Evangeline Parish offers a range of nature and cultural experiences: in Chicot State Park, hiking and trekking trails wind around a lake, while the Louisiana State Arboretum combines forest trails, varied terrain, and opportunities to spot wildlife. The area also has music history, a historic tournament tradition, and events in Ville Platte, south of Pine Prairie, and around Basile. When planning your trip, you can tailor the balance of nature, outdoor activity, and culture to your interests.
Nature Trails, a Lake, and Boating
Chicot State Park encompasses more than 6,400 acres of rolling terrain and waterways in south-central Louisiana. An extensive hiking and trekking trail runs all the way around Lake Chicot. If you want to spend time outdoors on a longer hike, it offers a clear focal point: the trail circles the lake rather than leading to just one destination. Much of the trail network is also designed for mountain bikers. The park also has a boathouse, three boat launches, and facilities for renting boats. This means you can choose between hiking, mountain biking, and water activities as different ways to enjoy the same park.
The Crooked Creek Recreation Area offers another distinctive way to enjoy the water: it has a 400-acre lake with a boat ramp. The water-based amenities differ: Crooked Creek Recreation Area has a 400-acre lake with a boat ramp, while Chicot State Park has a boathouse, three boat launches, and facilities for renting boats.
Forest Trails and Wildlife Watching
The Louisiana State Arboretum encompasses more than 600 acres of natural growth and features varied, distinctive terrain. Its nature trails pass through wooded areas and along Walker Branch and Ferguson's Gully. This brings the character of the landscape along the trails to life: woods, changing terrain, and the two named waterways define the nature trails described here. Visitors may also spot white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, raccoons, foxes, squirrels, and numerous bird species. Wildlife can therefore be a focus in its own right during a visit to the arboretum.
The arboretum’s history also offers a specific point of interest: it was established in 1961 and was the first state-supported arboretum in the United States. Admission to the Louisiana State Arboretum and its trail network is free for all visitors; check admission information before your visit.
Cultural History and Festivals
The Swamp Pop Museum presents the history of swamp pop through stage costumes, photographs, records, autographs, and other memorabilia. Anyone interested in music history will find a thematic introduction here through a variety of memorabilia. Another cultural thread leads to Le Tournoi de la Ville Platte: this historic sporting event is based on jousting. Major Marcellin Garand brought the tradition of Le Tournoi to Louisiana.
Ville Platte hosts the annual Le Festival de la Viande Boucanee, also known as The Smoked Meat Festival. The program includes a world championship smoked meat cooking competition. The Louisiana Cotton Festival is also held in Ville Platte, in October on the sixth weekend after Labor Day. Check the dates for the relevant year before traveling.
The Boggy Bayou Festival takes place every May, one mile south of Pine Prairie. Visitors can enjoy rides, arts and crafts and food booths, live music, and auctions. In the Basile area, the Louisiana Swine Festival has been a cultural event since 1966. It takes place at the Basile Town Park Recreation Building, known as the “Pig Barn.” The festival themes thus range from smoked meat and live music to a long-running cultural event in the Basile area.
Discover more destinations: Mamou, Ouachita, St. Landry Parish, Lincoln, Red River Parish, Richland, Tangipahoa Parish, Bossier Parish.
For the broader travel overview: Louisiana.
