Exploring Valentine Recreation Area in Kisatchie National Forest
Recently I went exploring Valentine Recreation Area in Kisatchie National Forest and I must say, it was quite the pleasant surprise to get out of the typical Louisiana swampy terrain. Don’t get me wrong, the swamp definitely has its perks and its own beauty, but I was ready to take a trail that didn’t involve dragging my feet through an inch of mud.
LAKE VALENTINE
When trying to search for a place to hike, I was trying to find something relatively short but still long enough to stretch out the legs and enjoy nature. Minus an obstacle I came across about mid-way through the hike, this really was a perfect sized trail to hit up at 2 miles in length.
As you may have guessed, Lake Valentine is a man-made lake dammed up on the east side of the lake. Nature and wildlife has flourished in the area around the lake though, so in my opinion it was a great place to place a lake.
BLUE TRAIL MARKER
In order to take the Valentine Lake Nature Trail I needed to stick to the blue trail marker, which was a bit confusing at first because the trail pretty much goes RIGHT behind some people’s campsites. I ended up first walking along the campground road that runs parallel with the trail just to stay out of people’s hair.
Once getting to the end of the road, I did have to cut through a campsite in order to get back on the blue trail though.
The pond is incredibly beautiful even as early as March. Flowers were in bloom along the trail and it gave off a sweet aroma that I passed through multiple times while hiking along the pond.
FIRST THE POND, THEN THE FOREST
After making my way around the north side of the pond, the trail started turning north towards the more wooded area of the path. This trail is very easy with a few little ups and downs but really not much elevation gain whatsoever through the entire trail.
Do keep an eye out for feral hogs in the area. I never heard or made contact with one luckily, but I’ve seen reviews on different websites saying that they truly are in nearby surroundings.
CONTROLLED BURN WITHOUT NOTICE/WARNING
I went through this trail originally by myself because Deanna wasn’t feeling that great, but Deanna and I did come back and revisit this same trail later on in the week. When I went through the first time there had been a controlled burn in the area that had the trail and surrounding area in smoke/flames.
Deanna and I headed back about a week later and there were still some areas on fire/smoking so definitely make sure you check the National Forest’s website for any closures in the area. Granted, I actually did check the website before visiting and there was no mention of this particular burn that I could see, so it did catch me off guard. Maybe I missed it, who knows.
There are some fire roads between sections of the forest though in case you do need to get off the trail and back to safety.
THE CAMPGROUND
Deanna and I didn’t stay at this particular campground because it really only had electricity and no water hookups. We usually at least try to have water and electric, sewer kind of being the optional nice to have. However, this campground did have some RVs scattered throughout enjoying their stay.
Most of the sites seemed fairly level from side to side, but from front to back you would probably have to adjust the trail to make up for slants on the paved drives.
I didn’t bring my AT&T hotspot with me because Deanna was using it back at the trailer, but Verizon did have an ok signal throughout the campground surprisingly. If you are on the road and don’t need to be hooked up to water, this place might be a reasonable option to chill for a limited amount of time.
OTHER NEARBY ADVENTURES
Dauphin Island and Fort Gaines
One Day to Explore New Orleans
NOTE FROM WRITER
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Also be sure to check out Deanna’s food blog, The Harvest Skillet, when you get the chance! A lot of awesome and healthy recipes to use there!
Adventure On!
