Pines

Pines covers the east-central pine belt of Mississippi, the rolling working-forest country running from the central piney woods east to the Alabama line. The terrain is gently rolling — longleaf and loblolly pine plantations, the Tombigbee River bottom along the eastern edge, and the deeper hardwood country of the Bienville National Forest in the central counties. The Pearl, Big Black, and Tombigbee river drainages all touch the region. Nineteen counties cover the region. Lauderdale holds Meridian, the largest city; Lowndes holds Columbus and the historic Riverwalk; Oktibbeha holds Starkville and Mississippi State University; Neshoba holds Philadelphia (host of the Neshoba County Fair, often called Mississippi’s giant house party) and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians’ headquarters; Monroe holds Aberdeen and Amory. Bienville and Tombigbee national forests cover much of the public land; Okatibbee Lake and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway handle the major water recreation. Most trips here split among college-football, fair, and small-town threads. Mississippi State football fills Starkville on weekends; the Neshoba County Fair anchors late July; Meridian’s Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience and Highland Park Carousel pull visitors through the city; Columbus’s Tennessee Williams home and the Riverwalk anchor the eastern edge.