Mississippi

Mississippi holds about 309 of the Natchez Trace Parkway's 444 miles, by the Park Service's mileposts, from Natchez to the Alabama line. The parkway counted 7,994,783 visits in 2025 across its three states. Clarksdale and Indianola in the Delta hold Blues Trail markers, and Ship Island lies off the Gulf Coast.

Hurricane Isaias made landfall in the western Florida Panhandle in October 2026, and the Ship Island ferry stops for the winter this week. We read the figures below on 27 October 2026 on the National Park Service's pages, the Mississippi Blues Commission's list, the museums' and airports' own sites, the National Weather Service's storm report, the Mississippi Department of Revenue's pages, federal time-zone rules and NOAA's normals.

Why is Vicksburg the only Mississippi park site with an entrance fee?

Vicksburg National Military Park is the only Park Service site in Mississippi that charges entry, and it charges by the vehicle. None of Mississippi's sites is on the 2026 list of eleven parks that add $100 for each visitor from abroad aged 16 or over. Gulf Islands National Seashore charges only at three areas in Florida, so Davis Bayou and Ship Island have no entrance fee.

Vicksburg's fee is $20 for a private car, valid for seven days. A motorcycle pays $15, and each person aged 16 or over on foot or bike $10. The park does not accept cash; pay by card at the Visitor Center or the Clay Street fee station. Its $35 annual pass is sold to US citizens and residents only.

Two adults from abroad in one car would pay $20 at Vicksburg and nothing at the other sites. The Melrose tour and the Ship Island ferry come on top, if they take them. The $250 non-resident America the Beautiful pass therefore never pays off in Mississippi. Fee-free days, 27 October among them, have applied to US residents only since 2026. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors explains the surcharge and the passes.

Which Vicksburg tour stops are closed?

Vicksburg's Tour Stops 2 and 3 have been closed since 2 March 2026, with the closure point at the Shirley House, while the Illinois Memorial is restored. The memorial itself has been closed since 16 September 2025. The park's alert still says the work should finish by September 2026.

The project page, updated on 26 October 2026, shows the work still going on. Its exterior scaffolding is being taken down, gutter repair is in progress, and the interior bronzes have been shipped away for restoration. The page gives no reopening date, so expect both stops to be closed.

On 27 October 2026 two more alerts were in force. Louisiana Circle is closed to vehicles and pedestrians because of slope instability, though Navy Circle stays open with views of the river. The National Cemetery, resting place of over 17,000 veterans, is closed to cars but open on foot from the USS Cairo parking lot.

The park suggests starting at the Clay Street Visitor Center, with its 18-minute film, then driving the 16-mile tour road. Vicksburg is approximately 45 miles from Jackson by the Park Service's own figures, off I-20 at exit 4B. The park's opening hours could not be read from its pages, so none appears here.

How much of the Natchez Trace runs through Mississippi?

The Natchez Trace Parkway runs for about 309 of its 444 miles through Mississippi, by the Park Service's mileposts. The mileposts start at 0 near Natchez, and at Bear Creek Mound, milepost 308.8, the Park Service says the Alabama line is visible from the parking area. No Park Service page gives the state-line milepost as a number, so the 309 is our reading of those two facts.

The parkway is free, with no entrance or campground fee. Its speed limit is 50 mph, and it bans commercial vehicles. Its free campgrounds take no reservations and allow a stay of 14 nights at most.

On 27 October 2026 the Park Service had closed mileposts 135 to 159.5, in Leake and Attala counties, for road reconstruction. The closure runs from 3 August 2026 to "late-2026", and the whole project is due to finish in mid-2027. A signed detour by Highways 16, 25, 35 and 19 adds 11 minutes, the Park Service says.

The Park Service puts the drive from Tupelo to Jackson at 3½ to 4 hours on the parkway, and from Tupelo to Natchez at 5½ to 6 hours. Its Parkway Visitor Center near Tupelo, at milepost 266, opens from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day. In Tennessee, the Double Arch Bridge section, mileposts 437 to 440, is closed from April 2026 to May 2027.

The parkway's busiest month in 2025 was October, with 781,482 visits, though every month counted over half a million. Expect commuter traffic around Jackson, mileposts 87 to 105, and Tupelo, mileposts 258 to 268.

How many Blues Trail markers stand in Mississippi?

About 200 Mississippi Blues Trail markers stand in Mississippi, by our count from the Mississippi Blues Commission's list. The list holds 222 markers, and about 21 of them are outside the state, in places such as Chicago, Memphis, Norway and France. The commission prints no total of its own.

Clarksdale has 12 markers, including the Delta Blues Museum, the Riverside Hotel and Muddy Waters's Cabin. Indianola has four, among them the B.B. King Museum's, dedicated on 5 September 2025.

The Crossroads of 49 & 61 marker stands at the junction of former Highways 49 and 61 in Clarksdale. The marker says the junction became known locally as the crossroads in the 1930s. A Mississippi resolution proclaimed it the official location in 1999. The sculpture of three guitars, by the local metalsmith Vic Barbieri, went up in May 1999.

The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, which calls itself the state's oldest music museum, opens Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The last admission is at 4:30 p.m. General admission costs $15 for anyone 17 or over and $10 for ages 7 to 16, and under-7s go free.

The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola, 62 miles from Clarksdale by our own routing, charges adults $15 and visitors over 60 $12. Students and children aged 5 to 17 pay $10. Its hours, marked temporary, run Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and it closes on Sundays and Mondays. Its memorial garden holds King's grave.

What can you see in Natchez while its Park Service visitor centre is shut?

Natchez National Historical Park's Melrose estate, the William Johnson House, Fort Rosalie and Forks of the Road are all open while its visitor centre is closed for rehabilitation. The Park Service sends visitors to VisitNatchez for information instead. Entry to every site is free.

Melrose, which presents the Southern planter class and the enslaved people, opens daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Its guided house tours run at 10 and 11 a.m. and at 2, 3 and 4 p.m. The park's pages disagree on the price. The hours page and Recreation.gov say $11 for anyone 18 or over, while the fees page says $10 plus a $1 booking fee.

Melrose tour tickets are sold on Recreation.gov, and under-18s go free. No more than 15 people go into the mansion at once, and federal passes do not cover the tour.

The William Johnson House, home of a free man of colour whose diary survives, opens daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with only its first floor open. Fort Rosalie and Forks of the Road open from sunup to sundown. Natchez is also milepost 0 of the Natchez Trace, about 115 miles from downtown Jackson by our own routing.

Where can you visit the Medgar Evers home and the Emmett Till sites?

The Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument is in Jackson's Elraine District, and the Emmett Till sites are at Sumner and Glendora. All of them are free. Medgar Evers was killed in the carport of his home on 12 June 1963. The Park Service calls his death a catalyst for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Evers home's rangers lead tours Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., closing from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch. The home has no restrooms and only limited street parking, so the Park Service suggests parking at Myrlie's Garden on Missouri Street. The house stands in an active neighbourhood.

The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument covers the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner, where the men accused of lynching Emmett Till were tried in 1955. It also covers Graball Landing near Glendora, where Till's body was found near the Tallahatchie River. Its visitor information is at the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, 158 N Court St., Sumner. The Park Service puts Sumner about 2 hours from Memphis and about 2½ hours from Jackson.

On 19 October 2026 the monument's alert said the entrance to River Road from Sharkey Road in Glendora was closed by a washout. Graball Landing can still be reached from Highway 49 East by Highway 8 East towards Grenada, then left on Tippo Road and left on River Road. Leave the same way. River Road is unpaved and hard going when wet, so ask at the visitor centre in Sumner before driving out.

When does the Ship Island ferry stop running?

The Ship Island ferry stopped running for 2026 after Sunday 1 November, the last day of its autumn season. Its operator, Ship Island Excursions, says every cruise leaves Gulfport Harbor in Jones Park. One Park Service page also names a Biloxi departure, but the operator's page and the Park Service's own Ship Island page say Gulfport.

An adult round trip costs $48, a child aged 3 to 12 $38 and a senior over 65 $44, plus a $1 fuel surcharge on every ticket. In autumn the ferry does not sail on Mondays and Tuesdays. From Wednesday to Friday one boat leaves at 9 a.m. and returns at 2:30 p.m.; at weekends boats leave at 9 a.m. and noon. The crossing takes about an hour, and boats often sell out at weekends.

Ship Island lies about 11 to 12 miles off the coast: the Park Service says 12 and the operator about 11. Fort Massachusetts opens Wednesday to Sunday in October, from 10:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., and its tours are free. The fort and the island's buildings close from 1 November to 28 February. The operator does not take American Express on the boats or the island.

Ship Island has a swimming beach, two pavilions and a concession, but phone signal is extremely limited. Glass, pets and camping are not allowed. The operator says it usually sails from mid-March through October, and it cancels trips for prolonged rain or severe weather.

Did Hurricane Isaias reach the Mississippi coast?

Hurricane Isaias reached the Mississippi coast only as tropical-storm-force gusts, according to the National Weather Service in New Orleans. Its report of 10 October 2026 says Isaias made landfall in the western Florida Panhandle "as a category 2 hurricane". The report counts no deaths in its area.

The Weather Service lists sporadic power outages, a few downed trees and low coastal roads closed by surge flooding. For Harrison County, which holds Gulfport and Biloxi, it says "No significant impacts were reported." Trees came down in Waveland in Hancock County, and in Vancleave and Moss Point in Jackson County. The National Hurricane Center's own report on Isaias had not been published by 27 October.

Gulf Islands National Seashore's closures page, updated on 26 October 2026, lists only Florida sites and does not mention Isaias. Neither does the park's alert feed. The ferry operator's site said "Ship Island is now Open".

Davis Bayou, the seashore's Mississippi mainland area, is three miles east of downtown Ocean Springs and has no entrance fee. Its gate opens from 8 a.m. to sunset and its visitor centre from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and swimming is not allowed anywhere in the bayou. Until 30 November 2026 flaggers may cause minor delays on Park Road while a bike path is built.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November, according to the National Hurricane Center, with its peak on 10 September.

Does Jackson's airport have flights from abroad?

Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International has no flights from abroad. Its nonstops go to Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington Reagan, Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston Intercontinental and Hobby, Miami and Nashville.

Gulfport-Biloxi International has year-round flights to Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston. It adds seasonal flights to Minneapolis–St. Paul and Orlando, and has announced Las Vegas and Tampa. New Orleans, in Louisiana, has nonstops from London, Toronto and Cancún. Its airport lies about 101 miles from Biloxi by our own routing, and Memphis airport 74 miles from Clarksdale.

The distances are our own routing without traffic. Our router takes main highways rather than the Natchez Trace, where the speed limit is 50 mph.

Mississippi is wholly on Central Time, by the federal rule that runs the Eastern–Central boundary down the Georgia–Alabama line. Alabama is on Central Time too, so the clock moves forward an hour only at the Georgia line. Clocks went back on 1 November 2026 at 2 a.m.

How hot is a Jackson summer, and how wet is the coast?

Jackson averages 84.7 days a year at or above 90°F, by NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals, against 70.2 in Tupelo and 69.2 in Gulfport. The coast is the wettest of the four stations below, with 62.82 inches of precipitation a year at Gulfport–Biloxi airport.

The table gives NOAA's average highs and lows. July is the coast's wettest month, with 7.21 inches, and October is the driest month at both Jackson and Gulfport. Tupelo averages 53.9 nights a year at or below freezing, against 15.8 on the coast.

The ferry operator warns of extreme heat and humidity on Ship Island from June through August. October is mild across the state, with highs of 76 to 80°F.

What does a hotel room in Jackson, Biloxi or Natchez pay in tax?

A hotel room in Jackson, Biloxi or Gulfport carries about 12% in taxes, and one in Natchez about 10% plus $2 a night. Those are our sums of the levies on the Mississippi Department of Revenue's list, not combined rates the department publishes. The state sales tax is 7%, and 5% on groceries.

Jackson adds a 1% infrastructure tax, so most purchases there carry 8%. Its hotels also pay a 3% convention centre tax, a 1% visitors bureau tax and $0.75 a night. Whether the infrastructure tax applies to rooms is our reading of its wording, which the department does not state outright.

Biloxi and Gulfport share Harrison County's levies of 2% for the coliseum and 3% for the visitors bureau on top of the state's 7%. Natchez adds 3% and $2 a night per room, and 1½% at restaurants. We found no general city or county sales tax on the department's pages, so by our reading shops in Biloxi, Gulfport and Natchez charge the state's 7%. Our guide to sales tax in the USA explains why prices are shown before tax.