Kisatchie National Forest: 604,000 Acres of Louisiana Hill Country Most Drivers Never Notice

Most Louisianans have driven past Kisatchie National Forest without quite noticing it. It hides in plain sight along Interstate 49 and the two-lane highways of central and north Louisiana, broken into pieces by private land, and it is easy to mistake for one more stretch of timber country. Look closer and it is more than 600,000 acres of public land, and fall is a fine time to find that out.

Kisatchie is Louisiana's only national forest, more than 604,000 acres spread across seven parishes: Vernon, Rapides, Grant, Natchitoches, Webster, Claiborne and Winn. It was designated a national forest in 1930, and it is managed from a supervisor's office in Pineville through five ranger districts, each with its own personality.

The showpiece for most first-time visitors is the Kisatchie Ranger District in Natchitoches Parish, a little over 102,000 acres of ridges, sandstone and longleaf pine. The Longleaf Trail Scenic Byway runs about 17 miles along a high ridge through the Kisatchie Hills, between Louisiana highways 117 and 119, on terrain that ranges from 120 to 400 feet in elevation. That does not sound like much until you see it from the road, with mesas, buttes and sandstone outcrops standing out against the pines. The Civilian Conservation Corps first built the route as a single-lane road around 1935.

From the Longleaf Vista Recreation Area, a ridge-top overlook with a short trail and picnic tables, the view takes in the Kisatchie Hills Wilderness, which wraps around the vista on three sides. Congress designated the 8,700-acre wilderness in 1980. It is one of only two federally designated wilderness areas in Louisiana and the only one managed by the Forest Service, and the agency describes its hills as some of the steepest and most rugged ground in the state. Three developed trails totaling about 10 miles cross it, and hikers and horseback riders often enter on the Backbone Trail. The pine forests there shelter the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker and the threatened Louisiana pinesnake, and careful hikers can still find old turpentine cups and the ruins of a turpentine mill from the logging era.

Below the hills, Kisatchie Bayou is the district's swimming hole. The Forest Service describes white sandy beaches and rocky rapids there, unusual sights for Louisiana, along with walk-in tent sites on the bank and about 20 miles of water for canoes and kayaks.

The forest's other districts each offer something different. On the Calcasieu Ranger District west of Alexandria, Kincaid Lake is home to bald eagles that nest more than 100 feet up in loblolly pines, and the Forest Service runs a live eagle nest camera there. The Wild Azalea National Recreation Trail, about 26 miles long, makes a good day hike in sections or a two-day trip end to end. In fall, the agency notes, the mixed hardwood and pine forest there turns into a patchwork of contrasting color. Farther west, in Vernon Parish, the 1.6-mile Fullerton Mill Trail passes the ruins of what was once the largest sawmill operation west of the Mississippi River, and Wolf Rock Cave is the only known rock shelter in Louisiana used by its early people, dating to between 2500 and 1000 B.C.

Up near the Arkansas line, the Caney Ranger District in Claiborne and Webster parishes is fishing country, with Caney Lakes near Minden and the 2,300-acre Corney Lake near Homer. Part of the Caney Lakes area is forest restored from old sugar cane and cotton fields. On the Winn Ranger District, about 21 miles of Saline Bayou carry a National Wild and Scenic River designation, and Cloud Crossing makes a good put-in for paddlers. The Catahoula Ranger District in Grant Parish, close to Alexandria and Pineville, offers Stuart Lake, a small lake built for a Civilian Conservation Corps nursery, along with hiking and riding trails.

Fall is also hunting season, and Kisatchie is a hunter's forest. Hunting is allowed with a state license, and the two national wildlife management preserves require a free permit. The Forest Service's own guidance puts the deer rut in west-central and north Louisiana between late October and early November, and in central Louisiana from early to mid-November. Gun season dates vary by ranger district and are listed in the Kisatchie section of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries regulations, so anyone heading into the woods, hunting or not, should check them first.

A few practical notes from the agency help with planning. There are no cabins, but there are campgrounds, and dispersed camping outside developed areas is allowed across most of the forest. Campfires are fine unless a burn ban is in place. The forest is home to seven species of venomous snakes, and chiggers and ticks are common in warm months, so the Forest Service recommends repellent with at least 30 percent DEET. Off-highway vehicle trails can close after heavy rain, and the agency keeps a trail status hotline at 318-473-7069.

For a first visit, the simplest plan is to pick up the Longleaf Trail about 5.5 miles south of the Derry exit on I-49, stop at Longleaf Vista and spend the afternoon at Kisatchie Bayou. The Forest Service puts the Kisatchie Hills within a few hours' drive of Shreveport, New Orleans and Houston, which brings some of the most rugged country in Louisiana within reach of a long day trip.