Mud Island Park

A really cool park with the best views of Memphis. I wish they’d use this place more and fix it up. Prime real estate. I feel like a Memphis resurgence is imminent. For how empty it was u would assume it was prime for homeless people but I didn’t really see any.

What a GEM! My husband and I got here and we were surprised how maintained it is : EVEN THOUGH NO ONE ELSE WAS AROUND! We enjoyed the cool Mississippi River remake and the numerous pieces of history throughout.

It is an absolute shame what the city has let happen to a once beautiful and nostalgic beacon for the city of Memphis. Locals should vote out all who are responsible for letting such a great place go to ruin!

We stopped by here on a recent trip to Memphis because we remembered seeing this park in the old movie The Firm and wanted to check it out. It was completely deserted. The escalator was turned off. The museum was closed. There was no one there but one or two other people who were walking around. They do have a pretty cool relief Scale model of the Mississippi river. It stretches a half mile and you can walk down and walk back. It represents the length of the Mississippi in scale. There’s also a pretty cool view of the Mississippi river if you climb the broken escalator or ride in the hot and steamy elevator. We did see some barges being pushed up the Mississippi with a tugboat, and that was very interesting. Other than that, there was nothing going on there. The monorail car was not working, but you could walk on the pedestrian bridge that goes back to the mainland. It was sad and lonely. Someone is maintaining the grass and it was kept nice and it was very peaceful, but it’s not good that that park is not being used for what it was intended. There was a sign up that there was some construction going on But I’m not sure what was going on and how that was going to fix anything. And to add insult to injury we had to pay almost $5 for an hour to park!

Notice the homeless guy sleeping to the left of the Memphis sign at 2pm during the day. I had not been to Mud Island since I was a kid, almost 40 years ago, and I wanted to take my kids. We Onewheeled across the Willis Ave bridge and went south into the park. The outdoor river model is awesome, but it was dry and filled with leaves. I don't know if it's seasonally functional or what. There seemed to be some maintenance taking place, but a lot of the features were out of order or just closed. Homeless vagrants were also present. On the east side of the pedestrian bridge, the elevators were not working, so we took the stairs and a wheelchair ramp. In the middle of the pathway, there was a massive pile of human excrement. We turned the corner and I saw another homeless adult man's genitals as he pulled up his pants. This was a different spot than the pile. When we approached Main St (used to be a bustling corridor), another gang of homeless men aggressively yelled at us and we sped off on our boards. Mud Island has so much potential to be a cool and family friendly tourist attraction, but it needs a serious cleanup and the homeless vagrancy can't be tolerated if it interferes with the safety and peace of everyday people.

GOOD: 1. With five-year abandoned infrastructure as of this writing, this still-open-for-business park provides a legal way to visit a wasteland that is usually off limits. In shorts, it’s an abandoned, urban explorer’s dream. 2. An abandoned, large scale amphitheater is a highlight. 3. A well maintained "Memphis" sign is a highlight. 4. A in-the-ground, foot level, carved-in-concrete, mini replica of the Mississippi River is a highlight. Visitors can walk along length of the river, stepping across embedded street maps replicating each city along the river, complete with informational signs. 5. An abandoned monorail, with abandoned trains, is a highlight. 6. If walking or running, the concrete trails are clean and clear. It’s a great place to log some miles. 7. Huge lawns offer great places for outdoor games. ——- CAUTIONS: 1. Restrooms may not be available. 2. No playgrounds (that I could find). 3. The park is desolate. What makes the place great for apocalyptic vibes, could cause it to be unsafe. At no point did I feel unsafe, but, as always, do pay attention to your surroundings, and probably a good idea not to visit alone or at night. 4. My high rating based on urban exploration and not traditional park amenities.

This was a great spot for us to stretch our legs and take in views of the Mississippi River and Memphis skyline. With free admission, it's a nice place to take a walk. You have to park across the street, walk across a long bridge, then down to the actual park. It is wheelchair/stroller friendly, as well as pet friendly. My only complaint is it looked run down and almost eerie. I would not feel comfortable walking alone. There was a very large scale model of the entire Mississippi River winding through the park. I assume it was once filled with water and fountains, but it had been drained during our visit in late June.