Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Park

When French explorer Sieur d'Iberville's party came upriver in 1699, they saw a red pole marking the boundary between Houma and Bayagoula hunting grounds. The landscape that once covered most of southern Louisiana was baldcypress-tupelo swamp. At Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center, 103 acres of that old-growth swamp survive inside the city limits. Boardwalks thread through standing water and Spanish moss. Alligators, wood ducks, and barred owls live here. Raccoons, armadillos, opossums, and swamp cottontails move through. Foxes, coyotes, deer, and otters visit. Suburban sprawl on Bluebonnet Road is audible but invisible beyond the treeline. The facility opened May 17, 1997, as the first nature conservation park administered by the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge. The main exhibit building is 9,500 square feet and contains live animal exhibits, photographic displays of the park's flora and fauna, and the largest public display of vintage Louisiana duck decoys, donated by the late Charles W. Frank, Jr. Since March 2010, the site has served as the premiere research station for the Louisiana Bird Observatory. Thousands of birds have been banded, largely by Louisiana State University undergraduate and graduate students conducting research projects. Publications based on that work include examinations of indigo bunting moulting patterns and barred owl foraging behavior. Monthly bird walks and bird talks run throughout the year. Special events include "Rockin' at the Swamp" every March, "Duck Duck Goose Day" every August, and "Swamp Haunted Hikes" every October. The boardwalk loop is about one mile. Open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Small admission fee.