Jackson TN to Memphis: Distance, drive time & best road trip stops
The distance from Jackson TN to Memphis by car is 86 miles, with a 1h21m driving time. The best road trip stops on the Jackston TN to Memphis drive are the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center, the Mindfield in Brownsville and the Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge.
Finding the best things to do on a Jackson TN to Memphis road trip
The drive from Jackson TN to Memphis is a road trip through western Tennessee to the Mississippi River. It’s best to book Memphis hotels in advance. Compare prices here.
Jackson TN is home to the Casey Jones Home and Railroad Museum. For the uninitiated, Casey Jones was about as famous as it gets in the world of railroad engineering. The enormous locomotive outside the house tends to be the most popular attraction.
Also in Jackson is Rusty’s TV and Movie Car Museum, which features more than 50 screen-famous cars and vans. These include a Batmobile, a Jeep from Jurassic Park and Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine.
Memphis, Tennessee, is a pilgrimage site for Elvis fans. The King’s Graceland mansion is one of the top tourist sites in the US. But the cultural heritage extends beyond music, as you’ll discover on an African-American history tour.
Try the Rock and Soul Museum, plus the Memphis Music Hall of Fame and the 19th century Woodruff-Fontaine House.
Ways of seeing the city include ghost walks, Downtown food tours and musical bus tours. There are also guided walks down music central, Beale Street, and city tours that take you inside the legendary Sun Studios.
Jackson TN to Memphis distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Jackson TN to Memphis is 86 miles. That makes for a driving time of around one hour and 21 minutes. The quickest route is largely along the I-40.
The best stops to add to a Jackson TN to Memphis road trip itinerary are the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center, the Mindfield in Brownsville and the Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge.
Best stops between Jackson TN and Memphis: West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center
The West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville, TN, is primarily worth visiting because it is home to the Tina Turner Museum. The museum is inside the restored Flagg Grove School, a one room schoolhouse that Anna-Mae Bullock attended before she rose to stardom as Tina Turner. There’s lots of Turner memorabilia on display. But it also proves fascinating as an insight into what schooling for African-American children used to be like.
Jackson TN to Memphis road trip attractions: The Mindfield, Brownsville
Covering about an acre, the Mindfield in Brownsville is one man’s long-term art project. This deeply weird installation is a series of spindly metal towers, each one supposedly representing Billy Tripp’s mood at the time of construction.
Billy tends to put something new up in the Mindfield whenever he has a significant life event. And the whole thing looks like a slimline version of a massive industrial site.
Jackson TN to Memphis drive: Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge
The Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge is often used by hunters and fishers, but birdwatching is likely to be the primary attraction for passing road trippers.
The whole refuge covers an 11,556 acre area, but it’s the section around Oneal Lake that is best set up for visitors. A walking trail heads around the lake, and a lot of the birdlife tends to congregate here.
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