Barataria Preserve Visitor Center — Attraction in Marrero

We didn't have time to schedule in a swamp tour, so we found this great park to do some bayou exploring of our own. We started by heading to the visitor's center and talking to a wonderful, very knowledgeable ranger. She advised us on where to park (as the parking lots were due to close soon) and which trails to take. We started with the short hike right near the visitor's center and were rewarded with two alligators just off the edge of the boardwalk. We also saw a snake, many huge spiders, a few smaller spiders, and amazing plants and trees. Next, we headed down to another trail which took us right out into the old logging swamps. We learned a lot just by reading the displays. Here we found more spiders, another alligator, lots of squirrels, and several birds.

All in all, this was probably my favorite part of my NOLA trip. It's not far out of the city, easy to get to, and so interesting! There are tons of different trails, so you can make your walk only a quarter mile or several miles!...

It was exciting to find a National Park in our backyard. We went to the visitors center the first time to get an idea for what was here. There is a nice overview of the area, with information on the local animals and how the area has changed over the years.

There are restrooms available at the visitors center, and one of the boardwalk trails begins here. There are guided tours on certain days (check their website) with one of the park rangers. We did this once and it was fantastic. There was only a handful of people, and we learned a lot about the area. It was a good introduction to the preserve, and we look forward to going back to check out the...

We visited the National Park on a holiday and hence the visitor center was closed but there was Ranger around to help and guide. There are all the details needed outside the center and directions, trails which are open and all you need information.

Even with it closed we were able to navigate thanks to the boards and information pasted outside.

This center leads to one of the paths which is called the Visitor center path and it was were we actually saw an alligator and also lizards and rabbits. As this was my first national park in marshy area this path was a great introduction to what to expect on...