Barataria Preserve

This place is wonderful! The place delivers when it says you can see wildlife! The place is so well made and you feel like you’re walking in the marsh itself!

Wildlife spotted: Aligator, rabbit and quite a few squirrels!

Trails: We did two of them, the visitor center trail and Bayou one. The visitor center one had a big alligator and the park ranger told us where to spot him as well! This trail was wonderful because you can see the transition from swamp to marsh clearly thanks to the vegetation! Although it isn’t for pets! So you might want to keep them home

Absolutely beautiful area. Plenty of parking. The boardwalk isn't very long but it's very scenic. It's a little unnerving that the boardwalk is actually low enough that the Gators could technically come right up to you. Yikes. Definitely worth checking out either way.

When we visited it had not rained in a while and so the wetlands were not that wet. Sadly that meant that the alligators were not really visible, except for one mama one. Despite this, it was a lovely experience. I'll break down my thoughts to help with the information:

Logistics:
- it is a short 25min drive from New Orleans. we recommend hiring a car for a few hours since it doesn't seem like a ride share would be readily available near the swamp (I could be wrong)
- If you want a ranger guided 'wetland walk', they have it daily at 10am and 2pm.
- Carry a hat and wear sunscreen as portions of it are unshaded.

Experience:
- Highly informative. The personal touch of a ranger guiding you is wonderful. We learnt soo much about alligators and spiders.
- The walk is not that long, you can spend about 30mins and be done.
- I preferred this over a swamp tour since it was quicker, we walked through the alligators ecosystem, they were close enough to see them and we could leave whenever we wanted. The entire experience was 1hour. With a swamp tour boat half the day is lost.

Highly recommend!

Small, elevated walking trail (wooden bridge kinda thing) over actual swampland. We did see an alligator when we visited there last week. Free parking. Just be wary because the bridge sorta thing is just a couple inches above the swamp, so an alligator could probably climb onto the walking path with ease. Maintain a respectful distance and you'll probably be okay.

Highly underrated! The staff is knowledgeable and helpful. The alligators are also extremely chill. Most of them just go about their own business. You can see them just off the trails. Note that some of the trails are closed due to damage from hurricanes or recent flooding. Be sure to check the trail closures before you make a trip out here.

Great little hidden spot to get back into the swamp, 35 minutes from the French quarter. There is about 10-15 minutes worth of walking that can be done since the trails are mostly closed, but there's a couple other spots close by to do more walking.

This trail is amazing! Visitor center have a Ranger very nice and funny, he explained everything that we needed to know, plus joking very funny, thanks! The hiking is very chill and well maintained! We saw 2 gators almost in thr beginning, no dangerous if you don't try to do something that tou can't or not supposed to, definitely a Yesssss

Wonderful preserve of our nation wetlands and swamps. Beauty in their own right!

Our Ranger tour was very informative. She really knew her stuff on the plants, trees, birds, and wildlife. She had good gator stories, and facts. Don't miss thus tour.

Amazing! Far better than expected. Be ready to walk. All of at least half of it (that we made it through) was boardwalk. We saw 4 different kinds of snakes, some buzzards, and a small alligator on the Palmetto Trail, my wife got tired, and I realized that last trail out was probably the one with more gators so we will be back! I brought the bug spray, but not even sure that we needed it? But well.. it is a swamp. There were tons of giant black grasshoppers out that day doin it all over the place, but they didn't bother us. I want to live here!

The Barataria Preserve is about twenty five minutes outside of New Orleans and it is worth the drive. This swampy boardwalk covered preserve is a delight to traverse. Full of the semi-tropical vegetation and wildlife that is vibrant, colorful and completely ambivalent about whomever happens to be about. The trail was hit hard by all of the violent weather that the area attracts so much of it is inaccessible due to repairs; and repairing a swamp boardwalk does not appear easy. The bits that are open are beautiful!

This was so fun and such a good way to get into a swamp for free!!

Super friendly and informative park ranger at the Visitor Center! Nice boardwalk trails although there were a lot of trails that are closed. Very quiet and peaceful walk.

We saw an alligator! Beautiful place. The park rangers are full of information and friendly.

This was such an authentic experience of a LA bayou. We saw gators, snakes, spiders, turtles, lizards and more in just a short walk! The weather was beautiful and we had an awesome time exploring real LA trails.

Ok, this park is a magical slice of the world. We did not see alligators - like we had hoped - but no matter: we saw plenty of wild life! We were visited by a swamp hare, tree frogs, and snakes. I was slightly nervous about having a run-in with an alligator but the platform is raised just enough so i felt comfortable. On warm days, bring a hat and sunscreen cause you get pretty exposed in some parts and/or bug spray for the mosquitos if you’re an easy target. I hope to make it there again!

This trail was very lovely, went with kids and it was fine for kids. Floor boards were uneven so caution needs to happen. Appropriate and clear signs of plant species were on display along with caution sign if floor boards were under repair. The restroom areas had very large spiders nesting which made it a bit uneasy to go into the restrooms as they were uabove the door. Other then that enjoyed the trail on visit. Came in from NYC and was not disappointed.

Watched the free movie and check out the Display of all swamp history and artifacts. Walk 1 of Trail and seen 1 large and 1 medium Alligator at the very end of Trail around 4:30 pm

Really nice boardwalk and beautiful swamp area. We only saw 1 alligator and some lizards but it was still a really enjoyable walk and it was free. It was a good authentic swamp to experience.

Lovely little rustic boardwalk! Don't forget you water because you will most likely end up walking way further than you anticipate. And don't touch the giant poison ivy plants.