Hurricane Creek crosses the Natchez Trace Parkway at milepost 164.3, northeast of Kosciusko in Attala County, and the Park Service trail beside it is about how water in the soil sorts the forest. The 850-foot loop takes in the stream, several soil types and the forest growing on them, which the park describes as a short walk among plants found in different soil conditions; its signs follow them from wet bottomland along the creek up to a dry hilltop. The state geological survey's 1963 study of Attala County called it probably the largest creek in the county classified as intermittent, with extended periods of no flow.
The reason lies in the hills on either side. In dry weather Hurricane Creek takes some groundwater from its eastern side and none from its western, because the western valley wall is part of the ridge dividing the Big Black River basin from the Yockanookany's. The Big Black side sits about a hundred feet lower, and its streams draw off most of the water stored in the sand hills. The state's 2006 geologic map of the Kosciusko quadrangle shows the creek's floor as alluvium cut down into hills of Winona greensand and Zilpha clay.
The Park Service sampled the creek as one of three water-quality stations in the upper Pearl watershed. Its 2014 assessment found that early dissolved oxygen readings had been low and a quarter of pH samples below the state minimum, though all readings were normal once routine monitoring began, and it judged the trend to be improving. E. coli counts exceeded the state standard. Mississippi classifies the creek for fish and wildlife use.
Getting there
33.0823, -89.5258
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
Hear it from the road
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