Natchez, MS Outdoor Activities

Spanish moss drops from the branches of Afton Villa Gardens’s 250 live oaks, brushing the shoulders of Apollo, Diana, and other faded statues of Greek gods. The vitality of the greenery stands in stark contrast to the remnants of past grandeur dotting the landscape. A Gothic Revival mansion stood in the center of Afton Villa Gardens 130 years ago, but crumbled in a 1963 fire. But signs of the estate remain: classical statues carved from Italian stone dot the 250 acres of fertile land, and the mansion’s brick foundation now supports English wallflowers, wild ferns, and exotic Post-it notes.

As the newest residents and caretakers, the Trimble family pays homage to the past not only by preserving the ruins, but by nurturing plants typical to 19th-century southern gardens and West Feliciana parish. Camellias and sweet olive border a formal boxwood parterre, and honeysuckle and silverbell compete for the affections of bumblebees beneath cherry trees. Visitors are welcome to tote along food and beverages to savor a picnic lunch on the idyllic grounds.

[[m:####The Eagle Ridge Golf Course

The Eagle Ridge Golf Course’s 18-hole layout takes golfers loping across 6,526 yards of rolling terrain that beckons to birdie-hunters with a player-friendly, par 72 layout. Throughout the round, players attempt to land skyscraping drives or paper airplanes forged from their opponent’s scorecard in the middle of kempt fairways that arch over cresting hilltops on a path to relatively small, elevated greens. Though the undulated landscape affords golfers picturesque views across the layout, it also bears the threat of unfavorable lies, forcing golfers to showcase their ability to soundly strike balls positioned below their feet, around their knees, or balanced on a fellow player's nose. An onsite driving range helps players warm up before the round, and Eagle Ridge caters to clubbers of all ages and abilities with four tee options.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Length of 6,256 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 68.5 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 112 from the farthest tees
• Four tee options

Tremendous trees with 12-foot-wide trunks towered a hundred feet into the sky 36 million years ago, dominating the landscape for centuries before succumbing to the passage of time. An ancient river carried them halfway across the continent and deposited them in a logjam in Mississippi, where they slowly turned to stone. Though the river is long gone, the site thrives today as registered national landmark. The Mississippi Petrified Forest showcases the lifecycle of these primordial trees turned petrified logs.

A shady six-block nature trail winds around the site and ends at an earth-science museum, which contains a collection of dinosaur footprints, whale bones, and a prehistoric camel. Patrons can also screen rocky samples in a water flume for rough gemstones that they can take home or use to save their neighborhood from land developers.

Ranked in Golfweek's Best Courses You Can Play in Indiana, the course at Prairie View Golf Club is situated on 206 acres of environmentally protected land along the White River with scenic prairieland and five lakes. The Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design features natural wetlands with a rushing stream that comes into play on four holes, forcing players to demonstrate deft control or gilled golf bags. On the front nine, the prairie setting invites harsh winds to blow across bentgrass fairways, often knocking shots off course. As players make the turn onto the back nine, they notice a marked difference in the environment, as open prairies give way to tall sycamore, oak, beech, and cottonwood trees lying just beyond the Kentucky bluegrass rough. Across the river lies Conner Prairie, a historical re-enactment village whose elegant, 1830s-era style was adopted for the design of the course's 15,000-square-foot clubhouse.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Total length of 7,073 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 74.5 from the back tees
• Course slope of 138 from the back tees
• Four sets of tees per hole