New Orleans Parks & Outdoor Vacation Ideas

Swamp and Bayou Tour

Swamp and Bayou Tour

The Swamp and Bayou Tour will take you on a motorcoach ride across the Mississippi River. Soon you'll be cutting through the wetlands on custom swamp boat trip into the famous swamps and bayou of Louisiana.

State Parks provide an opportunity to showcase the best of the State's natural beauty and wildlife. The vast geographic diversity of the United States is reflected in the diversity of its parkland. The Lower Mississippi Delta area -- of which Louisiana is a part -- offers a unique topography of lowlands and bayous, along with an interesting array of plants and animals that make their homes there.

New Orleans Swamp and Bayou Tour

A popular visitor's attraction in the New Orleans area is the Swamp and Bayou Tour. These tours start with a motorcoach ride from the French Quarter and put you on a swamp boat or airboat gliding through Louisiana's famous wetlands. For an even more back-to-nature experience, you can explore these areas on your own by visiting one of the nearby State Parks.

Bayou Segnette State Park

Bayou Segnette State Park, located on Westbank Expressway in Westwego, is located just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. It is a working Cajun fishing village and home to Cypress Swamp, a popular tour destination. Its Gator Den Caf' offers authentic Cajun fare. Bayou Segnette State Park has facilities for camping, fishing, boating and swimming, and also rents out cabins, picnic pavilions and group camps.

Fort Pike Historic Site

For a touch of American history, try Fort Pike Historic Site, 23 miles east of downtown New Orleans along US 90. One of six forts built to protect early America from marine invasions, Fort Pike's architecture and history make it an extraordinary stopover on your New Orleans vacation.

New Orleans Audubon Park

Feel like lingering closer to the city? Audubon Park, on Magazine Street in New Orleans, is more along the lines of the city park you might be used to. A place to walk the dog and take long runs or bicycle rides over paved and dirt trails. A place to go for a few rounds of golf or for sunning beside one the park's three lagoons. Nearby Audubon Zoo is one of the top-ranked zoos in the country, offering entertaining and educational interactive activities along with its menagerie of wild animals.

New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park

New Orleans is widely regarded as the birthplace of Jazz, and if any city would build a park to honor the music, it's this one. In 1987, recognizing Jazz music as America's most widely recognized indigenous music art form, Congress declared Jazz a national treasure. And so the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park is more than just a commemoration of New Orleans' special place in Jazz history, the park is also a place to cultivate and educate, to perform and promote, and to foster continuous evolution of the art form. Visitors will find no better place to experience New Orleans Jazz at its finest, from its earliest manifestations in the brass bands of the late 1800s to today's current mix of varying styles, influences and instrumentation. The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park is located on North Peters in the French Quarter.

New Orleans parks capture the history, culture and scenic beauty of the region. They also bring the visitor in close contact with the denizens of the city, whose multiethnic, multicultural, yet distinctly individual ways help give New Orleans its unique personality and flavor among vacation destinations.