BREC's Bluebonnet Swamp and Nature Center

The Great Outdoors

[Comment Below]

By John Cross

BREC's Bluebonnet Swamp and Nature Center are located just off Bluebonnet Blvd in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. If you take Bluebonnet south from Interstate 10, continue for about two or three miles until North Oak Hills Parkway. Take North Oak Hills Parkway west and you head directly into the park.

The Nature Center itself has a very interesting parking lot, which is permeable, meaning rain water drains through it into retention areas. Over the past 15 years there has been a surge in development around the swamp, which has led to alternatives in mitigating excess runoff from the increases in development.

The swamp is one of the only natural areas left in urbanized Baton Rouge and the encroachment of development on it is not happening without consideration and planning for water resources. The many surrounding ponds for runoff mitigation are further evidence of this.

Being a BREC park it will be around for people to enjoy, experience, and learn from some of the natural beauty that East Baton Rouge Parish has to offer for some time. This is right in line with what the Nature Center is for. A place where people can come to learn about nature or just take a walk on the abundance of boardwalks and trails available to the general public. The park provides a valuable experience in education and observing nature.

The swamp itself serves as a drainage basin with around 1100 acres of storm water runoff flowing through it. This serves as a resource for all of the life in Bluebonnet Swamp and as a deposition source for sediment, trash, organic debris, etc. from surrounding neighborhoods. These unintended additions are changing the swamp and recently this has brought about concerns from East Baton Parish City Planning commission.

However, problems bring solutions like the permeable pavement system mentioned prior in the Nature Centers parking area and the multitude of retention/detention ponds in the surrounding neighborhoods and business areas.

Although it is not completely perfect, there are significant efforts to protect the swamp and curtail pollution from entering the waterways in this general area.

These conditions also make for excellent bike riding opportunities through the connecting areas allowing for more interaction and enjoyment of Baton Rouge communities. Connectivity is not as good as it could be, but the access to acres of natural habitat in the middle of the city make for a rather enjoyable outing. Bringing a bicycle and ridding though the adjacent water rich communities is just a little lagniappe that comes from forward thinking development.

Education and awareness are in line with what the nature center offers and children tend to have a blast leaning and interacting in the natural environment here. The center's staff is extremely helpful and informative regarding opportunities of enjoyment within the park. These facts along with its close proximity to LSU campus make for an easy and affordable outing.

You can enjoy the park Tuesday through Sunday. Its hours of operation are from 9am to 5pm Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5pm on Sunday. The park is closed on Monday. The address is 10503 North Oak Hills Parkway, Baton Rouge, LA 70810. For more information please see BREC's Bluebonnet Swamp and Nature Center's website: http://www.bsnconline.net/

Originally Published: Issue 806 - July 1, 2009

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