Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge

This ½ mile long, wooden boardwalk is family and disabled access friendly and provides an overlook of a marsh. Interpretive signs highlight the natural history of the area. Watch for birds and turtles. In the spring look for the Louisiana iris blooming along the roadside in wet areas.

The Boy Scout Road Trail Interpretive Site has great options for hiking on the refuge. Take an easy stroll over a short looping boardwalk trail, or enjoy a four-mile out and back hike that travels from pine savannah habitat, past a marsh overlook and cheniers of oak trees to the edge of Bayou Lacombe. Watch for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker along these trails in spring and summer. The Boy Scout Road trail starts with a ½ mile, self-guided boardwalk. At the end of the boardwalk, you can choose to turn left toward the parking area or take the adventurous four-mile (roundtrip) dirt and gravel road to Bayou Lacombe. Look for the blooms of Louisiana wild iris along the ditches near the beginning of the trail at the parking area in March-April. The endangered red-cockaded woodpecker may be spotted along these trails in spring and summer. This small woodpecker sounds a bit like a pets’ squeaky toy and may be spotted near nesting trees marked with a white circle. Take a virtual Google Earth tour of the Boy Scout Rd. trail here.

This trail begins near the kiosk outside the Visitor Center and is marked with yellow trail markers on posts. It winds past a small wetland to a grotto containing an artesian spring, as well as to an overlook of Bayou Lacombe.

This trail begins at a kiosk near a brick building (closed to entry) which was once the home of a former governor as well as later a priest's residence when this site was a seminary. Follow the trail (marked by red markers on posts) behind the house to a pollinator garden and on to the edge of Bayou Lacombe. From there you can explore azalea lined paths to loop back to the formal camellia gardens and a small cemetery of the Redemptorist Order. 

This site has a covered picnic area and short nature trails that wind through the forest to an elevated platform that overlooks the marsh. You reach this trail by turning onto Lemieux Rd from Hwy 190 between Lacombe and Mandeville.