America's Byways and National Wildlife Refuges
Great River Road - Louisiana (Louisiana)

The Louisiana segment of the Great River Road boasts wildlife, beaches, and historic homes. Discover the area's precious wildlife by visiting nearby National Wildlife Refuges.

The Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge, about 40 miles west of the byway's beginning, is home to upland pine-hardwood and bottomland hardwood forests, wetlands, and open water. The refuge is a winter habitat for tens of thousands of ducks and geese. The endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, the Louisiana black bear, alligators, deer, turkey, squirrels, bald eagles and beavers also reside here.

Right off the byway near St. Francisville, LA, the Cat Island NWR is wetland forest that is a home to many fish, wildlife, and plants.

Near the byway in Tallulah, the Tensas River NWR houses more than 400 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish in its bottomland hardwood forests.

In Natchez, the St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge provides 24,442 acres of habitat for migratory waterfowl and endangered species, including the Bald Eagle.

Just off the byway in Concordia, the Bayou Cocodrie NWR contains some of the last remaining bottomland hardwood forests of the Mississippi Delta. This refuge offers hunting, fishing, bird-watching, hiking, photography, and environmental education.

In Marksville, the Lake Ophelia NWR is a hardwood forest with lush vegetative communities that house a vast variety of species, including bobcats, alligators, red and grey foxes, turkeys, minks, and otters.

About 30 miles west of Baton Rouge, the Atchafalaya NWR, a bottomland hardwood swamp, offers many recreational opportunities, including hunting, fishing, hiking, and wildlife viewing.

The Bogue Chitto NWR, 45 miles north of Baton Rouge, is comprised of bottomland hardwood forest with many sloughs and bayous. The refuge is a habitat for many species, including the ringed-sawback turtle, American alligator, gopher tortoise, inflated heel-splitter mussel, the Gulf sturgeon, the swallow-tailed kite, deer, turkeys, neo-tropical birds, rabbits, raccoons, snakes, minks, skunks, wading birds and other waterfowl.

The Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge in Lacombe, about 20 miles northeast of New Orleans, is comprised of 18,000 acres of pine flatwoods, oak ridges, fresh, brackish, and saltwater marsh. It is a diverse habitat for many wildlife species, including the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, the Brown Pelican, the American alligator, the Bald Eagle, rabbits, and turkeys.

In Houma, about 35 miles southwest of Destrehan on the byway, the 4,416-acre Mandalay NWR is composed of freshwater marsh and cypress-tupelo swamp, levees, and man-made canals. The refuge is home to waterfowl, wading birds, and neotropical songbirds. There are many recreational opportunities here, including bird watching, wildlife observation, boating, photography, fishing, and hunting during designated seasons.

In Venice, LA, the 49,000-acre Delta NWR area supports a wide variety of wildlife. Tens of thousands of waterfowl winter in the refuge, and copious amounts of other bird species can be found in the area. Numerous mammals reside in the refuge year-round, and the refuge's marshes and waterways provide a habitat for many fish and shellfish species.

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