Since February 2, the Barataria Preserve at 6588 Barataria Blvd. has had one open trail. The National Park Service closed the visitor center and every other trail to rebuild boardwalks damaged by Hurricane Ida. The park expects the work to take about two years. What remains is spread across three places. The rangers moved six miles south to Jean Lafitte and now work two weekdays. The longest nearby nature trail is now at a state park in Westwego. The one piece left on Barataria Boulevard is about 0.6 mile long and has no restrooms.
So this fall, the day you go matters as much as the place. Here is how the pieces fit together through Thanksgiving.
What's left at the Marrero address
The park's current conditions page, last updated September 8, 2026, lists Twin Canals Trail as the only open trail in the preserve. The closed list covers the Marsh Overlook, Old Barataria, Palmetto, Plantation, Visitor Center, Bayou Coquille, Christmas Road, Ring Levee and Wood Duck trails. Twin Canals has its parking lot, the trail itself and a canoe launch. It is day-use only, overnight stays are not allowed, and there are no restroom facilities.
The park's trail map shows Twin Canals at about 0.6 mile, and the park says alligators may be visible there. That map is from 2015, so treat the distance as approximate. The canoe launch is open, but the park does not rent canoes or kayaks. It also warns that aquatic vegetation can limit paddling.
That makes Twin Canals good for a quick stop after work or a short paddle if you own a boat. It isn't long enough to stand in for the full trail network, which is why everything else on the calendar happens somewhere else.
| Option | Where | Trail | When | Cost to know about |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twin Canals | Barataria Preserve, Marrero | About 0.6 mile, plus canoe launch | Daily, day use | No restrooms on site |
| Wetland Trace Boardwalk | 4917 City Park Drive, Jean Lafitte | About 1-mile raised loop | Daily; rangers Wed and Thu | Education Center charges admission |
| Bayou Segnette State Park | 7777 Westbank Expressway, Westwego | 2.8-mile nature trail | Daily, gates from 7 a.m. | $3 day use |
The rangers work Wednesdays and Thursdays now, in Lafitte
The park moved its visitor services to the Louisiana Wetlands Education Center and trails at 4917 City Park Drive in Jean Lafitte. Rangers are on the Wetland Trace trails from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and they lead a guided walk at 1 p.m. The preserve's own page puts relocated services at the Town of Jean Lafitte's Civic Center during those same hours. Since the two pages disagree, check the conditions page before you drive down.
Wetland Trace is a raised boardwalk loop of about one mile. The Town of Jean Lafitte says the route runs through cypress swamp, with covered pavilions, benches, overlooks and an egret rookery. The boardwalk is open daily. The Education Center charges admission, which also covers the Barataria Museum. Adults pay $10. Seniors, ages 13 to 17, Louisiana residents with ID and military with ID pay $5. Children under 12 with a parent get in free. The Louisiana resident rate is half the adult price, so bring your ID.
Verite News went along on a March walk at Wetland Trace led by Park Ranger Mary Maggiore. She began leading tours at the Barataria Preserve three years ago and now leads them in Lafitte. The park's ranger calendar for the rest of the season:
- Thursday, October 29, 1 p.m. Wetland Trace Walk
- Wednesday, November 4, 1 p.m. Wetland Trace Walk
- Thursday, November 5, 11 a.m. Read with a Ranger at Lafitte Library, then a 1 p.m. Wetland Trace Walk
- Thursday, November 12, 1 p.m. Wetland Trace Walk
- Wednesday, November 18, 1 p.m. Wetland Trace Walk
- Thursday, November 19, 10 a.m. Junior Scientists: Birding Basics at Wetland Trace, then a 1 p.m. walk
- Wednesday, November 25, 1 p.m. Wetland Trace Walk
There are two gaps. No walk is listed for Wednesday, November 11, or Thursday, November 26, and the park lists Veterans Day and Thanksgiving Day as closures. That leaves Wednesday, November 25, as the last ranger walk before the holiday.
The longest nearby trail is at Bayou Segnette in Westwego
The weekday schedule works if you're free at 1 p.m. on a Wednesday. For a longer walk on a weekend, the closest long trail is at Bayou Segnette State Park, 7777 Westbank Expressway in Westwego. Its nature trail runs 2.8 miles, and the park has boating, canoeing and a boat launch onto the surrounding waterways.
Day use costs $3 per person. Children 3 and under and seniors 62 and older get in free. Gates are open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and days before holidays. The 2.8-mile trail is nearly five times the length of Twin Canals. While the boardwalks are rebuilt, a Marrero resident's longest maintained nature walk nearby is at a state park on the Westbank Expressway.
If you'd rather paddle into the preserve itself, you'll need to bring your own boat or rent one outside the park. Swamp Explorers, at 9656 Barataria Blvd. in Crown Point, rents canoes and kayaks for self-paced paddling in the Barataria Preserve. It offers four-hour rental outings and small-group sightseeing trips.
Halloween lands on a Saturday, when the rangers are off
October 31 is a Saturday, so the national park side has no rangers that day. The holiday plans that weekend belong to the state park and the town of Lafitte.
Bayou Segnette is holding campground trick-or-treating and a campsite decorating contest on Saturday, October 31. Only emergency vehicles are allowed in the campground during trick-or-treating, so plan to walk in. In Lafitte, the Old Town Hall Walking Trail hosts trick-or-treating starting at dusk on October 31. Visit Jefferson Parish lists it at 6 p.m.
What comes back, and how it changes
According to the park's January 20 news release, the trail project rebuilds 1.3 miles of elevated boardwalk in durable composite materials with wooden guardrails. It also removes 1.1 miles of damaged trail and lets that ground go back to natural wetland. Trails will reopen as each phase is finished, so the preserve should come back in pieces. As of the September 8 conditions update, Twin Canals was still the only open trail.
Verite News reported that the new boardwalks will have safety railings and sit 1.5 to 2 feet higher than the old ones. Meredith Hardy, manager of interpretation and education for the park, told the outlet the plans were drawn up using a 50-year projection of environmental conditions. Maggiore told the outlet how it felt to see the old trails wear down after Ida: "It was kind of sad for me to watch some things fall apart."
The visitor center is also moving. Under a separate Jones Point project, park staff offices will consolidate in the current Visitor Center building. The larger Education Center will become the new Visitor Center. Construction on that project is expected to start in spring 2027 and run about two years. Once that work wraps up, the preserve's front door will be a different building from the one that closed in February.
For other public spaces taking shape closer to home, see our look at what's coming to Parc des Familles and our Marrero neighborhood guide.
A two-year rebuild at the end of Barataria Boulevard is the kind of local change Armstrong Realty keeps track of for neighbors in Marrero. If you'd like to know what your home is worth while the boardwalks go back up, get a free home valuation and our team will walk you through it in English or Vietnamese.
