Bogue Chitto State Park

About this park

Bogue Chitto State Park, whose name comes from the Choctaw words for "big creek," is one of the newer additions to the Louisiana state park system, opening to the public in August 2010 in Washington Parish south of Franklinton, about a 90-minute drive from downtown New Orleans. The 1,786-acre park sits along the Bogue Chitto River, long a popular destination for float trips through gentle currents and wooded scenery. Since a 2021 expansion, the park has become one of Louisiana's premier mountain-biking destinations, with a trail system maintained by the Northshore Off-Road Biking Association featuring hand-cut singletrack, flow trails with professionally built rollers and wall rides, jump and enduro lines, a dual slalom course, an asphalt pump track, and a dedicated kids' pump track, alongside a skills area designed by Backyard Trail Builds. Hikers have their own dedicated route in the 5.5-mile Gorge Run Trail, descending from piney hilltops to the riverbank below. A lodge perched on a 90-foot bluff overlooks the river, and the park also offers 14 miles of equestrian trails, a 9-hole disc golf course, a water playground, an amphitheater, fishing piers, and canoe access to the river. More than 200 bird species have been recorded here, and four upland cabins plus 81 RV sites give visitors a range of overnight options.