through neighborhoods to enter downtown, with MS 12 splitting off along Depot Street at a Roundabout around the Holmes County Courthouse. The highway heads east to leave downtown to cross a creek and have an intersection with MS 836 (the new Lexington Bypass) before heading through a business district. It crosses another creek before leaving Lexington and traveling through some farmland and wooded areas for several miles, where it passes through Owen Wells, to have an interchange with I-55 (Exit 156) and entering Durant. MS 12 heads southeast through a business district before turning south along US 51 (N Jackson Street) through neighborhoods into downtown. MS 12 splits off along E Mulberry Street at the center of town, heading east to cross some rail road tracks to pass through more neighborhoods before leaving Durant and traveling through swamplands, crossing the Big Black River into Attala County. MS 12 travels through a mix of farmland and wooded areas for the next several miles, passing through Sallis, where it has intersections with MS 429 and MS 431, and McAdams, before becoming concurrent with MS 43 and entering Kosciusko. The highway bypasses downtown along its western and northern sides, having intersections with MS 735, splitting off from MS 43, as well as having intersections with MS 19 and MS 35. MS 12 now leaves Kosciusko and heads northeast through woodlands to have an interchange with the Natchez Trace Parkway before traveling through Ethel, bypassing the town to the north while its business loop, MS 739, passes straight through downtown. The continues northeast through wooded areas for several miles to pass just west of McCool, where it has its first intersection with MS 407 (as well as with MS 411), before crossing into Choctaw County. Between Kosciusko and Ackerman, MS 12 runs parallel to the Yockanookany River. MS 12 continues northeast through woodlands to travel through Weir, passing along the north side of town to have intersections with MS 413 and its second and final with MS 407, before entering Ackerman. The highway passes along the northern side of town, bypassing downtown as it travels through a business district and has intersections with MS 9, MS 15, as well as with its unsigned business loop MS 759 (W Main Street/College Street). MS 12 now leaves Ackerman and winds its way east through remote, hilly, and wooded terrain for the next several miles to cross