Camping in Mississippi

Camping rules worth knowing in Mississippi

Dispersed camping on the national forests, and the two numbers for it

The National Forests in Mississippi welcome dispersed camping in all six forests. The camping page allows up to 30 days, then requires a move of at least five road miles, with no return to the same site within the calendar year, camps not left unattended more than 24 hours, sites at least 100 feet from any stream or water source, and campsites kept within 150 feet of a roadway. The same page now warns that some recreation areas and standard general forest rules limit stays to 14 days in a 30-day period, so verify with the district. A party larger than 75 needs a special use permit from the district office, while firewood gathered for use on the forest needs no permit at all. Source 9

Developed campground stay limits move with the season

Forest recreation areas set their own limits and they are not uniform. Big Biloxi, on the De Soto, allows 14 days from 1 May to 31 October and 30 days from 1 November to 30 April, which is the reverse of the pattern most travellers expect. It also bars the operation of low pressure vehicles such as three and four wheelers inside the recreation area, bans generators and radios loud enough to disturb others, requires day visitors to campers to pay the overnight fee or leave by sundown, and limits pets to a leash no longer than six feet. Read the individual site page, not the statewide one. Source 18

Corps of Engineers water, which is most of the camping

The rules on all six Mississippi Corps projects are federal and identical. Under 36 CFR 327.7, camping is permitted only at sites or areas the District Commander designates, and camping at one or more sites at any one project for longer than 14 days in any 30 consecutive days is prohibited without written permission. Under 36 CFR 327.2, operating or parking a vehicle off authorised roadways is prohibited except where and when the District Commander designates, and taking a vehicle through, around or beyond a restrictive sign, recognisable barricade, fence or traffic control barrier is prohibited. In designated recreation areas, vehicles are for entering and leaving only unless posted otherwise. Source 36

Fire: a county-by-county burn ban, not a stage ladder

Mississippi publishes no numbered fire restriction stages. The unit is the county. The Forestry Commission describes burn bans as restrictions on outdoor burning during drought or wildfire conditions, normally requested by a county board of supervisors and approved by the commission, with every ban expiring at midnight on its stated expiry date. The wording of what a ban covers is unusually wide: anything with an open flame that produces an ember is not allowed, and a burn ban means no outdoor burning of any kind. Check the commission’s current list for the county you are in rather than the one you drove out of. Source 33

Camping on the barrier islands means arriving by boat

Boat-in backcountry camping is allowed on Petit Bois, West Petit Bois and Horn Islands and on the Park Service portion of Cat Island. Camping is limited to 14 consecutive days, after which campers must remove themselves and their property from the seashore for at least 48 hours before returning, with a 42-day maximum in a calendar year. Campsites take no more than ten people and must be 500 feet apart, on flat level beach rather than on dunes, foredunes or vegetation. Everything is packed out, including human waste, for which an approved receptacle is required. Horn and Petit Bois are wilderness, where nothing with wheels and axles is allowed, including a wheeled cooler. Source 24

The full guide to overlanding Mississippi