Outdoor Paradise

JEFFERSON PARISH EXEMPLIFIES OUTDOOR PARADISE

by Ken Perrotte

Some visitors to Louisiana never get beyond the big city sounds, sights and smells of New Orleans, truly one of America’s unique cities with its history, attractions and nightlife. Natural Louisiana, though, beckons at the city limits, where neighboring Jefferson Parish offers experiences that plant you squarely amidst outdoor paradise.

Fishing, kayaking, mountain biking, swamp touring and more are abundant in Jefferson Parish. Exploring the parish’s many family friendly outdoor opportunities over the course of my few days there was a challenge, given the ample options. I couldn’t experience them all, but that’s a good problem to have. Better yet, it provides an incentive for a return visit!

FISH ON!

The Barataria Basin is a glorious tangle of canals, bayous, bays and tidal flats abounding with hard-pulling and tasty inshore fish species like redfish, speckled trout, black drum, sheepshead and flounder. The Jean Lafitte Harbor Marina is a fishing destination where you can literally do it all – stay, play and eat. Families or groups can rent one of the spacious Bayou Barataria waterfront cabins or even a two-story houseboat that sleeps up to 10 people and then head out at daybreak on a charter with one of several experienced captains. Nighttime bowfishing is also an option.

Capt. Gavin McKerchie, the marina’s fishing charter coordinator, says, “We can work with anybody, whether you’re a first-time fisherman or a professional or experienced angler. It’s a family friendly environment and we can accommodate both small and big groups, with boats that can handle solo anglers and others that can carry up to 10 people.”

Charters and lodging can be packaged. Want fresh fish? McKerchie says the marina’s friendly team can easily arrange to cook your catch or set you up with all the equipment and materials needed to stage a group fish fry or shrimp or crawfish boil at the marina’s waterfront pavilion.

Experienced anglers hauling their own boat can launch there. The marina store features snacks and drinks, ice, sundries, fishing gear and bait, and convenience items. Anglers can also preorder breakfast sandwiches and lunches from the onsite restaurant, located on a barge adjacent to the store. A fish cleaning station, with electricity and running water, is near the boat launch. There is even a 30-space RV park capable of supporting large vehicles or campers. It is fully equipped, offering electricity, water and a pumping station.

“Summer is our peak period,” McKerchie said. “Kids are out of school and it’s a prime time to get youngsters outside. Spring, especially around spring break, is also popular, whether you want to fish or just go for a boat ride.”

Juan Moncivais, known as “Captain Bubba,” says wildlife watching can be as fun as fishing when you’re out in the boat, with opportunities to see alligators and a variety of birds. “Fishing here can be as easy as you want to make it,” he said. “You can literally post up at a point, toss out your baited line and eat food with your family while you catch fish. It doesn’t have to be a situation where you troll or cast all day.”

SWAMP TOURING

There is nothing like cruising a cypress swamp in an airboat, feeling that need for speed as a stiff breeze cools you on a sultry morning. Again, a variety of operators offer tours, but I punched my ticket with Airboat Adventures in Lafitte. It was mind-blowing fun. I felt like I was “chasing down a hoodoo” in the middle of the old Creedence Clearwater Revival song, “Born on the Bayou.”

Jordan Hughes, a principal manager at Airboat Adventures, says, “This is real Louisiana, what you hear about, read about. Lafitte is one of the last thriving, working bayou communities on the Gulf Coast. We’re blessed to share our culture, our ecosystem, our way of life with anyone who wants to take part in the beauty and come and see what Louisiana is all about. It should be a destination atop everybody’s list.”

The Airboat Adventures swamp tour area is a protected, private preserve that’s maintained in a completely natural state to showcase the area’s coastal heritage. The 20,000-acre tract of tidewater cypress swamp is close to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. Tours last nearly two hours, with time built in before and after to check in, visit the gift shop and the resident albino alligator, or get snacks and boat-friendly cold drinks, including beer, cocktails and frozen daiquiris to enjoy on the tour or afterward.

Blair Lejeune, an airboat operator and ecologist whose family has been in Louisiana since the 1700s, explains the Mississippi River’s expanded estuary is the world’s third largest, comparable to those of the Amazon or Nile Rivers. “This gives us an incredible mix of wildlife, terrestrial animals, birds, fish and amphibians. The saltwater marshes intertwined with the freshwater areas create remarkable habitat diversity,” Lejeune said.

Of course, there are alligators – at least during warmer months and on warm days in the winter.

“The alligators are obviously a big attraction, the star of the show,” says Hughes. “We see the alligators almost every day, and they’re awesome, but many people don’t realize how much more the swamp offers. Visitors can see birds like great blue herons, snowy egrets, ibis, gallinules, barn owls, nesting ospreys, bald eagles and many others, such as roseate spoonbills, sometimes called ‘swamp flamingos.’”

Lejeune likes to point out the myriad plants and flowers visitors can discover. Colorful flowers like hibiscus are abundant, their colors dictated by nutrients in the water.

“We’re actually in a sub-tropical climate here, so we have many native tropical plants you won’t see anywhere else but southern Florida, Central America or Mexico -- species like the dwarf palmetto, hibiscus and partridge peas,” Lejeune says.

Adding to the plant diversity is the fact that the area’s swamps are “hard-bottomed.” This allows trees like maples and sweetgum, plus cypress and live oaks, which host mysterious, creepy Spanish moss, to flourish. Helped by lots of rain, a lush, rich palette of plants exists. It’s a magical, beautiful landscape.

This outfit offers multiple swamp excursions daily. Airboat options range from large 30-passenger crafts to smaller 6- and 10-passenger models. Visitors hesitant about zipping around in an airboat can board a large pontoon boat for a leisurely trip in bigger water.

If you can swing it, the small boats are the way to go, in my opinion, especially if you’re into photography and seeing alligators up close. The small boats can access small canals and no matter where you sit, you’re close to the water’s edge. Everyone has their own threshold of adventure.

“Every tour is different,” says Hughes. “We cater our tours to the interests of the people, whether it’s the wildlife or the ecosystem or how Jean Lafitte came up Bayou Barataria and successfully fought off the British.”

A DESTINATION PARK

Jefferson Parish’s Parc des Familles (translated –Family Park) is a 610-acre outdoor playground. It is a place where individuals and families (and their dogs) can spend a day enjoying the Louisiana outdoors.

A 2,000-foot, elevated, dog-friendly boardwalk meanders through part of the park and a Par 65, 18-hole disc golf course designed by John Houck traverses a well-manicured, cypress swamp, with the fairways lined by the stately trees.

New to the park is a long fishing pier with a nearby kayak launch. The freshwater site has bluegill and bass, plus a few alligators.

Brittany Perrin is with Bayou Adventures, a kayak outfitter operating a rental kiosk at the park. Kayaks are available by the hour for fishing or, simply, paddling.

“It’s a way for people to explore kayaking without having to invest in the equipment or transport it themselves,” Perrin says. “Kayaking is a very family friendly sport, but there is a barrier to entry due to the equipment needed.”

Perrin says the new kayak launch facility is “top quality,” with well-designed access ramps and ample space to maneuver the boats on and off the platform.

Add in the park’s mountain biking trails, a dog park, the refreshing “Splash Park” water activity and a sport quadplex with fields and batting cages and it’s easy to see why this evolving park is a hit with locals and visitors alike. Perrin likes that the park is immaculately maintained and exudes a sense of security, a place where people can visit and recreate safely.

OTHER BEST BETS

There’s much to see and do in Jefferson Parish. Other attractive options include Bayou Segnette State Park, which offers boating, fishing, camping, canoeing, hiking, picnicking, playgrounds and swimming in the wave pool. The park is close to the Westwego Shrimp Lot, a quirky, fun, fresh seafood destination with vendor stalls offering fresh shrimp, other seafood and Cajun delights. You know you’re going to want to bring some home.

Then there’s the Jean Lafitte Historical Park and Preserve, including the Barataria Preserve, which encompasses 26,000 acres of wild Louisiana wetlands. It offers beautiful, wild trails. Fishing from the preserve banks or non-motorized boats is also popular. In East Jefferson, Lafreniere Park has many of the features as Parc des Familles, including a dog park, spray park, disc golf and fishing (catch and release). The park’s marsh island is a haven for birds.

Over on Lake Ponchartrain, near the Causeway and the fantastic foodie district known as Bucktown, is the Bonnabel Boat Launch, a modern, four-boat launch area featuring a huge fishing pier, a dog park and a walking and bicycling trail along the waterfront.

Jefferson Parish has many quality lodging options, many in areas with exceptional restaurants featuring delicious Cajun and Creole foods. The Hampton Inn Elmwood was perfectly located to serve as an affordable base of operations for visiting Lafitte, Bonnabel and other points of Jefferson Parish, as well as New Orleans.