On Friday, Shayna and I hitched up a MiniLite 2306 and headed north to Delhi, LA for our first visit to Poverty Point Reservoir State Park. It was also our first camping adventure without the kids and we looked forward to a relaxing weekend to reconnect.
We arrived at the park at 5:30pm, a half hour after the office closed. But we found a guest pass taped to the office window for us and we made our way to site 46. Poverty Point Reservoir State Park is one of Louisiana’s only state parks that offers full hookups including sewer. But when I booked our site, I felt more confident picking one of the more wooded sites (which are water and electric only) that I knew would suit our style.
That reminds me. Be sure you book a Louisiana State Parks visit in October or November and use the discount code PARKTOBER for up to 45% off of your stay to any park north of Chicot State Park.
Unsurprisingly, there were no other RVs in the wooded, non-sewer section (RVers love their sewer connections… just ask my mom). Our neighbors were a rambunctious young family of tent campers that made us miss Harper & Wyatt back in Baton Rouge.
After making a few how-to videos for the Geaux RV Renters community, we grilled up the awesome stuffed chicken breast we picked up on the way at The Francis Smokehouse and put ourselves to bed.
After a hardy breakfast on the MiniLite’s outdoor grill, we set off to explore the Poverty Point World Heritage Site. Despite sharing part of a name, this important cultural site is actually 16 miles north of the State Park. The 3,400 year old ancient village has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site (that means it’s really important). After a short video explaining the site’s history, we toured the museum and began a 3 mile hike through the natural and man-made wonders of Poverty Point.
Your $3 visitors fee is a great investment. It includes access to a self-guided walking tour, a tram tour, or a self-guided driving tour. Or you can do all three! We took advantage of the walking tour and used our guide to learn of all the mounds, ridges, causeways, bayous, and other features of the site. In some areas we were escorted by mosquitos the size of condors. Luckily we were able to dispatch them with the spray every good Landry carries in his pack.
Back at the camp site, Shayna fixed us up an amazing gumbo and we spent the evening being creative together; dreaming, designing websites, and mapping out our next great adventures.
On Sunday I took a great hike through much of the park’s trail system. The trails are very well maintained and very easy to hike. I would feel confident bringing my 3yo and 6yo (7yo tomorrow!) along with me.
On the way home we stopped to visit some friends in Start, LA before meandering our way back to Baton Rouge.
We highly recommend a trip to Poverty Point Reservoir State Park and the Poverty Point World Heritage Site. If you can live without sewer, the best sites is site 42, with a nice deck that overlooks the woods. Sites 45 and 46 are also great wooded sites with no sewer. The best full hookup site is site 17 followed by site 16 and 20.
We’ll see you around the campfire soon!
-Mel & Shayna
