LAFAYETTE, La. — Anybody checking the forecast already knows real fall temperatures are still weeks away for Acadiana, with highs holding near 88 degrees through September before easing toward 80 in October. That’s not stopping South Louisiana’s trail systems from getting ready for their best stretch of the year.
From a levee walk outside Breaux Bridge that closes for months every summer for alligator nesting season to a 20-mile loop around a central Louisiana lake, the region’s parks and preserves offer plenty of reasons to lace up before football season eats every free Saturday. Here’s where locals are headed as the days get shorter and the bugs get a little less brutal.
Download the KPEL-FM Mobile App Now
Lake Martin’s Levee Trail Reopens Right on Time
The Cypress Island Preserve’s walking levee trail around Lake Martin closes from June through September every year while female alligators guard their nests, according to The Nature Conservancy, which manages the preserve between Breaux Bridge and Lafayette. That means the 2.5-mile trail comes back open right around the start of October, just as cooler weather starts creeping into the forecast.
The flat, easy walk follows the levee past cypress-tupelo swamp and one of the state’s best-known wading bird rookeries, with alligators and herons showing up regularly along the way. Parking is free at the visitor center off LA 353, and the trail is considered kid-friendly once it’s open for the season.
Acadiana Park Stays Close to Home
For anyone who doesn’t want to leave city limits, Acadiana Park’s nature trail system in northeast Lafayette covers more than six miles of boardwalk and dirt path through bottomland hardwood forest and tallgrass prairie remnants, the National Recreation Trails database shows. The Nature Station anchors the network with exhibits on the plants and animals hikers will spot along the coulees that cut through the property…