Louisiana is deeply rooted in Creole and Cajun cultures. The term “Cajun” comes from “Acadian,” referring to French colonists who were forced to leave Nova Scotia and other parts of French Canada by the British during the 1700s. Many of these displaced Acadians eventually settled in the southern regions of Louisiana, characterized by its expansive prairies, swamps, bayous, and marshes. Meanwhile, “Creole” originally described individuals born in the New World to parents from the Old World. This term distinguished those native to the region from newcomers, including immigrants, refugees, transients, and victims of the transatlantic slave trade.
Journey through the Cajun Corridor Byway and Creole Nature Trail All-American Road, to experience the vibrant mix of history, cuisine, and traditions native to Louisiana.
Cajun Corridor Byway
The Cajun Corridor Byway spans 34 miles, offering a delightful self-guided tour through Louisiana’s rich Cajun culture, scenic landscapes, and charming towns all in just one day. With rich land and abundant freshwater, the area around Cajun Corridor provides some of the best places in the state to enjoy fresh shrimp, crawfish and oysters, hearty rice dishes and the spicy local sausage known as boudin. The short byway, along Highway 14 in southwestern Louisiana, covers gently sloping terrain highlighted with allées (alleys of shade trees) and cheniers (coastal ridges covered with stands of oak trees). The area’s drained marshes are ideal for growing rice and crawfish farming. Sugar cane fields dot the horizon, and cattle graze near the marshlands. Towns such as Maurice, Abbeville and Delcambre reflect the influences of French and Acadian settlers who founded them.
This mostly rural stretch of the byway begins at Gueydan, with spanning views of “dual crop” farms – rice fields that are also home to thousands of crawfish. The Gueydan Museum, located in a 1902 bank building, puts the town’s history on display, along with antiques once owned by its founder, Jean Pierre Gueydan. Further down the road is Suire’s Grocery and Restaurant, known for its gumbo, boudin and turtle sauce piquant, and homemade pecan pie.
Nearby, the city of Kaplan is home to Crawfish Haven/Mrs. Rose’s Bed & Breakfast – a bed and breakfast that offers crawfish excursions, Cajun cooking classes, Cajun dinner specials and comfortable accommodations for an overnight stay.
Abbeville is home to giant oaks, a century-old church, several bed-and-breakfasts housed in historic homes, oyster bars and even the C.S. Steen Syrup Mill that has been making the popular Steen’s pure cane syrup for almost 100 years. The mill welcomes visitors to purchase products straight from the source. Abbeville is also known for its Giant Omelette Celebration, a family-friendly festival centred around an Omelette made with 5,000 eggs.
A short drive from Abbeville are the small towns of Maurice, Erath, and Delcambre. In Maurice, Hebert’s Specialty Meats is home to turducken, a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken, and other Cajun specialities cooked and frozen, ready to take home for a taste of Acadiana. The Acadian Museum in Erath features artefacts from more than 300 years of history, including the mid-18th-century deportation of the Acadian people from Canada and their odyssey to south Louisiana. The museum occasionally hosts Cajun musicians for jam sessions. Delcambre is a shrimping town, offering views of the shrimp boats and nets that help keep Louisiana and the country supplied with the best seafood. The town even celebrates its bounty with the Delcambre Shrimp Festival.
Creole Nature Trail All-American Road
Creole Nature Trail All-American Road is another self-guided tour spanning over one to two days over a distance of 207 miles. Louisiana’s prairies, marshes and shores teem with wildlife, and a drive along the Creole Nature Trail All-American Road gives visitors a chance to experience nature’s bounty up close. In fact, signs along the route mark common spots for alligator crossings. This remote terrain, often referred to as Louisiana’s Outback, is readily accessible and includes four wildlife refuges as well as 26 miles of natural Gulf of Mexico beaches. Other features include untouched wetlands, small fishing communities offering fresh seafood, and ancient cheniers – sandy ridges studded with oak trees, rising above the low-lying coasts.
Sulphur, which sat on a major deposit of the mineral for which it was named, has a rich history of sulfur mining in the area. Driving south on Highway 27 towards Cameron Parish, notice a gradual change in the landscape from prairie lands to coastal marsh. Cameron Parish has more than 700,000 acres of wetlands – and Hackberry, appropriately, is a hub of shrimp and crab houses along Kelso Bayou, the once-rumored hideout of legendary pirate Jean Lafitte. Here, the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge is a prime wintering ground for waterfowl. The Wetland Walkway, a 1.5-mile loop walk into the marsh, is home to alligators, birds and other indigenous critters.
Further south is Holly Beach, with opportunities for swimming, picnicking and hunting for shells. Turning west takes you along Highway 82 toward the Texas state line. Providing a nearly continuous view of the Gulf of Mexico, this stretch takes you to Peveto Woods Sanctuary – a 41-acre island that sees more than two million birds each year. Turning east takes you to the car ferry across the Calcasieu Ship Channel and into the community of Cameron.
Lake Charles offers a fusion of city life and the outdoors. It is a prime spot for casinos, southern cooking and shopping at the Lake Charles Boardwalk. A highlight is the Charpentier Historic District, with Victorian-era homes both designed and built by carpenters. Nearby is the Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge, a haven for wintering waterfowl and a great place for nature photography. Depending on the time of year, the Cameron Prairie Visitor Center, as well as Pintail Wildlife Drive, are excellent locations to spot alligators as well as a host of birds and waterfowl, including roseate spoonbills.
At Highway 27’s intersection with Highway 82, turn east. Along this marshy stretch, look for cranes, pelicans and, in warm weather, an occasional alligator. Past the town of Grand Chenier lies the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge. A drive along the refuge’s four-mile Price Lake Road gives visitors a close-up view of this coastal marshland and its inhabitants. Or, if you turn west, you will head towards the community for which this parish was named, Cameron.
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