Mud Island River Park
Mud Island River Park
4
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Island containing a 52-acre park that is home to the River Walk and the Mississippi River Museum accessible only by a footbridge.
Duration: 2-3 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
1,085 reviews
Excellent
403
Very good
373
Average
188
Poor
68
Terrible
53
SRQScottie
Glasgow, UK1,691 contributions
Sept 2023 • Couples
I wish I’d looked here before wasting time and money.
We last visited Mud Island in 2007 and remembered it as a nice place so I checked on the tourist website and the official Memphis parks website - nothing to suggest that it was anything other than open.
As others have mentioned the parking charges are really steep - we ended up paying $14 plus tax as we thought we would need more than 2 hours.
The first hint of trouble was the monorail which had clearly been out of use for some time and the homeless people harassing us as we headed for the bridge.
We were shocked when we arrived at the Island to find it utterly derelict. There is absolutely no point in wasting time and money here.
It’s disgraceful that the City isn’t warning people - seems like they are happy to fleece them out of parking fees and don’t care that they likely won’t ever return.
We last visited Mud Island in 2007 and remembered it as a nice place so I checked on the tourist website and the official Memphis parks website - nothing to suggest that it was anything other than open.
As others have mentioned the parking charges are really steep - we ended up paying $14 plus tax as we thought we would need more than 2 hours.
The first hint of trouble was the monorail which had clearly been out of use for some time and the homeless people harassing us as we headed for the bridge.
We were shocked when we arrived at the Island to find it utterly derelict. There is absolutely no point in wasting time and money here.
It’s disgraceful that the City isn’t warning people - seems like they are happy to fleece them out of parking fees and don’t care that they likely won’t ever return.
Written September 26, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mark C
New Jersey242 contributions
Aug 2022
This place COULD be fantastic. It is not. It is an absolute failure of city planning and development. It's clear that A LOT of money went into this at one point, but it's all but abandoned now.
There's a MONORAIL! Abandoned. (Did The Simpsons episode base their monorail boondoggle episode on this? Could be!) This monorail ran just a couple of blocks. Why? Now it actually sits there - partially blocked off, doors still open, graffiti filled. Just awful.
There's the Mississippi River Museum! Closed. The website says it "will reopen in 2022" ... but it's August 2022 and there is no sign of reopening.
Then - the highlight. The scale model of the lower Mississippi. This is such an amazing idea. My wife and I just shook our heads for the entire walk ... how this cool location and cool feature could be utterly empty on a Saturday afternoon. The sclae model was sad - little to no water; stagnant where there was any. Emptying into the massive Gulf of Mexico basin ... also dirty and stagnant looking. Empty booths along the way that could be snack shacks or souvenirs or something. Just dead and abandoned and wasted. Really sad.
We had some time to kill. The reviews and websites suggested this was interesting. It's not.
There's a MONORAIL! Abandoned. (Did The Simpsons episode base their monorail boondoggle episode on this? Could be!) This monorail ran just a couple of blocks. Why? Now it actually sits there - partially blocked off, doors still open, graffiti filled. Just awful.
There's the Mississippi River Museum! Closed. The website says it "will reopen in 2022" ... but it's August 2022 and there is no sign of reopening.
Then - the highlight. The scale model of the lower Mississippi. This is such an amazing idea. My wife and I just shook our heads for the entire walk ... how this cool location and cool feature could be utterly empty on a Saturday afternoon. The sclae model was sad - little to no water; stagnant where there was any. Emptying into the massive Gulf of Mexico basin ... also dirty and stagnant looking. Empty booths along the way that could be snack shacks or souvenirs or something. Just dead and abandoned and wasted. Really sad.
We had some time to kill. The reviews and websites suggested this was interesting. It's not.
Written August 11, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hayman T
Belmont, CA19 contributions
Feb 2020
Our first time to Memphis and we wanted to see the MEMPHIS letters art installation on Mud Island. Apparently the tram is out of order and the pedestrian bridge was closed so we took a drive out there. Signs in the run down parking area direct you to use your smartphone for parking payment. Imagine our shock we we followed the instructions only to find that parking was a flat $12!! That was just too much for our taste so we left, would’ve been different if everything was open.
Written February 29, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Celia Grant
Omaha, NE154 contributions
Jul 2021
Reading all the exposition on the storyboards about the history of the Mississippi River and the civil war sites along it could take all day. In addition to the river model, the entire watershed is explained on large wall sculptures. When the river model finally reaches the Gulf of Mexico, it becomes a large swimming pool. Note: the model only represents the lower half of the River from Cairo, Illinois to the Gulf. Every 30 inches represents one mile.
Written July 17, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andrea D
1 contribution
Sept 2021 • Friends
Walked overpass and saw 2 young men, 18-20, on scooters. Accosted me on the stairs trying to rob me. Only thing that saved me was a man walking with his young son. Very scary. This was on a bright, sunny, Friday afternoon. I was visiting from out of state. I went to graduate school in Knoxville and had many friends who told me, "my family used to live in memphis". I would ask myself, "is Memphis really that bad"? Today I got my answer firsthand. It's not about one bad experience. It's about being robbed of you peace of mind. It's about being on edge because teenagers who are usually jovial are now harden criminals. Visit at your own risk. Memphis is a beautiful city, but until young strapping men find another way to generate income, l'll love memphis from afar.
Written September 24, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jet785775
1 contribution
Sept 2023 • Family
Don't waste your money visiting this. They have made the parking expensive and difficult (you have to sign in AND know at check-in how long you plan to be at the partk!) One of the major attractions for kids used to be to float toy boats down the model of the Mississippi River. They no longer have water flowing there! Total waste of time and money to visit this since the City of Memphis took over control
Written September 21, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bill15Q
The Cincinnati Region533 contributions
Dec 2022 • Couples
A complete and total waste. Their website does not mention that there are renovations going on. The museum is closed. The Mississippi River Model is dry. The grounds aren’t being kept. None of the food vendors are open. For all this, the “paid parking available” that the website mentions is $40. The city of Memphis has no shame, and it shows.
Written December 3, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
stutzm10
Findlay, OH26 contributions
Jun 2023 • Family
Abandon and run down. They say they are renovating but it looks like there is no work being done. Plus they charge parking and they are sticklers about paying for parking or they boot your car. Kind of crazy for there to be absolutely nothing and feeling like you are going to get jumped as you walk through. Huge disappointment, don’t waste your time!!
Written June 29, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Robyn L
Afton, OK29 contributions
Apr 2021 • Couples
I was really looking forward to a visit to Mud Island. I had heard and read about it for years. Upon arrival, you had to text a number in order to pay for parking. It cost 4.62 for one hour then they threaten to boot your car. I wonder what people do with no cellphone.
Anyway, the only water in the “river” was rain water. Also full of debris and leaves. Brick walkways were in desperate need of repair. Some plaques were unreadable. Nothing was open. No RESTROOM. No monorail. No restaurant. Shame. It was probably nice once. I was able to use the restroom at the marina thanks to the nice man there.
The MEMPHIS sign would have been fun but you couldn’t really get to it because they were laying sod. Some improvement, maybe. We also read where human bones were found there recently.
Like another reviewer said, it was like something out of a horror movie. Too bad they don’t let you know all this before paying to park.
Anyway, the only water in the “river” was rain water. Also full of debris and leaves. Brick walkways were in desperate need of repair. Some plaques were unreadable. Nothing was open. No RESTROOM. No monorail. No restaurant. Shame. It was probably nice once. I was able to use the restroom at the marina thanks to the nice man there.
The MEMPHIS sign would have been fun but you couldn’t really get to it because they were laying sod. Some improvement, maybe. We also read where human bones were found there recently.
Like another reviewer said, it was like something out of a horror movie. Too bad they don’t let you know all this before paying to park.
Written April 10, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Amy O
Walkertown, NC12 contributions
Mar 2022 • Family
We went in March which was cold and the off season for this but still thought it was cool. No water was running and we were just about the only people there. The museum and everything was closed. We walked the length of it and really enjoyed it. It's in need of some repair on displays and stuff, but I would say it's a must see. There were great views from the observation deck and pedestrian bridge. We drove to mud island because it was so cold but went up to pedestrian bridge take a look.
Written March 9, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi, We will be coming at the end of March 2020. We understand that this is the off season...but are there areas to sit and rest along the Mud Island River park area? My husband can't walk for miles at a time. Just wanting to make sure he can take rests and have an enjoyable time :)
Thanks for any answers or advice you all have.
Written March 9, 2020
Yes, there are. Maybe you could call ahead and see if anyone could be available with a golf cart to help you? I don’t know if it is possible. It’s a beautiful view and nice river walk.
Written March 9, 2020
Where do you park in order to ride the monorail, or to walk across the bridge to get to the island?
Written April 17, 2019
We found multiple ways to enter the park. For this visit, we parked in the parking area next to the river and walked directly in. However, we found many that walked across the access covered walkway. It would probably fun to do both, if you are up for a good walk.
Written April 18, 2019
Is the monorail not operational anymore?
Written November 21, 2018
It wasn't working while we were there, but it wasn't the busy summer tourist season, either. There were no employees on the grounds, period. But you could walk the bridge over to the island. It was open but unmanned. Creeped us out a little.
Written November 21, 2018
Are you able to walk from Bass Pro Shop Pyramid to the park? If not, where can you park? Some will stay at Bass Pro while others wish to see Mud Island. What time does the monorail run and how much is it?
Written July 19, 2018
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