Established campgrounds that welcome vehicle-based travelers, from public campgrounds on the way to somewhere to private camps worth a stay of their own.
Buffalo National River, Arkansas
We’re working on adding the latest campgrounds in Mississippi here.
In the meantime, BLM campgrounds are already on the public land map, with the fees and stay limits the agency publishes and a link to each one.
1991 to 2020 normals: 50 inches in the north, about 65 along the coast
Where you can legally sleep
Four systems, four rulebooks. The Corps of Engineers runs most of the drive-in federal sites under a federal limit of 14 days per project in any 30. The Forest Service allows dispersed camping in all six national forests, with a 30-day and a 14-day figure both published and the district office as tie-breaker, plus developed areas including Big Biloxi, Chewalla, Davis Lake, Turkey Fork, Marathon and Clear Springs. The Park Service allows no dispersed camping on the Trace. State parks take reservations well ahead and still welcome drive-ups.
Developed campgrounds have numbered sites, toilets, often water, usually a fee and sometimes reservations. They are the easy night on the way to somewhere.
Dispersed camping means no facilities and no fee. It is allowed on much Bureau of Land Management and National Forest land, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether you can have a fire.
Private campgrounds and ranch stays add showers, laundry and hookups: the reset day in the middle of a long trip.
How to find a good one
The managing agency's own page is the only source for current status.
01Check the agency page for closures, fire restrictions and water before you drive in.
02Check the stay limit. Many public lands use fourteen days within a set period, but it varies by office.
03Check vehicle length limits and the condition of the access road.
04Arrive before dark, and have a second option.
Camp so it stays open
Most closures of dispersed areas follow the same pattern of trash, new fire rings and driving off the track.
01Use sites that already exist rather than making new ones.
02Pack out everything, including human waste where it is required.
03Have fires only where and when they are allowed, and drown them.
04Leave gates as you found them.
Questions people ask
Is dispersed camping legal?
On much BLM and National Forest land, yes, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether fires are allowed. Rules are set by the local office and change with conditions, so check before you go. The public land map shows who manages the ground.
How long can I stay?
Many public lands use a 14-day limit within a set period, but it varies by office and by area. The campground details on the public land map show the stay limit the BLM publishes for each site.
Do I need a reservation?
For popular developed campgrounds in season, often. Many public campgrounds are first come, first served. Recreation.gov handles reservations for most federal campgrounds that take them.
How high is Mississippi?
From Gulfport at 20 feet to Woodall Mountain at 806.
Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.
02,000
Feet above sea level
Towns
Holly SpringsChewalla Lake and the north unit of the forest605 ft
IukaNearest town to Woodall Mountain and the Tennessee River corner570 ft
OxfordHolly Springs forest office and the Yalobusha unit507 ft
ForestBienville forest office; Marathon Lake lies south east479 ft
MeadvilleHomochitto forest office; Clear Springs is five miles west314 ft
JacksonForest Supervisor’s Office; the Trace is busy at rush hour here278 ft
TupeloParkway visitor centre and the way in to Tombigbee forest277 ft
WigginsDe Soto Ranger District office; gateway to Black Creek260 ft
VicksburgCorps district town, the 16-mile tour road and the river bluffs242 ft
NatchezMilepost 0 on the Trace and the south end of the river byways215 ft
WaynesboroChickasawhay country: Turkey Fork, Little Tiger and Longleaf191 ft
HattiesburgLargest services before the De Soto and Camp Shelby country164 ft
New AugustaTurn for Rattlesnake Bay and the Black Creek Wilderness111 ft
Rolling ForkDelta Ranger District office and Delta trail permits106 ft
Ocean SpringsDavis Bayou, the only drive-in Gulf Islands area in the state21 ft
GulfportShip Island ferry and the west end of the Gulf Coast byway20 ft
Passes, high roads and summits
Woodall MountainThe state high point, in Tishomingo County. Our own reading at the summit point gives 805 ft806 ft
Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own
figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates),
retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.
