My first time seeing alligators in their natural habitat. Within the first 30 minutes of walking the boardwalk I located an alligator. I saw 2 alligators and several snakes and tiny little lizards. The scenery was beautiful. I love to travel and only had plans of seeing a music festival in Memphis and decided I really wanted to see Louisiana. So happy!

I really enjoyed visiting this National Historical Preserve! The park ranger was great and very informative! There’s a trail next to the visitor center that is worth checking out to see the swamplands! If you have a National Park stamp book, bring it here as they have a stamp! Definitely recommend visiting!

I am a huge fan of gators. I mean huge. I love them so much and i'm not even sure why honestly. This trip to New Orleans was one of the first where I hadn't spotted one in the wild and I was getting a bit antsy about it. Chas said he knew a place he wanted to check out where he thought we could see some gators. It was only 1 that day, but it was awesome. Lots of snakes, frogs, birds...plenty to see on these trails and it was all free. Got some exercise in and got to see some beautiful surroundings and awesome animals. Easily 5 star, no questions asked.

This is such a wonderful and magical place. The trails are amazing, just like they put a nice boardwalk right down through the deepest parts of nature. You will walk along and hear new sounds, see gators that you can reach out and touch, insects as big as your arm, and plants that make you fee like you are in the jungle. The beauty and cleanliness of this place is astounding. This is a great area to escape the city and get back to nature. The welcome shop has some great information about the history of the area and how the marsh lands are disappearing. Every trail is a different kind of experience with different types of sights along each one. I recommend trying all the trails that you can. This is a great spot to take visitors to Louisiana without paying for a swamp tour and treating it more as a choose your own adventure (don't worry, the gators are pretty lazy and won't chase you).

Pretty rural place. Walkways are old, uneven, low to the ground, scary and dangerous. No handrails. You'd be crazy to use a wheelchair on them. Saw 2 poor little gators and lots of water snakes. Not a fan of this place at all. Husband/niece thought it was cool. Go figure...

The land has sadly been torn apart by hurricane IDA. The website claimed that the visitor center was open but upon arrival it was not. There was only one short trail open and most of the other access points to trails where boarded off. The boardwalks look like they have been warped and completely wrecked. There was not much for wildlife except for one single Great White Egret. No alligators.

It’s not everyday you can see alligators in January. The hike was really relaxing. About 4 miles total. It says that it’s wheelchair accessible but beware that some of the boards are getting weak and uneven. Even as a local I enjoyed just walking and seeing all the nature. Perfect for a weekend walk. And it’s free to enter the park.

Went on a field trip here after the tornado. The place wasn’t messy after the storm. Nature is beautiful. We did a science water testing on the swamps. We caught some critters. The place has a heated cafeteria which was so nice. The boardwalk was kinda scary because it was not sturdy. Very fun place to walk and look at swamps

I went last week with a friend. We walked almost 5 miles on what we could of the Plantation Trail and one other. The palmetto forest was thick and amazing! Peaceful and quiet. Many spiders but not wildlife. On the smaller trail there were 5 gator babies by the boardwalk. A few trails were closed as noted on their website but we planned ahead and were prepared for that. Worth the almost 2 hour drive to get there

Worth a stop. It’s a nice little place, a good stop to get out of the car and stretch and learn about it. We didn’t see any gators (just lots of turtles) The staff was friendly and answered questions and we had a nice tour of the facility. And yes there are NPS (national park service) goodies here.

Neat hikes 30mins from downtown. A nice refreshing nature experience for us. We went in the evening and the weather and air was great. There's no fee and parking wasn't a problem. We saw frogs, lizard, dragonflies, and squirrels. There's a free audio self guide tour as well-- you just scan the code with your phone to get started. If you have a car and want to experience a little bit of New Orleans wildlife, this will be a worthwhile experience.

Beautiful wilderness for hiking. Good trails and you can get away from people and the city. Great fishing, but keep an eye out for gators and snakes.

Sad, beautiful and amazing. Amazing to walk the fields that proved vital to a very important battle in our nations history. National Cemetery representing not just the Battle of New Orleans. Friendly and knowledgeable rangers as well. Worth the trip if you are into history.

Great place, just remember this isn't a zoo and you're not at city park. Alligators.wild hogs. watermocasins. Stinging insects. Swamps with mud holes that will swallow you whole. Unless you are familiar with southeast Louisiana swamps stay on the main trails leave your pets at home and don't let your children roam around, a beautiful but unforgiving place teaming with wildlife and a rich history.

I have spent countless hours enjoying this park. Ordinarily, I would give it five stars, but the hot, hot summer of 2023 has not be kind to the Jean Lafitte National Park. To my disappointment, the visitors’ center was closed due to broken a/c units. To the joy of two hot and miserable kids, the much of the Palmetto Trail was closed, which shortening our hike. Since we were the only ones in the “jungle”, they were also scared. We didn’t attempt any other trails. I am looking forward to returning in the fall.

Unfortunately a lot of the trails are closed and the remaining ones are very short, but the land itself is beautiful, the ranger guiding us was friendly, funny and knowledgeable, we saw gators from only a meter away, and many snakes, birds and beautiful plants.

A great area for exploring the wildlife. The management has done a great job maintaining this area as natural as possible. They could do without those super noisy air-propelled boats.

Excellent tourist destination for those not here long or want to show your family a quick "Louisiana" day. Also, perfect for a wonderful outing for your family to see snakes, alligators, snails, huge trees, tons of bugs and beautiful landscape. Been here a handful of times and we still can't get over how gorgeous it is. Lovely walking trails and most are accessible for any type of human. My injured mother and 4 yr old had no issue whatsoever. Clean bathroom at visitors center and welcoming and informative rangers who love their job!

It's everything it says and more! My kids loved it and had a blast. The only down side I didn't care for was the airboats. You can hear them while walking on the boardwalk but it definitely wouldn't prevent me from coming back! My whole family loved it and was worth the trip!

Definitely worth a visit. We saw two alligators napping alongside the boardwalk. The vistas of the swamps are worth the trip as well. Not all that far a drive from the French Quarter. Very friendly and helpful staff.

Lots of wildlife there. Enjoyed the boat trip. Guide showed us all the Alligators and birds, with plenty of time to take pictures and appreciate the animals that live in the swamp. Well worth a visit.

Some trails are closed due to the recent hurricanes buy still worth the trip out to see the area. Beautiful trails still open and some repairs underway already. Great wildlife preserve. They should expand this park and its funding

They definitely make this place safe. The path is quickly cleared of any debris. The edge is gorgeous! Worth a blanket wine cheese. A nice paddle boat at the edge would be a great attraction but if course we need to keep the area free of human entrepreneurship.

Great trails! A lot of the park seemed to be closed off, but it was still worth it!

Most of the trails were closed because of the previous hurricane, but the 3 still opened were still worth it, even if very short (0.2 to 0.75mi) Still a few alligators in November, well maintained trails, great views. Very welcoming staff.

Beautiful, hot, wet, and full of spiders. And other wildlife.

Soooooooooo beautiful! Totally seen gators, snakes and turtles! This was the highlight of my time spent in NOLA!

This is an underrated National Park. We saw quite a few alligators. One of them was just off to the side of the walking trail. I recommend doing the Air-boat tours through the park so you can see the flora and fauna in all its glory.

Awesome place, would love to spend more time here. Exploring all that I could. I mean nature? Definitely a cool place to explore and check out.

Beautiful and surprisingly wild, convenient to Nola. Trails maintenence is good, rangers are friendly with useful advice. Take a hat/parasol and WATER with you. Lots of opportunities to sight wildlife-- many birds, interesting insects, lizards large and small (yes, alligators). The displays in the visitor's center are interesting, especially water/storms/coastlines.

Great place to take a hike...

Pretty neat jaunt through the swamp. Great way to spend a few hours to get outside.

Drove almost an hour to find this place only to not hike at all. Most of the trails are closed, with very few short ones open. The education center was closed and the trail to the visitor center was closed about 3/4 of the way. I'm sure those trails are great however there are spiders EVERYWHERE. You cannot walk somewhere without having to duck to miss their webs since they are across the trail and to the sides of them. This place does look beautiful and I'm sure would be an exellent trails, if they were open.