Mississippi Public Lands
5.1% of Mississippi is federal land: 1,556,411 of its 30,222,720 acres (2024 data). The largest federal land manager in Mississippi is the U.S. Forest Service, with 1,190,990 acres, 3.9% of the state. This guide covers 26 state parks, 7 National Park Service units, 1 national forest, 3 wilderness areas, and 15 national wildlife refuges.
Explore Mississippi public lands by type
- Mississippi state parks 26 parks, 6 with camping, 7 with swimming
- Mississippi national parks 7 National Park Service units
- Mississippi national forests National Forests in Mississippi: free dispersed camping allowed
- Mississippi wilderness areas 3 areas
- Mississippi national wildlife refuges 15 national wildlife refuges
Mississippi public land map
- National forests
- National parks, recreation areas and monuments (NPS)
- National wildlife refuges (FWS)
- State parks
- Wilderness areas (dashed)
Land managed by (switch layers on or off)
Land ownership: USGS PAD-US 4.1, dissolved by manager and simplified (parcels under about 2 square km not shown). Unit boundaries simplified. Not for navigation or legal boundaries.
List of all 52 places on this map
State parks (26)
- Buccaneer State Park
- Clarkco State Park
- Florewood State Park
- George P. Cossar State Park
- Golden Memorial State Park
- Grand Gulf Military State Park (Mississippi)
- Great River Road State Park
- Holmes County State Park
- Hugh White State Park
- J. P. Coleman State Park
- John W. Kyle State Park
- Lake Lincoln State Park
- Lake Lowndes State Park
- LeFleur's Bluff State Park
- Legion State Park
- Leroy Percy State Park
- Nanih Waiya State Park
- Natchez State Park
- Paul B. Johnson State Park
- Percy Quin State Park
- Roosevelt State Park
- Shepard State Park
- Tishomingo State Park
- Tombigbee State Park
- Trace State Park
- Wall Doxey State Park
National parks, recreation areas and monuments (NPS) (7)
National forests (1)
Wilderness areas (3)
National wildlife refuges (FWS) (15)
- Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge
- Coldwater River National Wildlife Refuge
- Dahomey National Wildlife Refuge
- Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge
- Hillside National Wildlife Refuge
- Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge
- Mathews Brake National Wildlife Refuge
- Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge
- Morgan Brake National Wildlife Refuge
- Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
- Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge
- St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge
- Tallahatchie National Wildlife Refuge
- Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge
- Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge
Who manages Mississippi's land
| Agency | Acres | Share of Mississippi |
|---|---|---|
| Bureau of Land Management | 5,123 | 0% |
| U.S. Forest Service | 1,190,990 | 3.9% |
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 211,668 | 0.7% |
| National Park Service | 105,754 | 0.3% |
| Department of Defense | 42,876 | 0.1% |
| All federal land | 1,556,411 | 5.1% |
Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), 2024 data, checked 2026-09-30.
Camping on Mississippi public land
Free dispersed camping is also allowed on National Forests in Mississippi .
6 of Mississippi's state parks have developed campgrounds on record; compare them in the Mississippi state parks table.
Common questions
- 5.1% of Mississippi is federal land: 1,556,411 of its 30,222,720 acres (2024 data).
- 5,123 acres, less than 0.1% of the state (2024 data).
- The largest federal land manager in Mississippi is the U.S. Forest Service, with 1,190,990 acres, 3.9% of the state.
- This guide lists 26 Mississippi state parks and recreation areas, 6 of them with camping on record.
- congress.gov (accessed 2026-09-30)
- blm.gov (accessed 2026-09-30)
The sentences on this page are generated by software from the sourced records above, not written by hand. How this content is made.