backpacking trips people hike in 3 or 4 miles and decide the near empty can of beans or beef stew is too heavy to carry out. It gets thrown in the woods or half burned in the fire and left for the next camper or the forest service to clean up. Local bears and raccoons learn quickly that some humans are slobs and leave extraordinary amounts of tasty garbage wherever they go. Animals that begin to associate food with campers can lose their fear of humans and become aggressive. This puts humans and animals at risk.

Luckily the campsite at Rocky Springs only needed a quick cleanup to dispose of Styrofoam Mickey D’s cups and burger wrappers. Animal proof garbage bins were provided only 20 feet away, but must have seemed like an unattainable distance to the previous tenants.

While amazingly beautiful and relaxing during the day, we soon realized this forest was the home of a very active night shift. Even with the campsite cleaned up a small but fearless raccoon decided to join us for dinner. After ushering him out of our camp a few times it was apparent he was going to get a look at our campsite whether we liked it or not.

As the evening continued we were walking back from the bathroom we saw another raccoon friend exploring another campsite. Then as we were climbing into Stan for the night we heard a noise. When we looked across the campground we were greeted by 4 more pairs of reflective eyes staring at us from the woods and tree branches. The night cleaning crew was getting ready to roll through.

When you’re camping it’s crucial to always lockup food. If the campsite offers a storage box to keep out animals—use it. If everyone cleaned up after themselves and did their best to leave a campsite in better condition it would help ensure areas, such as Rocky Springs Campground and other lands set aside for all to enjoy, remain available, and stay critter free! And that concludes my liter bug rant. Has anyone else run into a dirty camping experience? How did you deal with it?

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