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Acadiana Park Nature Trail
"With the exception of minor trail improvements made by the museum, this tract of forest has remained relatively undisturbed," notes an Acadiana Park Nature Trail booklet prepared by Louisiana Natural History Museum curators.
No plants have consciously been added to or deleted from the original flora of Acadiana Park Nature Trail during the museum's 30-year-old guardianship, allowing it to continue being a "climax community," one that is in balance with its physical habitat. A long growing season, an ample supply of rain, and a sub-tropical climate foster the growth of Acadiana Park's numerous trees, shrubs, vines, herbs, and wild flowers. The multi-layered vegetation supports a variety of animals and birds who help maintain the equilibrium of the forest.
A bird's eye view of this vigorous forest, and the disparate terrain linked by the Acadiana Park Nature Trail, can be enjoyed from the park's three-story nature station. The 3.4 mile footpath begins on a low-hilled, prairie terrace unique in southwestern Louisiana, crosses the old Mississippi River escarpment -- a ridge built with clay the river deposited on a former flood plain -- and bridges a ravine where the "Father of the Waters" once coursed. Then, it slopes down into the park's small segment of an enormous Mississippi River flood plain that extends from the Gulf of Mexico through Tennessee.
Thousands of visitors have hiked the Acadiana Park Nature Trail since the city of Lafayette purchased the 42-acre tract for a wilderness park in 1967. They follow in the footsteps of barefoot Archaic Indians who hunted here as early as 3000 B.C., Indians of the Plaquemine Period (1200-1600 A.D.) who left evidence of their pottery-making skills, and French settlers who built a prosperous plantation on the escarpment in the 1700's. Fragments of pottery, and other archeological artifacts these historic inhabitants left in one sector of the park, and data culled from diggings on the site, have warranted its designation as a State Archeological Landmark.
Acadiana Nature Trail is located in Acadiana Park, 637 Girard Park Dr., Lafayette, LA 70503-2896. (318) 291-8448. Open Mon.-Fri., 9 A.M.-5 P.M.; Sat. and Sun., 11 A.M.-3 P.M. Free. Admission fee for guided tours on Sat. and Sun., 1 P.M.