Tickfaw State Park

Springfield, LA

This park is only 8-10 miles off I-12 to the northwest of New Orleans but it certainly feels like you are in the middle of nowhere.  The roads into the park were pretty primitive and had us worried we were not going where we were supposed to be.  While traveling west on I-12 we passed an exit that had signage for the park but our GPS wanted us to take the next exit a few miles later so we did.  That turned out to be a mistake as the final turn necessary to get to the park was very sharp (> 120 degrees) and the road was sloped such that we crossed a pretty severe hump while turning.  Those who know how 5th wheels are hooked know this is not ideal.  We did scrape a bit of paint off a piece of molding as it came into contact with the truck bed rails.  We suspect, had we taken the first exit, we would have approached this intersection from the other direction, entered with only a slight turn and been better off.

Once here we quickly realized we found a gem of a place to stay.  The sites are all paved and complete with a wooden deck.  The comfort center, as it is called, has some of the nicest public showers you will ever find and the laundry facilities are free for overnight guests.  Just a few hundred yards down a path next to our site is a small pond that the park claims has an alligator or two in it.  

We thought it would be cool to try and get a picture of this supposed alligator.  On Thursday, we started the day with a 3 mile run in the park and later, we took hikes to explore the park.  We started by walking around the pond in hopes of finding the alligator.  We think we startled it because we heard a big splash about 10 feet in front of us and then nothing.  After covering a lot of the very interesting trails within the park we came back to our site and decided to try the pond again in hopes of seeing the alligator.  Amy pointed to a dark shape in the water and wondered if it was an alligator or not. We didn’t know so we started walking around the pond and as we did so the shape slowly submerged itself and disappeared.  I think it will be a challenge to photograph the alligator in the pond.

That evening, we drove into Hammond, LA to visit a Best Buy and obtain a printer.  We’ve decided there will be enough occasional needs for printing that one would be nice to have.  We went cheap and bought a $49 Epson that also has a scanner for copying.  Not bad.  While out, we visited a local brew pub (of course) called Blackened Brew.  They had 24 taps and some pretty good food as well.  We both got flights that included most of the dark brews they had on tap.  After dinner, we stopped at a nearby grocery store and headed back to the park.  We were able to pick up several stations over the air, including the local Fox affiliate that was carrying the Cowboys vs Saints game.  It was exciting to see the Cowboys beat the heavily favored local team.

On Friday morning, we hiked the river trail that brought us to the banks of the Tickfaw River that provides much of the water for the surrounding swampland.  We saw some wood peckers and a pretty large spider, whose web was suspended between the trees just off the trail.  

We startled a very large heron of one kind or another that flew off into the swamp.  It looked to have a 6 or 7 foot wing span. As we walked along the river, we startled two or three groups of water foul that disappeared too quickly to photograph.  We also kept an eye out for a potential alligator siting.  At one point, Dan thought the object near the far bank might be a gator and as he took one more step to look it dove under and was gone.  That proved that there were alligators in the river.  A few moments later, we sited one on the bank just ahead as the river turned to the left.  We stopped and took pictures with the 200-500 mm lens and watched the creature for a while.  Dan finally turned to Amy and said “Now what do we do?  The path we are on will go right next to it.  What if it starts to chase us?”.  “It won’t!” Amy responded.  We stared at each other for a few seconds then Amy said “You go first”.

We walked slowly and quietly around the bend and approached the area where the alligator was clearly sunning itself and appeared to be sleeping.  We took several more pictures from a distance of about 15 feet or less.  From this distance and with the telephoto zoom lens available, we could fill the frame with the head and front shoulders.  

We both estimate the alligator to be between 6 and 8 feet in length but were unwilling to move closer for a more accurate measurement.  Our desire to see an alligator in the wild and attempt to photograph it was more than fulfilled and the experience was one we will remember for a long time.  Needless to say we are enjoying our stay at this unique park very much.

On Saturday, we drove into New Orleans, which was just over an hour drive from the campsite. Dan researched options for parking our big truck and found one just off I10 within a few blocks of the French Quarter.  There was even a RV park, of sorts, right next to it for >$100/night.  The first order of business was to get some beignets, cafe au lait, and listen to a jazz trio at a cafe on Bourbon Street.  Then, we walked the streets of the French Quarter, taking in the sights and sounds before wandering over to the water front for a while. We strolled through Armstrong Park before heading back into the French Quarter for some lunch and more jazz.  There was a Christmas parade, the Krewe of Jingle, on Canal Street, which was fun to watch. It was very different than any Christmas parade we had ever seen.

More pictures from our stay at Tickfaw State Park and day trip to New Orleans.