Louisiana - suggestions?

We'll be wandering into Louisiana later this week. We are looking for suggestions for campgrounds and things to do. We plan to hit national park sites: Atchafalaya, Cane River Creole, Jean Lafitte, New Orleans Jazz. Also state historic sites: Port Hudson, Longfellow-Evangeline and visit New Orleans and get
close to the terminus of the Mississippi River.

We expect to camp a bit near Baton Rouge and then within an hour of New Orleans. Any recommendations? Most of the campgrounds I've pulled up get low ratings. Even the overpriced KOA in Baton Rouge got slammed.

Frazz, hope you get some good replies as we're getting ready to tour Louisiana this coming late February early March.
 I just read about Holly Beach, LA that is supposed to be great for shelling and that Intracoastal Parish Park - - LA 7955 Intracoastal Park Road, Sulphur, LA 70665 is a nice place to stay and not too far away.
We're not city nor jazz types, but do love the outdoors. Please post you trip results.

thanks,

First of all, get Passport America.  The savings are half at many campgrounds.  Ponchatrain Landing is a first class RV Resort.  The $60 drops to $30 a night.  Shuttle to the main tourist areas is only $5.  Restaurant and bar on the premises.   Hope they are still with Passport America.   

As far south as you can go is Grand Isle State Park, It's south of Houma. It's a nice State Park, it's on the Gulf, the town of Grand Isle isn't much, but you can stop at Billie Bobs Gas and Grill for some shrimp or chicken. In northeast LA. is North Toledo Bend State Park near the town of Zwollie. It's another nice S.P., free wifi, free laundry.

   Lynn

Zwolle is in norhwest LA, not the northeast.

  Lynn

First of all, get Passport America.  The savings are half at many campgrounds.  Ponchatrain Landing is a first class RV Resort.  The $60 drops to $30 a night.  Shuttle to the main tourist areas is only $5.  Restaurant and bar on the premises.   Hope they are still with Passport America.

Thanks Janey! Their rate shows as $80/night now (and up) but they still offer PA discount. With location and shuttle, we'll probably book there.

When near Baton Rouge a really neat stop would be the USS Kidd museum.  It's a restored Destroyer docked in the river.  https://www.usskidd.com/   Another resource we use are chamber of commerce websites for cities near where we plan to be, some are duds but don't let that discourage you because some are grand slams!

Enjoy your wanderings!

Gary

We are sitting in Natchitoches in NW LA. They kicked off Christmas last night in a big way: bands, food vendors, thousands of lights lit then an amazing fireworks display. They'll have fireworks every Saturday through Christmas. It is a really cool little town. Their claim to fame is Steel Magnolias was filmed here. It put them on the map and they ran with it. They are also the oldest permanent settlement in what was the Louisianna Purchase.  They have many festivals throughout the year. There are lots of restaurants and shops, some historic sites, plantation tours, and so on. We recommend Lasyone's for meat pies, and Maglieaux's for drinking and dining on their beautiful river front.

Natchitoches is pronounced Nack-a-tish... Obviously

Did you visit Fort St. Jean Baptiste State Historic Site in town? We went through the town a couple of years ago, on a Sunday and the Fort was closed. We plan to pass that way again and were wondering if the Fort is worth the tour?
The eateries you listed sound very good & we'll have to try some.

thanks

We did tour the fort. I have mixed reviews. It's a total reconstruction (it's been 300 years and roads are now on the previous site) however they had maps and built what was historically common for that time for a French fort. It is $4 to do self guided tour and $8 for guided. no discounts on guided. We did guided and it was just us. Our guide was an anthropologist, was good and seems to be the main builder of many of the fort's pieces. Example- They found records that certain chairs were purchased for the officers so he will be building them from the description they found.

They have a film, small museum and the fort. There is also a small cabin meant to represent a community outside the fort. They shuttle you over to the fort in an extended golf cart thing. We learned a lot about the history of the area with the French, Spanish, and Native Americans back then. More than we got anywhere else.

The fort is complete; All buildings in place, most open and fully furnished right down to the wooden shoes inside the door so you can get a feel for what it would have been like. The staff answered all questions and were very helpful.

I guess the review is good if you like history and haven't toured a bunch of forts already, just o.k. otherwise. If you plan to go, definitely do the guided tour. I don't think you'll get as much from a walk about. The signs simply say "officer's quarters". To get the story, do the guided tour.

We'll have a post with pics on our blog within a week or two.

2frazzled: thanks for the info. We plan to see the fort, at least for now. Our plans have changed and we won't be on the road until the first part of March. Weather and Mardi Gras have changed our plans. We also eliminated Lake Fausse Pointe SP, but added Grand Isle SP. Figure, if we're going to go "down" to Louisiana, let's go "down" to the furthest SP they have. So now we're looking for a night near/on Toledo Bend Lake. Been to South Toledo Bend SP, so want something different before heading into Natchitoches and then on ward.
If we don't leave soon plans will probably change again. Being snow bound and getting cabin fever with google maps can be a dangerous thing!

thanks again

Garmp, we just rolled into Texas and finally got back to warm. We left Bayou Segnette SP two days ago. Temps
were mid 50's for high and 30's for low. We had serious frost a couple mornings. Temps bounced all over so be prepared. Lots of rain too but NO SNOW! I hope you make out out of the snow belt soon.

I just realized I didn't post on Pontchartrain Landing. They are a Passport America park but only give 12% off, not half price - good for one week. We used their shuttle almost every day (drove car to visit Chalmette Battlefield.) Shuttle was great $6/person/per day - to and from French Quarter. Add the $3.00/day Jazzy Pass that covers trolleys and buses and you are good to go. Very nice RV park. You can get more info on the campground, restaurants, etc. on our blog (see below). Also loved the WWII Museum and will post that soon.