Located in Woodville, Mississippi just 10 minutes over the Louisiana/Missisippi this is the top tier, absolute best semi-close hiking trail if you are coming from the LA capitol region.
What's there?
Hills. Lots of hills! That is what’s there, trust me on this one. And waterfalls and shallow pools to play in too!
There are 1.78 miles of improved trails and an addition 2.6 miles of primitive trail that connects to the improved trail. The location is remote and serene. Road in is not very pleasant, not hard to traverse, just full of potholes. 
Official maps can be found on the MDWFP website.
It is important to note that there is a lot of misinformation online about Clark Creek and Tunica Hills, you will see the two used interchangeably by some articles, but Clark Creek and Tunica Hills ARE NOT THE SAME AREA! While they are close, they reside in two different states and are managed by two different agencies. It is important that you know where you are going before you head out. There is one extremely important detail that you need to keep in mind: Tunica Hills seasonally allows hunting and closes to hikers! If you are coming in from the south you will see Tunica Hills signage on your way to Clark Creek, like I said, they are close. Know where you are going before you head out.
The trails
The Improved Trail (the main trail)
If you go chasing waterfalls (cause you didn’t listen to TLC) the improved trail is where you want to be. It’s an amazing hike for the whole family. It’s well maintained and even has some stairs in some of the steeper sections. You can spend the whole day on this trail alone just stopping to play in the waterfalls.
The Primitive Trail
The primitive trail has my heart, but I do not recommend that to everyone. The last couple time’s I’ve gone the trail was not always marked the best and you could easily get turned around. There are also some sketchy areas that have had significant erosion and require a bit of maneuvering. That being said it is traveled so little it’s often more peaceful. The only time I’ve ever seen a grey fox in my life was an early morning solo hike on this trail. I see nothing when I hike with my kids, they talk too much, nothing new.
An alternative that I know some people do is take the improved or primitive trail part of the ways and hop off onto the creek and walk the creek down to the end of the improved trail. You bypass a good bit of the ups and down this way.
I keep a printed version of the map in my pack no matter which trail I take. At the very least, save the picture on your phone. I don’t remember seeing any useful map on the trail. There are some, but they’ve been pretty beat up in the past.
Do your research before you head out. This is an amazing, but also strenuous and secluded trail. Check out the MDWFP Clark Creek State Park official page before you go! Be prepared for your legs to be jello on that last stretch up to the car, it is what it is. Also don’t expect to have great service if you have any at all.
Be Prepared
The cost
Bring cash! Unless they have updated their system recently the fee is paid in cash through a little drop box. It’s $2 per person. You get the envelop from the pay station. Fill it out and hang part of it on your rear-view mirror or dash. Don’t throw the envelope in the pay box without getting your stub, I’ve seen people pay twice because of this mistake. Don’t think because there isn’t a ranger there that you don’t have to pay. They pass and they check! You will get ticketed.
The surrounding area
The trail is a good ways in the middle of nowhere. Don’t think you will stop somewhere close and grab drinks and snacks; pack ahead.
The dirt
Yes, the dirt, it matters here. This trail can be quite hard. The soils are wind blow loess soils made of light silts and clays. That matters because when it rains in this area the waterfalls are amazing, but the trails can be very slick. I have had to crawl up or down some spots in the rain because of the slickness. Wear proper shoes! This is not the place for your flat bottomed slick chucks, for sure not when it’s wet. If you take the creek, which most of us do at some point on the trail, have waterproof boots, go barefoot, or just get wet. Those are your options.
Bathrooms
Past the parking, bathrooms simply do not exist. Ladies, I use a pee funnel in the great outdoors, I’ve had mine for years and it is a game changer! This is the particular funnel I use, not a paid link, I just like it. Best 10 bucks I’ve ever spent. I definitely re recommend NOT using a silicon one. Ask me why.
Head South After the Trail
Ok, so you finally made it back the to car, sit there for a few minutes, catch your breath, and suddenly it hits you. You are starving. You’ve been working for hours on this appetite and those granola bars just aren’t cutting it at this point.
No worries. If you are headed south to go home St. Francisville has you covered and covered well! No, I don’t mean the McDonald’s, Burger King, or Sonic though those are options. I’m talking about Sonny’s Pizza and the Francis Smokehouse & Specialty Meats!
I’ve been to Clark Creek many times but somehow missed this restaurant existed for years. We took a trip one year for my son’s 14th birthday with myself, four 14/15 year olds, and my eldest who may have been 23 at the time. I detail our crew so you know just what kind of appetites we were dealing with that day. I ordered cheesy bread-sticks and three large pizzas (pepperoni, veggie, taco) wondering if that would be enough. Let me tell you when our server brought out that first pizza all of our jaws hit the floor. These people are not playing, those pies were huge! I swear that taco pizza was about 1.5-2 inches tall. We left with one pizza to go box full and at least two teen guys who looked like they were about 7 months pregnant. True story. The price was reasonable as well.
This place hits the spot 🔥🔥🔥, BUT they close a bit early and are 30 minutes away from Clark Creek so you have to get off the trail early enough or risk missing out. They have bbq, boudin (pronounced boo-dan, but without the N, say it through your nose), smoked meats, wings, you name it, as well as plenty of frozen foods you can pick up for dinner another night. My go to is the chicken sandwich, but I’ve never heard anyone have anything bad to say about an order in my many stops there. They don’t have 4.7 starts on Google for nothing!
There are other options around the Airline and HWY 10 intersection, but those two are my favorite. If the smokehouse is still open when I pass I just don’t bother stopping anywhere else.