Chickasaw National Wildlife Refuge — Attraction in Ripley

This is a very rural place with very few homes/farm around which is great and even through my trip landed me here when the hole area was flooded it was still obvious this is the place to be for wildlife. I witnessed flying carp for the first time in person, I understand that they are an invasive species but non the less being from the Great Lakes region which they've yet to make it to and considering the threat they pose it was still bitter sweet seeing the amazing power they have as I watched them leap 6+ feet out of the water. I also got to see a wood duck which being from the north isn't very common because up there they are extremely skittish around humans but this one in particular wasn't bothered much by my presence at all. I got to see another cool duck with a mohawk that I've never seen before. So even with the flooding and my limited time here it was a trip well worth it. So then why only the 3 stars your probably wondering. It's simply for the fact that since it's a National wildlife refuge meaning it should be well funded that there would be some designated viewing points, some posted hiking trails, with trailhead parking and better signage for navigating around the area but from what I saw there was nothing of the sort. Yes, I did see what I believed to be a few trails but nothing to validate and parking was limited to the side of the dirt road or the few spots that had a clearing along the rivers edge. I value the importance of keeping this area as natural and untouched as possible but by not offering some minor concessions to the visitors such as trash cans or outhouses I believe it just gives dumb people the excuse to toss their trash everywhere which I saw a lot of. Other then that it's a great place to get...

It's a peaceful place to ride through and enjoy nature, beautiful trees and landscape. You can stop at the lookout tower and see ducks and Canadian geese by the hundreds at the right time...

We were there scouting . They cut timber where we hunt. But didn't bother me at all . Should improve hunting in a year . That's just good sound management I think over all hunting...