Bayou Sauvage Trails

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Lake · River/Creek · Spring · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

This hike takes you through an amazing habitat of wetlands and lakes that has become the habitat to a wide variety of birds and other wildlife. Located within the city limits of New Orleans, it is a true urban jewel.

Beginning at the gravel parking lot, head onto the boardwalk just past the bathrooms. Enjoy this wooden path with a variety of informational plaques and pedestals. This wooden boardwalk will deliver you to a gravel path atop the levy.

Turn right and follow this levy-top trail to begin a nice out-and-back hike. Enjoy a number of vignettes overlooking wetlands and lakes to the sides of the trail. I would highly recommend this path for bird watching. The local literature (available for free at the parking area) suggests that there are over 255 species to be seen throughout the year.

Very little shade on the levy ridge portion of this trail. Boardwalk portion also has minimal shade. Bring lots of water and sun protection, especially in the middle of summer.

Wetlands, marsh, lakes, and birds, birds, birds!

There are also tracks of wild hogs and other small mammal scat.

Herons and egrets silhouetted against a city skyline—25,000 acres of fresh and brackish marsh nestled entirely within the city limits of New Orleans makes Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge the nation's largest urban refuge. Established in 1986, the area is directly influenced by the man-made levee system that surrounds the city.