Choctaw Lake Recreation Area is a U.S. Forest Service day-use area and campground on the Tombigbee Ranger District of the National Forests in Mississippi, in Choctaw County a few miles south of Ackerman. The lake itself covers about 100 acres and was built in the 1930s as a Depression-era public works project, along with much of the park around it. Pine and hardwood forest runs right down to the shoreline, and a smaller pond called Cabin Lake sits just west of the main lake, with the campground between the two.

To get there from Ackerman, take Mississippi Highway 15 south about 3 miles and turn east at the sign onto Choctaw Lake Road (Forest Road 967). The entrance and fee station are about a mile in. Coming from the south, Highway 15 north from Louisville reaches the same turn. The swim beach is on the south shore of the lake, beside the day-use lawn and the group picnic shelter the Forest Service lists as the Swimming Area Shelter, with parking a short walk from the sand.

The beach is a small strip of sand that slopes into a no-wake lake, so there are no ski boats or jet skis cutting through, though anglers in small boats and kayaks do use the water. Neither the Forest Service nor Recreation.gov publishes a depth for the swim area or says whether it is roped, so wade in and check the drop-off before letting kids go out. Like most small Mississippi reservoirs, the water gets warm by early summer and stays swimmable well into September. The site is unstaffed and no lifeguards are listed, so swimming is at your own risk. Pets are not allowed on the beach and must be leashed everywhere else in the recreation area.

Choctaw Lake is a fee site. Day use is $5 per vehicle per day, paid at the self-service fee station just past the entrance gate, and nobody is on duty to make change, so bring exact cash. Holders of a Mississippi Adventure Pass get in free, and America the Beautiful Senior or Access pass holders pay $2.50. The area is open year round, but day use closes during campground quiet hours, 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Alcohol and drugs are prohibited under a forest closure order, and ATVs, UTVs and golf carts aren't allowed. Call the Tombigbee Ranger District at 662-285-3264 for current conditions before a trip.

The rest of the park is set up for a full day or a weekend. There are about 35 picnic sites, three reservable group shelters, two bathhouses with showers and flush toilets, two boat ramps, an accessible fishing pier and a disc golf course. A lakeside trail circles the water, a 3-mile loop leaves from the campground, and the Noxubee Hills trail for hiking and mountain biking starts here and runs about 26 miles through the national forest. The campground has about 20 sites with water and electric hookups at $20 a night, reservable on Recreation.gov. Anglers fish for largemouth bass, bream, crappie and catfish under special creel and length limits posted by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.