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Like stepping back in time - this Inn was gorgeous and the grounds were perfectly manicured! The staff is incredibly friendly & accommodating. The main house is primarily the restaurant & it has a lounge for a bar & large patio area. We stayed in one of the cottage onsite that overlooked another pond. The front desk provides fishing poles for fishing in the ponds or croquet sets for the lawns. The rooms were comfortable and although the buildings are old, the bathrooms were quite modern. The rooms are decorate to feel like the original though and we loved it! The breakfast was incredible & again, the staff were all warm & welcoming.
My only disappointment was in the town of Natchez itself. It's a very run down town with most of the shops & places feeling like they were probably booming in the 70s and 80s and have since fallen into disrepair. Not near as charming as the INN itself, which was disappointing..
This was one of the best surprises of our trip. I picked this as a place for a quick stop to stretch our legs & see a cool swamp as we passed through the area. So glad we did! You drive for miles on the Natchez Trace Parkway (which connects the Mississippi River to Nashville, TN) and feel like you are in the middle of nowhere.
Other reviewers said its rare to see gators, but we spotted a bunch! All small ones but once we took our time and sat and watched for a while we discovered just how many were there! On tree limbs, hidden in the water, & all over really. We saw turtles & an eagle too. Very cool spot to see them in their natural habitat.
The walk across the boardwalk and around the loop took less than ten minutes if just walking through and the grass is overgrown in areas so exercise caution.
Side note, as we continued south you come out along the banks of the large Ross R Barnett Reservoir and spotted even more gators swimming along the shore line - which was also super cool to see!
This place has a large visitor center & parking lot. We checked in there and it was only about $5/pp to get in. We followed the paved trail to see the top of the falls, then went around the dirt path and hiked down to the bottom of the falls. It took about 10 minutes at a leisurely pace from the paved area. It's a basic dirt trail with rocks but very lush & green - some small waterfalls going down the rocks. We were enthralled when we got to the bottom of the falls. Theres a huge rock cavern where you can hang out behind the falls themselves. Lots of huge rocks - bring water shoes if you can. We swam in the lower pool and it was plenty deep. What a beautiful & refreshing way to cool off!
The visitor center also had a petting zoo & mini golf that we did not check out, but looked very clean & easy to access.
We had visited years ago in the middle of winter and it was completely fogged in so returning during a clear summer day was well worth it! It's over $20/pp to get in, so not cheap for a large family, but wow what an experience. Beautiful walking trails over bridges, including a very cool swinging bridge, through tight crevasses, over & under waterfalls & absolutely stunning views. They have a food spot out near the overlook when you are ready for some refreshments. Was a nice way to stretch our legs & spend an hour or two.
On our way through Pigeon Forge, I found this as a hotel option. A bit more spendy than some of the surrounding hotels but the water park access is included with your hotel stay so I thought it was totally worth it. The rooms were comfortable and what I would expect. The water slides (indoor & outdoor) were awesome and a great way to get out some energy after a day of driving. My teens & one pre-teen had a blast and it was perfect for a half day or less stint. The hotel fee also covers the cost of admittance to the larger water park across the road, so maybe if we had a second day, that would be a good 2nd day option.
One thing to note - the dining options around the pool/waterslide area are less than sub-par. Very long wait times for food and the quality was meh at best. I tried the "taco truck" and the shells were so dry they crumbled as soon as you picked them up. The bar/grill stand had a huge wait and the poor server/bartender was so understaffed and doing all she could with tons of people coming to order both food & drinks and she was totally by herself. It took almost 45 minutes from the time we got in line to when we got our food and it was basic wings & corndogs. The front desk check in process is VERY slow as well so be prepared.
Pigeon Forge area as a whole has a million touristy things to do & see and my family LOVED the coaster. Note - the line was quite long. When I asked the ticket lady how long to expect she totally about 30 minutes. It ended up being more like an hour so allocate a lengthy wait time if going during busy season. The ride itself was awesome though - thrilling & beautiful views! It did feel a little like a lot of waiting for a five+ min ride so maybe try to hit it when not such a long wait. They do offer $10 re-rides if you go once & want to wait in line to go again.