St. Tammany Parish Introduces New Trail System
A great advantage to living in southern Louisiana is the mild climate. The outdoors can be enjoyed basically year round. Residents have many recreation trails and waterways to explore. St. Tammany Parish is capitalizing on this great advantage introducing a new trail system called Tammany Trails.
Parish government spokesman Ronnie Simpson says, “We’ve had the Tammany Trace for 20 years. It’s a known entity. The Tammany Trace now has a sister, Tammany Trails.”
The focus of the plan is to educate residents about all the outdoor amenities that are right in their backyard. A website has been launched, tammanytrails.org, that connects people to all of the ways they can enjoy nature’s beauty. Photographs and maps of the green and blue trails will be on the site showcasing areas such as the Folsom hills, trails in the Honey Island Swamp, Tammany Trace , Big Branch Wildlife Refuge, Camp Salmen Nature Park, Abita Creek Flatwoods Preserve, Lake Ramsey Wildlife Management Area, Fairview Riverside State Park, and Foutainebleau State Park. Waterways include Bayou Lacombe, Cane Bayou, Abita River, Bogue Falaya River, Tchefuncte River, Lake Pontchartrain and Pearl River.
St. Tammany Parish government is not the only entity that recognizes the value of parks and walking, hiking, and biking trails. Bedico Creek Preserve in Madisonville, Louisiana has a complete Parks & Trails system within our Master Planned Conservation Community. By buying a new or custom home in our subdivision, you will enjoy planned concrete paths through out a wildlife refuge and natural habitat. You can even go “off road” on “make your own nature trails” in over 500 acres of natural wooded areas, greenspaces, and waterways.
St. Tammany already has proven to be one of the best places to live in the Greater New Orleans area, and the parish 
and state want to make sure current residents and those who want to purchase a new home in the area also understand the value of its natural resources. They have come together to brand Tammany Trails initiating a partnership between the federal, state and parish levels creating an emphasis on recreation, conservation, tourism and economic development of the area.
“Our natural resources are one of our most valuable assets, not just in St. Tammany, but throughout the entire state of Louisiana, so to work together to raise awareness about how they enhance our unparalleled quality of life, and to give our children and their children this gift to utilize, care for and conserve — this will impact our community on several levels for generations,” Parish President Pat Brister said.
The coming together of all of the agencies to promote Tammany Trails will also boost opportunities for grants who will involve volunteers. So far the lieutenant governor’s office, Office of Louisiana State Parks, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. National Park Service, Northlake Nature Center, Land Trust for Louisiana, The Nature Conservancy, City of Slidell, The Tammany Trace Foundation, Camp Salmen Nature Park, Town of Abita Springs, City of Covington, City of Mandeville, St. Tammany Recreation District No. 1 / Pelican Park, Northshore Community Foundation, St. Tammany Parish Tourist and Convention Commission, and the St. Tammany Economic Development Foundation have partnered with the parish to make Tammany Trails a success.
