Acadiana Park & Nature Station

Acadiana Park is a jewel in Upper Lafayette.  It creates a memory in almost every 4th and 5th grader in the Acadiana area who visit the Nature Station on a school field trip.  Often times those memories do not have a route back to the park.  

If you need an off road adventure here is my suggestion.  Do some mountain biking, then a little trail running, then paddle from the Nature Station to Vermilionville (9.5 miles).  At Vermilionville enjoy the buffet at La Cuisine de Maman.

variety of recreation:

  • mountain bike trails
  • trail running
  • hiking 
  • canoe/kayak destination
  • disc golf
  • road cycling 
  • birding
  • soccer
  • basketball
  • tennis (with lights)
  • campgrounds with RV space
  • guided night hikes

Be the change you
want to be.

The organizations below are intimately involved in making Acadiana Park a wonderful place.

Future Projects

  • Connector trail  to Breaux Bridge
  • Expand the mountain bike trail system
  • Bridge across Francois Coulee.  
  • Connector trail to Brown Park

Road cyclist meet at Acadiana Park and generally ride North towards Arnaudville, Grand Coteau, Breaux Bridge and beyond.  The parking lot is a great place to meet up.  After the ride you can stop in a M&S Grocery on the corner of Alexander & Louisiana Avenue for some boudin.

Mountain Bike Acadiana has built some outstanding trails in Acadiana Park and now host several races.

Bike wash station near the entrance to the mountain bike trails at Acadiana Park.  This was a Mountain Bike Acadiana project that TRAIL assisted with.

LocationS

There are three main entry point for the park. 

1205 E. Alexander St. Lafayette, LA address will get you to the two main areas.  The parking lot directly off of Alexander will provide access to mountain bike trails, disc golf, tennis, basket ball and nature trails on the South side of Francoise Coulee**

100 Shadow Bluff provides access to the nature trails North of the Francois Coulee.  You can enter into the trails there or you can walk around the chain link fence and follow the levee top toward the Vermilion River.  There will be 2 access points into the trail system about 0.4 miles from the fence.

The nature station, campground and RV parking is located at the end of the Acadiana Park Rd just off of E. Alexander.  This section has controlled gate that you will need to get a code for from either LCG parks & recreation or the Nature Station.  Access by foot to the nature station is possible from behind the soccer fields.

** Use the start of the Cajun Country 5k (map below) to access the nature trails from the parking lot off

The water station are only set up for the Cajun Country race and are not permanent fixtures of the park.  You can park off of Shadow Bluff Dr. next to the coulee for easy access to the nature trails on the North section.

The Nature Station is an icon in the park and is the 9.5 miles to the Vermilionville along the Bayou Vermilion Paddle Trail (Vermlion River).

The Nature Station offers a variety of classes for all ages.  It is also the location of a paddle boat launch.  Get dropped off at the nature station, enjoy a hike then paddle down to Vermilionville for lunch at Cafe Maman.