Overlanding

Mississippi

Why the forest roads matter here and the marked trails do not

Mississippi is 5.1 percent federal. The Congressional Research Service counts 1,556,411 federal acres of 30,222,720, and almost all of it, 1,190,990 acres, is Forest Service ground. The Bureau of Land Management holds 5,123 acres and the national route layer records no BLM road or trail in the state at all. So the question is not where the public land is. It is what a full-size vehicle is allowed to do on it.

The answer turns on one number. The Mississippi Annual Forest-wide OHV Pass costs sixty dollars and, in the Forest Service’s own words, "allows the use of trails open to vehicles less than or equal to 50" wide". Every marked motorised trail in the six national forests sits at or under that: Bethel at 50 inches, Rattlesnake Bay, Chickasaw and Little Tiger at 48, the Delta’s multiple-use trails at 60. A truck is wider than all of them. Nothing on the trail map is for you.

What is for you is the road system those maps also carry. The forests publish Motor Vehicle Use Maps for Bienville, the Chickasawhay district, Delta, De Soto, Holly Springs with Tombigbee, and Homochitto, and dispersed camping is welcome across all of them. Add the Corps of Engineers, which runs 29 of the 43 federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach in this state, more than the Forest Service and Park Service put together, and the shape of a Mississippi trip is a long slow loop of forest road, levee road and lake.

Water decides the rest. The state takes 55.9 inches of rain a year, more than 65 along the coast, and the Forest Service warns on its own camping page that storms here "have been known to produce 5 to 10 inches of rain in a few hours". Trails and gates close after rain, sometimes for a week and a half. Hurricane season runs 1 June to 30 November. Plan around the ground being soft, not around the ground being steep, because the state high point is 806 feet.

Mississippi by the numbers

of Mississippi is federal land 1: 5.1%; 1,556,411 of 30,222,720 acres. The Bureau of Land Management holds 5,123 of them and no recorded routes
acres in six national forests 4: 1.2M; The Forest Service’s own figure. The Congressional Research Service counts 1,190,990 Forest Service acres statewide
width limit on the forest-wide OHV pass 8: 50 in; The $60 annual pass covers trails 50 inches and under. A full-size vehicle fits none of them
federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach 2: 43; 29 Corps of Engineers, 10 Forest Service, 4 Park Service; our build of the federal recreation database
acres of wildlife management areas 28: 665K+; The department’s user guide says 52 areas, its own article says 54. Both give the same acreage
of Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi 26: 312 mi; The state transport department’s figure. The Park Service gives 444 miles for the whole parkway
Woodall Mountain, the state high point 3: 806 ft; USGS published. Our own reading at the summit point gives 805. The low point is the Gulf of Mexico at sea level
of rain a year, statewide 37: 55.9 in; 1991 to 2020 normals: 50 inches in the north, about 65 along the coast

Six forests, and where their offices are

The Forest Service runs Mississippi as one unit with six forests inside it, and the Motor Vehicle Use Maps are the honest index of that: Bienville, the Chickasawhay Ranger District, Delta, De Soto, Holly Springs with Tombigbee, and Homochitto. The naming is not consistent even at the agency. The offices page calls the Chickasawhay a national forest while the Motor Vehicle Use Map list calls it a ranger district; this guide follows the map list.

The district offices sit in Forest, Laurel, Rolling Fork, Wiggins, Oxford, Meadville and Ackerman, with the Supervisor’s Office in Jackson, and that spread is the real map of where the public land is. Nothing here is a block. You drive between tracts on state highways, and a day on forest roads is usually a day in two or three separate pieces of forest.

Those offices matter practically as well as geographically. Passes and permits are sold at district offices and the Jackson Supervisor’s Office sells none, and the standing instruction on trail and recreation pages across the state is to phone the district before you set out, because the gate you are driving to may already be shut.

Source 5

A mosaic, not a block

Holly Springs is the only Mississippi forest that publishes its own size, and the sentence is worth reading twice: approximately 155,000 acres of national forest land "which occurs within a mosaic of 530,000 acres of private lands". It is split into a Holly Springs unit in the north and a Yalobusha unit in the south, across parts of Benton, Lafayette, Marshall, Tippah, Union and Yalobusha counties.

Take that ratio as the template for the whole state. Even inside a proclaimed forest boundary, most of the ground under your tyres may belong to somebody else, and the marking is subtle: national forest land shows green on the forest map, boundaries carry brown and yellow signs, and red paint spots on trees define the line through woods. There are no fences to tell you.

This is why the Motor Vehicle Use Map is not a nicety here. It is the difference between a legal forest road and a private drive that happens to be unlocked, and the agency says plainly that not all land inside the boundary is national forest.

Source 6

The Corps of Engineers holds most of the camping

Six Corps of Engineers projects appear on the Corps Lakes Gateway for Mississippi: Arkabutla, Sardis, Enid and Grenada in the north, Okatibbee in the east, and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. Those six carry 29 of the 43 federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach in this state, which is more than the Forest Service and the Park Service manage between them.

That is an unusual balance and it changes how a trip here is planned. In most states the federal campground map is a forest map; in Mississippi it is a water map, strung along four flood-control reservoirs in the hills east of the Delta and along a navigation waterway on the Alabama line. Shore power, water and dump stations are ordinary at these sites in a way they are not on forest ground.

The Vicksburg District’s own website refuses every request a script can make, so no lake acreage, shoreline figure, fee or district stay limit appears on this page. What does apply everywhere is 36 CFR 327, which is federal regulation rather than local policy and binds all six projects identically.

Source 35

The width limits, and what the maps are for

Six motorised trail systems exist across the national forests and a full-size vehicle fits on none. Bethel, on the De Soto Ranger District, is 43 miles for machines no wider than 50 inches. Rattlesnake Bay, also De Soto, is 31.6 miles in loops of 2, 22 and 7.6 miles. Chickasaw on the Tombigbee and Little Tiger on the Chickasawhay are 12 miles each. The Delta has 19 multiple-use trails and one hiking-only trail running from three quarters of a mile to four and a half. Bethel South adds a motorcycle and mountain bike trail with no published mileage.

Every one of them requires a state-approved muffler or spark arrestor, and the width ceilings run 48, 50 and 60 inches. Read the trail list as information about what the state is not, and then look at the same Motor Vehicle Use Map again for the roads, which is where a registered vehicle belongs.

The compensation is generous. Dispersed camping is allowed in all six forests, which is rare company for a state with this little federal land, and the road network that carries it is extensive, flat and quiet. The trade is that none of it is signed as a destination. You are reading a map, not following a brown sign.

Source 7

Rain, gates and the seasons that close things

Nothing here closes for snow. Things close because the ground is saturated. The standing instruction across the forest trail pages is to call before you haul, and the rule of thumb is simple: if the gate to the parking area is closed, the trail is closed. The passes page states that motorised trails close when conditions are wet to prevent trail damage and erosion into streams.

The rain totals explain it. NOAA puts the statewide normal at 55.9 inches a year, from 50 in the north to about 65 on the coast, with a typical station seeing a day and a half a year of three inches or more. The flood season runs November through June on the Mississippi River itself, while tropical systems push smaller rivers up in late summer and autumn. The Atlantic hurricane season runs 1 June to 30 November, which is the single date pair to plan a coastal trip around.

Heat is the summer constraint and it is humid heat. The long-term averages are around three days a year at 100 degrees or above and eleven nights that do not fall below 75, against about two days a year whose maximum stays at or below freezing. Tornadoes are a planning input rather than a curiosity: 46 a year between 1985 and 2019, peaking sharply in April with a smaller second peak in November, and Mississippi leads the country in tornado deaths per million people.

Source 38

What the coast is, and what it is not

Mississippi has a Gulf coast and no beach driving on any of it. Gulf Islands National Seashore states that all roadways, off-roadways, beaches, trails and boardwalks inside its boundaries are closed to golf carts, scooters and UTV or ATV type vehicles, with a campground exception for mobility access only. Metal detectors are prohibited everywhere in the park and drones may not be launched or landed anywhere on its lands and waters.

The seashore’s Mississippi district is one drive-in area near Ocean Springs and five barrier islands you cannot drive to. Campfires are barred on every seashore beach with one exception: below the mean high tide line, out of vegetation, on Horn, Petit Bois, West Petit Bois and the Park Service portion of Cat Island, all of which are reached by boat. Pets are not allowed on the Mississippi islands at all.

That leaves the coast as a paved proposition, which it does well. The Gulf Coast Scenic Byway runs 18 miles through Pass Christian, Long Beach and Gulfport, and Beach Boulevard runs 13 miles along the Hancock County shore from Cedar Point in Bay St. Louis to Bayou Cadet. Both are the right place to be when the forests two hours north are too wet to enter.

Source 23

The wildlife management areas, and who actually owns them

The state’s wildlife management area system is described by its own department as 54 areas over 665,000 acres, which is more than a thousand square miles, spread across the eight major physiographic regions of the state. The department’s user guide brochure says 52 areas at the same acreage. Both figures are the department’s and this guide gives both.

The ownership is the part that catches people out. In the department’s words, some areas are owned by it, "many are managed under memoranda of understanding with the U.S. Forest Service or private corporations", and others run on long-term licence agreements with the Corps of Engineers. Fourteen sit on national forest ground: Bienville, Caney Creek, Caston Creek, Chickasaw, Chickasawhay, Choctaw, Leaf River, Little Biloxi, Mason Creek, Red Creek, Sandy Creek, Sunflower, Tallahala and Upper Sardis. The Delta National Forest is Sunflower WMA.

So a single track can be Forest Service road, state-regulated hunting ground and privately owned timber inside a mile, each with its own rulebook. The areas reach from the coastal marsh edge in Jackson County to the lower Appalachian foothills in Tishomingo County, and fishing, primitive camping and hiking are available on many of them alongside the hunting that is their main use.

Source 29

Passes and routes

Natchez Trace ParkwayPaved

312 in Mississippi, 444 in all

Natchez to Nashville, Tennessee

The Park Service marks the parkway from milepost 0 near Natchez to milepost 444 near Nashville, averaging 800 feet wide, with a 50 mph speed limit unless posted otherwise. Commercial vehicles are prohibited and only recreational hauling is allowed, so a loaded work truck does not belong here. Driving off-road vehicles or tractors on parkway property is prohibited outright. Allow at least ten hours end to end, three and a half to four hours Tupelo to Jackson, and five and a half to six Tupelo to Natchez. Traffic is heaviest at commuter times around Jackson at mileposts 87 to 105 and Tupelo at 258 to 268. 20

Vehicle
Maximum 55 feet overall including a towed vehicle, maximum height 14 feet

Season
Year round
Great River Road National Scenic BywayPaved

Over 275

Follows U.S. Highway 61 along the Mississippi River

The state transport department describes it as running over 275 miles along the Mississippi River on U.S. 61, a joint effort between the Lower Mississippi Historic Byway and the Mississippi Delta Great River Road Byway. It is one leg of the corridor that runs down both banks from Lake Itasca in Minnesota to the mouth of the river. Its declared intrinsic quality is history, and it is the spine most Delta and river-bluff driving hangs off. 26

Season
Year round
Mississippi Delta Great River Road Scenic BywayPaved

About 175

Helena Bridge south to the Issaquena and Warren county line

The northern half of the river corridor, running from the Helena Bridge down to the Issaquena-Warren county line. The transport department describes farmland and forest "among the richest on Earth" beside a region as well known for its poverty as for its soil. This is flat, straight, agricultural driving with long gaps between anything, and it is the natural approach to the Delta National Forest and to the bottomland wildlife management areas either side of it. 26

Season
Year round
Lower Mississippi Historic Scenic BywayPaved

One hundred plus

Warren County through Claiborne, Jefferson and Adams to the Louisiana line in Wilkinson County

The southern half of the U.S. 61 corridor, linking Vicksburg, Port Gibson, Natchez and Woodville, which the transport department calls four of the oldest settlements along the river. It runs the loess bluff country rather than the floodplain, which means low hills, deep road cuts and a surprising amount of shade. Pair it with the Homochitto National Forest to the east for a two-day loop out of Natchez. 26

Season
Year round
Grand Gulf-Raymond Scenic BywayPaved

10 through the bluffs, another 40 east to Raymond

Ten miles through the loess bluffs above the river, through what the transport department calls "the deep, fern-decorated cuts of the historic road", under live oak and bald cypress, then another forty miles of high ground east to Raymond. The old dirt road is paved now and still keeps its Civil War shape. Deer and wild turkey cross it regularly. It is the shortest way to understand why loess country drives nothing like the Delta forty miles west. 26

Season
Year round
William Faulkner Scenic BywayPaved

15

Mississippi Highway 30, almost entirely inside the Holly Springs National Forest

Fifteen miles of Mississippi Highway 30 lying almost entirely within the Holly Springs National Forest, passing the Tanglefoot Trail, the Puskus Lake recreation area and the Little Tallahatchie River. It is the easiest paved introduction to the Holly Springs and Yalobusha units, and the forest road network either side of it is where a registered vehicle can actually go. 26

Season
Year round
Noxubee Hills Route Scenic BywayPaved

Choctaw Lake through the Tombigbee National Forest to Highway 45 in Noxubee County

From Choctaw Lake in Choctaw County through the Tombigbee National Forest, past Bluff Lake in the Noxubee refuge, out to Highway 45, crossing Choctaw, Oktibbeha, Winston and Noxubee counties. The transport department publishes no mileage for it. It is the one byway that strings together the Tombigbee’s scattered tracts, and it reaches the forest campgrounds on the same run. 26

Season
Year round
Mississippi Highway 67 Scenic BywayPaved

Unincorporated Harrison County, bisecting the De Soto National Forest

The transport department describes a corridor of forest and agricultural land through unincorporated Harrison County that bisects the De Soto National Forest. For anyone heading to Bethel, Big Biloxi or the Big Foot horse camp this is the approach road: the Forest Service directions to all three run from Highway 49 at Saucier onto Highway 67 and then onto county and forest roads. No mileage is published for the byway itself. 26

Season
Year round
Byways to Space Scenic BywayPaved

More than 30 across six routes

Six separate routes covering more than 30 miles through or beside the 125,000-acre buffer zone around the NASA Stennis Space Center, often canopied by oaks, passing former settlement sites, scenic vistas and waterways. The six are named for the communities that gave up their land for the centre: NASA, Pearlington, Westonia, Logtown, Napoleon and Santa Rosa. It is the strangest piece of public driving in the state and it sits within an hour of the Mississippi Sound. 26

Season
Year round
Vicksburg National Military Park Tour RoadPaved

16

Sixteen miles of park road through the siege lines above the river, with a dedicated non-motorised lane down the left side that walkers and cyclists use, so traffic patterns matter more than they look like they should. Walking loops off it run from 3 miles to the full 16. Bicycles may not leave the established roadway and are not permitted on sidewalks, monuments or the Thayer’s Approach tunnel. Vehicle traffic can be heavy. 25

Vehicle
Open to vehicles 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., last entry 4:40 p.m.

Season
Year round
Bethel OHV Trails

43

De Soto Ranger District, reached from Highway 49 and Highway 67

Forty three miles for machines up to 50 inches wide, through longleaf and slash pine, hardwood flats, swamps and pitcher plant ground. Ten dollars a person a day with the ticket stub carried on each rider, or covered by the sixty dollar forest-wide OHV pass. The trailhead has primitive campsites and a vault toilet and no water, a seven-day stay limit, and no riding inside the camping area. If the parking area gate is shut, the trail is shut. Listed here because it is the largest motorised system in the state and because a full-size vehicle cannot use it. 14

Vehicle
All-terrain vehicles no wider than 50 inches; licensed operator; spark arrestor and 96 dBA exhaust

Season
Year round, but closed for seven to ten days after heavy rain
Rattlesnake Bay ATV Trail

31.6 across three loops of 2, 22 and 7.6

De Soto Ranger District, south of New Augusta on Forest Service Road 312

A winding contour trail that follows the land and avoids steep slopes, wet drainages and other sensitive ground, reached from Hattiesburg via Highway 49, Highway 98 and Highway 29. It sits inside the special use permit area for the Camp Shelby Military Training Site, and the Forest Service states outright that wheeled traffic, tank and foot manoeuvres happen there, mostly May through September, and that tanks and other vehicles may cross or use the trails. Ten dollars a user, seven-day stay limit. Two official width limits appear on the same page and both are given above. 15

Vehicle
The page text says 48 inches, its own restrictions box says 50; tread depth one inch or less

Season
Year round unless weather closes it
Delta Multiple-Use Trails

19 trails from three quarters of a mile to four and a half

Delta National Forest, from Rolling Fork and the forest road network

Nineteen multiple-use trails and one hiking-only trail traversing low lands, waterways and reservoirs in the flattest, wettest national forest in the state. The 60-inch ceiling is the most generous in Mississippi and still too narrow for a truck. The permit is separate from every other forest pass: three dollars a day from self-service stations at the Rolling Fork district office, the Delta Work Center on Forest Road 703, Dowling Bayou on Forest Road 706, the Big Sunflower River trailhead on Forest Road 717 and Little Sunflower, or twenty dollars a year from the district office only. No fee for foot travel. 13

Vehicle
Vehicles less than 60 inches wide unless designated otherwise

Season
Year round
Chickasaw ATV/Motorcycle Trail

12

Tombigbee National Forest, one mile west of the Natchez Trace Parkway

Twelve miles rated easy to moderate, with parking, a trailhead and a chemical toilet, ten dollars per machine per day at an unattended fee station just inside the gate, so bring correct currency. It sits 29 miles south of Tupelo and 14 miles north of Houston, reached by driving south 17 miles on the Natchez Trace Parkway to the Davis Lake Recreation Area exit at milepost 243 and turning onto County Road 413. It is the clearest case in the state of a trail you can reach easily and cannot legally ride. 17

Vehicle
Vehicles no wider than 48 inches

Season
Open seasonally, 1 April to 1 November
Little Tiger ATV/Motorcycle Trail

12

Chickasawhay Ranger District

A main loop, a short loop and a warm-up loop winding through longleaf pine upland with glimpses of the Little Thompson Creek watershed, rated easy to moderate, with picnic tables and a chemical toilet. Ten dollars per person per day at an unattended fee station. The Forest Service asks riders to call the district before hauling, because the trail closes when the ground is saturated, which in this part of the state is a regular event rather than an exception. 16

Vehicle
Vehicles no wider than 48 inches; mudding only in designated areas

Season
Open year round, subject to closure for saturated ground

Rules worth knowing

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. 9
The Motor Vehicle Use Map is what makes a road legal: Current Motor Vehicle Use Maps are published for Bienville National Forest, the Chickasawhay Ranger District, Delta National Forest, De Soto National Forest, Holly Springs and Tombigbee together, and Homochitto National Forest. Carry the one for the district you are in. The maps designate where motorised travel is permitted, and the forest applies the same logic to newer vehicle types: electric bike users may only ride on motorised trails identified in the Motor Vehicle Use Maps. 10
Know the boundary, and know the hunting season: Not all land inside a proclaimed forest boundary is national forest. The land shown green on the forest map is public; red paint and brown and yellow signs mark the line, and red paint spots on trees define it through woods. Where signs have been vandalised or the line is unmarked, assume private. During hunting season, camping is permitted only in designated hunter camps in the Delta and Tombigbee national forests. In its hunting guidance the Forest Service also asks visitors to stay at least 150 yards from trails, roads, recreation areas, buildings and residences, and the same page states the statewide camping limit as 14 days during a 30-day period. 11
The Delta is stricter than the rest: The Delta National Forest does not allow open dispersed camping. Camping is permitted only in a designated campsite, of which there are 57 scattered through the forest, each with a gravel pad, fire ring, lantern post and picnic table, at seven dollars a night by reservation made at least 48 hours ahead, half price with an Access or Senior pass. Potable water exists at one place, the Delta Work Center on Forest Service Road 703. The Forest Service manages the whole forest as Sunflower Wildlife Management Area under a memorandum of understanding with the state, so state hunting rules apply on top of federal ones. 12
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. 18
The Forest Service passes, and why none of them helps a truck: Two Mississippi-only passes exist. The Mississippi Adventure Pass costs fifty dollars and covers unlimited day use for a year at Marathon Lake, Shongelo, Turkey Fork, Big Biloxi, Clear Springs, Chewalla Lake, Puskus Lake, Choctaw Lake and Davis Lake. It does not cover overnight fees, pavilion reservations or fees in other national forests. The Mississippi Annual Forest-wide OHV Pass costs sixty dollars and covers trails open to vehicles 50 inches wide or under, meaning Little Tiger, Bethel, Rattlesnake Bay and Chickasaw, and nothing a full-size vehicle can enter. Holders of an Interagency Senior or Access Pass get 50 percent off either one. Passes are sold at district offices; the Jackson Supervisor’s Office sells none. 8
The wildlife management area user permit: The state Wildlife Management Area User Permit costs fifteen dollars plus a one dollar agent fee and a $2.49 processing fee, is valid one year from the start date, and the department’s price list says it must be bought before any use of a wildlife management area, in addition to any required hunting or fishing licence. The department’s own user guide is narrower: users are exempt on lands owned by the U.S. Forest Service unless they are hunting, fishing or trapping. Both statements are the department’s. Buy the permit if there is any doubt; it is cheaper than the alternative. 31
The wildlife management area vehicle rule: Title 40, Part 2, Chapter 1, Rule 1.1 is short and hard. No motorised vehicle, regardless of size or type, is allowed off-road or on any road blocked or posted as closed. No ATV or ORV is allowed on any public road open to licensed motor vehicles. No horses, ATVs, ORVs or other vehicles are allowed on wildlife food plots or unharvested crop land. Vehicles blocking any gate, road, trail, levee, right of way, boat ramp or permit station are prohibited and may be towed at the owner’s expense. Every vehicle entering or leaving is subject to being checked at roadblocks or checkpoints, and individual areas publish their own exceptions. 30
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. 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. 33
The Natchez Trace has its own rulebook: There is no dispersed camping on the parkway. All camping must be within designated campgrounds, of which the Park Service runs three along the whole 444 miles: Meriwether Lewis at milepost 385.9 in Tennessee, and in Mississippi Jeff Busby at milepost 193.1 and Rocky Springs at milepost 54. All three are free, primitive and first come first served, with no electricity, showers or dump stations. The camping page limits stays to 14 days per campground per calendar year while the parkway FAQ says 14 consecutive nights; plan on the tighter reading. Sites fill quickly in March and April and again in October and November. 21
Parkway size limits and the low bridges: The parkway caps recreational vehicles at 55 feet including a tow vehicle and 14 feet high, and the lane is 11 feet wide with little or no shoulder, which is why cyclists are permitted to use the entire lane. Three Mississippi underpasses run under 15 feet: milepost 66.6 at 14 feet 8 inches under MS Highway 27, milepost 118.9 at 14 feet 7 inches under Beall Road, and milepost 120.8 at 14 feet 1 inch under Rocks Road. Several pulloffs are closed to recreational vehicles, including milepost 45 at Mangum Mounds, where the bridge clearance is 11 feet 6 inches, and milepost 17 at the southern Potkopinu trailhead. 22
No beach driving anywhere on the Mississippi coast: Harrison County’s Sand Beach Authority, which looks after the mainland shore through Gulfport, Biloxi, Long Beach and Pass Christian, allows no motor vehicles except those it permits. Its posted rules also bar fires except by its permit, glass, china and pottery, animals of any kind, firearms, air guns and bows, fireworks except by permit, and tents or structures during the hours of darkness unless the authority approves them. Between that and the national seashore closure there is no legal beach driving anywhere in the state. 39
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. 24
Wilderness here is foot travel only: Black Creek Wilderness was established in 1984 and contains slightly more than 5,000 acres, with elevations running from 100 to 270 feet above sea level, and it holds about ten miles of the Black Creek National Recreation Trail along the state’s only national wild and scenic river. No vehicles are allowed and only foot travel is permitted within it. It lies east of and adjacent to State Highway 29, about 18 miles south of New Augusta and 10 miles north of Wiggins. Leaf Wilderness, the state’s other one, is the same answer on a smaller scale. 19
There is no traction law, and no snow day either: The Department of Transportation publishes winter weather preparedness advice, a car kit checklist and car care information, and no tyre or chain standard of any kind, because the state averages two freezing days a year. During a winter storm its Traffic Management Center monitors road conditions and pushes them to the department’s traffic app and website, which is the source to watch rather than any roadside sign. The department states plainly that it does not take snow days and that its crews work to keep highways open and passable through a winter event. 27
Titles, tags and what a plated vehicle needs: Mississippi issues no off-highway vehicle registration sticker and no state trail permit. The Department of Revenue states that ATVs and utility vehicles manufactured after 1 July 2025 must be titled, that golf carts are neither titled nor registered, and that motorised scooters, mini bikes, dirt bikes, go-carts and motor-assisted bicycles may be voluntarily titled but are issued no licence plate and cannot be operated on highways or in cities unless local law authorises it. A road-registered truck or van is simply a vehicle here and needs nothing extra beyond the land-manager permits above. 34
State parks charge for trail use by vehicle: The state park system prices a daily trail use fee for off-road vehicles and horses at eight dollars a person, and an annual off-road vehicle and horse pass at $102 a person, alongside general entrance at up to four dollars a person and an annual entrance pass at fifty dollars. Camping runs from seventeen dollars for a primitive tent site to a wide range for recreational vehicle sites, with monthly rates available and a 15 percent discount for over 62s, disabled visitors, veterans and active service members. The fee schedule prices the trails; it does not say which parks hold them, so ask the park. 32

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.

Towns

Holly Springs Chewalla Lake and the north unit of the forest 605 ft
Iuka Nearest town to Woodall Mountain and the Tennessee River corner 570 ft
Oxford Holly Springs forest office and the Yalobusha unit 507 ft
Forest Bienville forest office; Marathon Lake lies south east 479 ft
Meadville Homochitto forest office; Clear Springs is five miles west 314 ft
Jackson Forest Supervisor’s Office; the Trace is busy at rush hour here 278 ft
Tupelo Parkway visitor centre and the way in to Tombigbee forest 277 ft
Wiggins De Soto Ranger District office; gateway to Black Creek 260 ft
Vicksburg Corps district town, the 16-mile tour road and the river bluffs 242 ft
Natchez Milepost 0 on the Trace and the south end of the river byways 215 ft
Waynesboro Chickasawhay country: Turkey Fork, Little Tiger and Longleaf 191 ft
Hattiesburg Largest services before the De Soto and Camp Shelby country 164 ft
New Augusta Turn for Rattlesnake Bay and the Black Creek Wilderness 111 ft
Rolling Fork Delta Ranger District office and Delta trail permits 106 ft
Ocean Springs Davis Bayou, the only drive-in Gulf Islands area in the state 21 ft
Gulfport Ship Island ferry and the west end of the Gulf Coast byway 20 ft

Passes, high roads and summits

Woodall Mountain The state high point, in Tishomingo County. Our own reading at the summit point gives 805 ft 806 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.

Sources for this page

Congressional Research Service. Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Tables 1 and 2. Retrieved September 18, 2026.
Recreation.gov. Recreation Information Database (RIDB) full export. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Geological Survey. Elevations and Distances in the United States, online edition, Highest and Lowest Elevations table. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. National Forests in Mississippi home page: 1.2 million acres, more than one million visitors a year. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Offices: the district office towns and the Supervisor’s Office in Jackson. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Holly Springs National Forest: two units, 155,000 acres inside 530,000 acres of private land. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV): the six trail systems and their width limits. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Passes: the Mississippi Adventure Pass and the Mississippi Annual Forest-wide OHV Pass. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Camping and Cabins, including the dispersed camping rules and the two stay limits. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Visitor Maps and Guides: the 2024-2025 Motor Vehicle Use Maps by forest and district. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. FAQs: camping limits, the fourteen national forest wildlife management areas, and boundary marking. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Delta National Forest: 57 designated primitive campsites and the Sunflower WMA agreement. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Delta Multiple-Use Trails: nineteen trails, the 60-inch limit and the self-service permit stations. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Bethel OHV Trails, De Soto Ranger District. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Rattlesnake Bay ATV Trail, De Soto Ranger District, inside the Camp Shelby permit area. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Little Tiger ATV/Motorcycle Trail, Chickasawhay Ranger District. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Chickasaw ATV/Motorcycle Trail, Tombigbee, open 1 April to 1 November. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Big Biloxi Recreation Area: the seasonal 14 and 30 day stay limits and the site restrictions. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi. Black Creek Wilderness Area: slightly more than 5,000 acres, foot travel only. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
National Park Service. Natchez Trace Parkway Frequently Asked Questions: length, speed limit and vehicle restrictions. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
National Park Service. Camping Along the Natchez Trace Parkway: three campgrounds, no dispersed camping. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
National Park Service. Recreational Vehicles on the Natchez Trace Parkway: size limits and underpass clearances. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
National Park Service. Gulf Islands National Seashore, Laws and Policies: the vehicle and campfire closures. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
National Park Service. Gulf Islands National Seashore, Boat-In Camping: the 14-day, 48-hour and 42-day limits. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
National Park Service. Vicksburg National Military Park, Walking and Biking: the 16-mile Tour Road and its hours. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Mississippi Department of Transportation. Mississippi Scenic Byways: the fourteen designated byways and their descriptions. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Mississippi Department of Transportation. Winter Weather Preparedness and the Traffic Management Center. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. Wildlife Management Area User Guide: 52 areas over 665,000 acres and the user permit. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. MS WMAs, Something for Everyone: 54 areas, the eight physiographic regions and how they are held. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. Title 40 Part 2 Chapter 1 Rule 1.1, Basic Regulations for All Wildlife Management Areas. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. Hunting and Fishing License Prices: the Wildlife Management Area User Permit. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. State Park Fees: entrance, off-road vehicle trail use and camping rates. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Mississippi Forestry Commission. Outdoor Burn Bans: how a county burn ban is requested, approved and worded. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Mississippi Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle Frequently Asked Questions: titling requirements for off-road vehicles. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Corps Lakes Gateway, Mississippi: the six Corps projects in the state. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Office of the Federal Register, eCFR. 36 CFR Part 327, Rules and Regulations Governing Public Use of Water Resource Development Projects. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. State Climate Summaries 2022: Mississippi (NOAA Technical Report NESDIS 150-MS). Retrieved September 25, 2026.
NOAA National Hurricane Center. Tropical Cyclone Climatology: Atlantic hurricane season dates. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Harrison County, Mississippi. Rules of the Beach, Harrison County Sand Beach Authority. Retrieved September 25, 2026.

Reviewed September 25, 2026. Conditions, closures and rules change; check with the managing agency before you travel.

Who manages Mississippi

The agency on the sign decides where you can drive and where you can sleep. Choose one to see how much of the state it holds and what that means for a trip.

Mississippi
5.1% 1,556,411 acres

Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Table 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Federal land here means the five agencies shown; state, tribal and private land make up the rest of each bar.

The public land map of Mississippi

Agency boundaries, the BLM and Forest Service roads and trails open to vehicles, wilderness, and BLM campgrounds. Select any point for who manages it.

Map layers

Find a place

Layers

Federal land Who manages the ground, by agency

State and local land State forests, parks and wildlife areas, county and city land, nationwide

BLM roads and trails Routes managed for public motorized use

Forest roads and trails Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map

Wilderness BLM Wilderness and study areas, closed to vehicles

Camping and trailheads BLM campgrounds, OHV areas and trailheads

Base map

Map Topo Satellite

Legend

Federal land, by managing agency

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
US Forest Service (USFS)
National Park Service (NPS)
US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
Department Of Defense (DOD)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Other Federal
State
Local
Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
Alaska Native Allotment

State and local land (USGS PAD-US)

State land
County and city land
Regional agency or district
Land trust or conservancy

Gaps with no tint inside public land are private parcels, often old mining claims and homesteads. They are not open to the public.

Dashed clay lines on the base map are unpaved tracks from OpenStreetMap. They show what exists on the ground, not what is legal to drive.

Select any point to see who manages the land.

Boundaries are approximate and land status changes. This map is a planning aid, not a survey or a statement of access. Confirm routes, closures and camping rules with the managing office.

Open the full map