Readers of AAA Southern Traveler, an American Automobile Association publication, have named the Vicksburg National Military Park the South’s second-best heritage attraction.

The National World War II Museum in New Orleans was voted the best and Frogmore Plantation, a working cotton plantation in Ferriday, La., across the Mississippi River from Natchez, came in third.

It’s a “wonderful honor,” said Mike Madell, VNMP superintendent.

Nominees were named, and the top three in 20 categories ranging from best B&B to best golf course were tabulated in March. The finalists were listed in the May/June issue of AAA Southern Traveler, and more than 1,300 ballots were counted to decide the winners. The results are in the July/August issue.

About 220,000 AAA members in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi receive Southern Traveler bi-monthly.

The 1,800-acre VNMP, established in 1899, has more than 1,340 monuments and markers, a 16-mile tour road and a museum at the USS Cairo, a restored Union gunboat. An 18-minute orientation film is available at the visitors center, and living history demonstrations are offered each summer.

In addition, the park will host a Junior Ranger day camp for children ages 6-12. Sessions will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 19-23 at Pemberton’s Headquarters, 1018 Crawford St., and will feature crafts and activities related to soldier and civilian life during the Siege of Vicksburg. Participants will be sworn in as junior rangers and awarded badges, patches and certificates.

“There will be plenty for them to do and there will be things they take home every day,” said VNMP ranger Ray Hamel. “We want folks to go ahead and reserve a spot because they go pretty fast.”

The VNMP also features a National Cemetery, established in 1866, which serves as a central burial ground for Union soldiers and sailors who participated in the siege. The cemetery contains more than 18,000 gravesites and holds the largest interment of Civil War soldiers and sailors in a U.S. national cemetery — 17,000 — of which 13,000 are unidentified.

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About the park

Admission to the Vicksburg National Military Park is $8 per week or $20 per year. Summer activities include:

• Living history demos — 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Fridays and Sundays-Tuesdays.

• Cannon firings — 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays; 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

• Walking tours — Fridays-Sundays every half hour, guided by park rangers from Pemberton’s Headquarters on Crawford Street

• Junior Ranger day camp — 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 19-23 at Pemberton’s Headquarters; for ages 6-12; space limited to 30; 601-636-0583.