Tour Stop #4 - Ransom's Gun Path
in Mississippi
From this area, artillerists of Battery F, 2nd Illinois Artillery Regiment dismantled and, with the assistance of infantrymen from Brig. General Thomas E. G. Ransom’s brigade, dragged two 12-pounder cannon over rugged terrain and across a bayou to a position within 100 yards of the Confederate line.
There the guns were reassembled and placed in action. One Union regiment located here was the 17th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry which had Menominee Indians serving in its ranks. Extremely adept as skirmishers, these Native Americans acted as sharpshooters by camouflaging themselves with brush and waiting for Confederates to expose themselves.
- States
- Mississippi
- Trail type
- National Military Park trail
- Centroid nearest city
- New Orleans, LA · 173 mi · ~5 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 32.3643°, -90.8420°
About Vicksburg National Military Park
This trail is inside Vicksburg National Military Park, a national military park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Entrance fee: $20 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/tour-stop-4-ransom-s-gun-path.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/vick/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Tour Stop #4 - Ransom's Gun Path and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.