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Operating Hours, Seasons |
Open daily, except December 25 (Federal Holiday)
Visitor Center: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.;
Cairo Museum: November to March: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. April to October: 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. |
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| PLANE - Closest commercial airport is Jackson, MS, 50 miles to the east.
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CAR - Location, Directions to Vicksburg
From the East, Take Interstate 20 west to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Use exit ramp 4B. Follow Clay Street (US-80) west 1/4 mile to the park entrance.
From the North, Take Interstate 55 south to Jackson, Mississippi. (To save time you can use the Interstate 220 bypass on the west side of Jackson). Take Interstate 20 west to Vicksburg, approximately 40 miles. Use exit ramp 4B. Follow Clay Street (US-80) west 1/4 mile to the park entrance.
From the South, Take Interstate 55 or US Highway 49 to Jackson, Mississippi. Take Interstate 20 west to Vicksburg, Mississippi, approximately 42 miles. Use exit ramp 4B. Follow Clay Street (US-80) west 1/4 mile to the park entrance.
From the West, Take Interstate 20 east to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Use exit ramp 4B. Follow Clay Street (US-80) west 1/4 mile to the park entrance. |
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION - Taxi Cabs, Charter Buses (see your travel agent). |
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Sunny, with humid rainy periods throughout the year. Sudden and severe thunderstorms are common. Mild winters. Summers hot and humid. Wear comfortable sportswear in season, with walking or hiking shoes recommended. |
Accessibility |
The main park Visitor Center and Cairo Museum are wheelchair accessible, with a least one wheelchair available upon request.
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Private Automobile, Taxi Cab, Tour Bus, Bicycle, or Walking.
Orientation to the park begins at the park visitor center with an 18 minute film. Visitors can then drive the historic 16 mile tour road through Union and Confederate siege lines.
Halfway through the park, visitors get a close-up view of the Union gunboat, the USS Cairo. The 175 foot long ironclad was sunk on December 12, 1862, by underwater Confederate mines just North of Vicksburg in the Yazoo River. Raised in 1964, the restored city class gunboat offers visitors a unique opportunity to view original cannons, cannon carriages, engines, boilers and pilot house, via a reconstructed gundeck. The nearby USS Cairo Museum houses a variety of military and personal artifacts, which were recovered with the Cairo during its salvage operation.
Adjacent to the USS Cairo is the Vicksburg National Cemetery. Established in 1866, it contains in excess of 18,000 graves, of which over 12,000 are unknown. Soldiers from the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II and the Korean War are interred here. |
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