Tombigbee National Forest

Tombigbee National Forest is a 67,005-acre property in two non-contiguous parcels in north-eastern Mississippi. The name comes from the nearby Tombigbee River. The Forest was designated in 1959 and was made up of abandoned farm lands and clear cut timber tracts, all of them being heavily eroded. Today the forest is treed with pines and hardwoods and is rich with wildlife. However, the Forest is a patchwork property, intermingled with private woodlots and farms.

The Forest is bisected by the Natchez Trace Parkway. Just off the Parkway on Davis Lake Road is the Owl Creek Mounds site. The five mounds were constructed between 800 and 900 years ago by the Mound Builders of the Mississipian culture. Three of them were excavated in 1991-1992 by a team from Mississippi State University. They found structural remains on all three mounds but the lack of debris between the mounds suggests the site was either occupied by very few people or was only in use for ceremonial purposes.