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Characteristics of the Land, and the Usual Weather
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LAND
Link to the site map.
The Gulf War site is in the middle of a slash pine forest. The people who own the site are very serious about fire regulations, because resinous pine burns hotter and faster than anything this side of napalm. Be VERY careful with fires -- obey all the fire rules and always have an extinguisher handy.
Camping at the war is kind of like camping at the beach. The soil is loose and very sandy, and when the weather is dry the traffic turns the road surfaces into an extremely fine powder. If you have a tent with a built-in bottom, take some kind of rug for use as a doormat. Take off your shoes before you go in and have something you can use as a broom and dustpan for sweeping out the tent.
It it's rainy, be very careful driving. This soil when wet is so slippery it just splashes out from under the wheels. In wet weather, stick to the cleared roads and even on them, go slow and careful.
Most of the site is so flat that walking is pretty easy. There are few areas that have a significant slope, and most of them are pretty gentle. In the new camping areas on the west side of the site there is one sizeable gully (where the last resurrection battle took place), but the slopes are only about 30-35 degrees, and they're soft soil rather than rock so it's not a dangerous place.
The land is very well manicured by the site management. It is entirely open except for trees that were left for shade. There is no underbrush in any of the camping or activity areas except for a few small bushes in the gully where the last resurrection battle took place. If there is poison ivy or other noxious plants anywhere on the site, I have not seen them or heard anyone speak of them.
The site management does allow taking naturally fallen wood for fires, but not cutting of standing trees. At Gulf War VII there was a pair of men going through the camp with a truck, selling cut firewood for $20 a load. That may or may not happen next time; the cold that year was exceptional.
WEATHER
What can anyone say about the weather? The weather at most Gulf Wars has been very mild -- temperatures in the low 70's. But at Gulf War VII (1998) there was a terrible cold front and the temperatures at night dropped into the 20's. That may have been a fluke (something else to blame on El Nino), but you would be well advised to take some blankets and long underwear just in case.
For current weather information, follow this link. It goes to the weather channel web site for Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which is the closest major city (about 40 miles north of the site).
If you need to know where to find ice, follow this link.
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