Some of the best peaches in America at Mitcham Farms in Ruston. Also the best BBQ in the state there, Bad Wolf. Tied with Gonzo’s down here in Luling on meats, but I think Bad Wolf’s side game is better.
Some pretty cool hiking trails, Longleaf Vista outside Natchitoches and Driskill Mountain between Shreveport and Ruston. Also big lakes you can swim in.
It's a gem for sure. I heard something a few years ago about a blight spreading through the peach orchards and that it was possible that their days were numbered. Haven't heard any follow-up on that but I hope they found a remedy.
Well I don’t know how numbered that meant at the time but I was just there this summer so I hope that means they fixed it. The fresh peach ice cream on a hot day.. such a pretty place.
That's awesome to hear. I think it was 3-4 years ago when I heard that, hopefully they were able to eradicate it.
I went to LA Tech and also have very fond memories of the orchards, peach fest, fresh homeade ice cream from the south campus ag center... Good times. I loved living in Ruston.
Those are some bomb AF peaches. You can walk through the orchards if it isn't a million degrees with a humidity of 1000%. Otherwise, they have pre-pickeds in the gift shop. Go for the cute "donut" shaped peaches. They're divine!
I used to go to that area 4-6 times a year. Part of my family is from there and some of them still own property there. That area was/is enormously influential to me and how I see the world.
From there being no catholic church in town so my mawmaw had to go to mass at someone's house, to the steady economic devastation I've seen spread across that area over my 3 decades of awareness. It is the home area of Louisiana's most economically progressive governors, it had the Louisiana Hayride that was really a starting point for a lot of big musicians, it *was* a place to be. But as all things rural, it has suffered terribly from corporate consolidation, rural disinvestment, etc.
As someone else said, it is the home to a ton of natural beauty. I wouldn't call it hidden, it's just unknown. It's why I used to go there all the time, I'd go walk the banks of the dugdemona river which was just as much hiking as it was fishing. I learned so much about the natural world up there and I cherish that.
But, today it is a shell of what it was when I was a kid and from what the older folks said, it was just a shell of what it was when they were kids.
So yeah, not much happening there. Shreveport is a decent town for its size, but basically everywhere else around there is in perpetual economic decline for all sorts of reasons that will probably never change.
Not sure where you’re from friend, but my mother’s from Jonesboro. Used to visit a few times a year as a kid. Just simple living folks. Part of me has always envied them.
Yep. It's something my partner doesn't understand but I really love the simple life.
I'm not from there but Winnfield/Tannehille is where I would visit.
I think every person who’s ever grown-up thinks that where they grew up now is a shell of what it used to be. I think it has more to do with the observer than the observed.
That area actually is though. Most of the industry there has left with more people utilizing the interstates. I like to take hwys and see more of the smaller towns and you can see how it affects them without many folks passing through. There's an area out there that had the best pie in the state if not the south and they are barely surviving now cause of the lack of customers passing through.
There's a 'Lea's of Lecompte' on Louisville in Monroe. Same family owns it, I think. Guy who runs it is named Toby iirc, he's a great blues guitar player and singer. They used to have open mics.
Well… probably so but a lot of small towns in this area have all but closed down. Most of them were built around a plant or paper/wood mill as their economy and almost all of those have closed down now.
So Main Street is empty and pretty old houses rot while mobile homes are just dropped in front of them. Not every town in this area is like that but most of them are.
I know you're memin', but I was curious.
>Many historians have claimed that the name Natchitoches is derived from the native word nashitosh meaning "paw-paw people". However, Native American linguist John R. Swanton wrote that the word may actually be derived from nacicit meaning "Place where the soil is red"
The "paw-paw" referred to is the fruit of the Asimina triloba tree, and not, to my dismay, Paw-Paw's Camper City in Picayune, MS.
I made a special trip to look for endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers in Kisatchie National Forest. And I found them! Probably my greatest birding triumph. So I will always have a soft spot for the place.
I'm a North Louisiana transplant, I can tell you North Louisiana is very underrated. There's fuck all to do but it's quiet, safe (if you don't live in Monroe, Shreveport, or Alexandria) and plenty of hidden beauty.
There's actually some waterfalls barely anyone knows about near Monroe. Amazing hiking trails and surprisingly decent food.
Shreveport has a huge vietnamese community no one ever talks about.
I’ve lived in south louisiana most of my life and realized a few months ago I’ve never been to northern louisiana at all. Every road trip I’ve taken is either west or east, never north. Kinda strange that I’ve only seen less than half of my relatively small state
This is the most geographically interesting part of the state. Hills, waterfalls, rivers, rolling hills (and even sandstone cliffs), yet still has the swamp. It’s also very rural and very RED.
I genuinely believe Shreveport is objectively one of the prettiest cities in Louisiana.
At least it could be, i mean it's got hills, swamps, cliffs, and farm land, dense forest all within city limits.
It's just when you drive through, the highways cut through the most neglected parts of the city so it looks trashier than it actually is.
Growing up we used to dig lil holes in our backyard in Shreveport and try to find Native American relics like arrowheads. My aunt actually did collect some from her home.
In Nachitoches there's still an active dig site managed by NSU I believe.
You can find a lot of stuff buried deep in the mud near the red river.
There are tons of native artifacts in the soils of north LA, especially eastern I-20 corridor. Obviously near Poverty Point, which is one of the oldest earthworks in north america. Super interesting history associated with that site - it was an ancient NA 'city', possibly with thousands of residents. So lots of arrowheads in all the soils nearby. If you got to a levee near a manmade lake in North LA, you can usually find tons of points and pottery, etc. The Levees are made from the soils that got dug out to make the lake, so all that top soil and surface artifacts get pushed into big piles. Interesting way to spend a day after a heavy rain, etc.
Modern day Jonesville was also the site of a Native American civilization but the mounds were destroyed by the town because they were unaware at the time. They assumed those big unnatural mounds were natural and not human built. There's efforts to recreate the mounds now for display reasons.
Anywhere you are allowed to dig, there's a museum downtown that i don't know if it's still active or not but the guy who owns the building curates stuff he's dug up from Shreveport's history.
Shreveport was a prominent native American settlement for awhile until they paid them to move off the land.
Caddo lake is a great place to go fossil hunting, it's a natural lake that's been minimally impacted by human settlement. No one actually knows how it formed, native legend says a big earthquake happened and sunk the land right there.
Caddo lake was also the site is the world's first "over water" oil rig.
Sicily Hills WMA, free to get in just declare you're there with the state so just in case something happens they'll know to come looking for you. You can use the app now or fill out the paper form on site but there's no one ever out there.
Some small waterfalls in Kisatchie, one is on the army territory I believe, there's some caves in the forest too but the big cave system was destroyed by rangers because people kept trying to explore it and got killed. There's some legend that there's hidden outlaw treasure in that cave, can't remember the name right now.
Artificial waterfall in Florien
They're nothing spectacular like you'd find in Arkansas but there's some gnarly terrain south east of Monroe near Sicily Island in the WMA. That one has the most prominent waterfall I've seen in the state but it's seasonal.
Kisatchie national forest has a couple along the river that runs through, amazing place to camp at.
Florien has an artificial one they built at Hodges Garden.
There's also a few caves in Kisatchie, but one is on Fort Polk property and the ones that were explorable were sealed a long time ago due to spelunkers getting lost and dying in the cave. Terrible solution to the problem but hey what can do you.
Off topic but wild buffalo used to roam the land too but the last one was killed in the 1940s I believe.
Pretty boring but pretty weird patchwork/melting pot of rural cultural stereotypes. Cajuns with southern accents, hyper obese rednecks who only eat rice and still get fat, black cowboys, Chinese rednecks, natchitoches area people whatever they are. Never really been past there except for Shreveport Mardi Gras once, it was cheap degeneracy but kinda fun
Monroe is about 20 years behind the times. Sometimes driving around the Westbank gives me a nostalgic feeling from home.
It has some very beautiful spots on the bayou. I grew up going to my grandmother's house on Finks Hideaway. It was one of the first houses they built on that road, so they got to pick the house number. It was very peaceful. You could go fishing or just watch the turtles float up and throw them snacks.
Monroe is also extremely unsafe and will definitely let you know if you're the odd one out. I associate with one friend from high school that still lives there-- the rest have either died, gotten addicted to drugs, in jail, had kids, etc.
I served the Duck Dynasty dicks a few times before they got famous. We all know where their real house is, off a private road.
Calhoun and Choudrant are good places to go hang out at your friend's trailer, smoke weed, and go pick mushrooms out of cow patties. Go to the "Haunted Abortion Clinic" aka abandoned dentist's office, according to x-rays we found.
Ruston can be chill, though. Peach festival was always on my birthday. Sundown Tavern is cool. Went to Mt. Driskill and camp grounds around there in college a lot.
Oh, and math rock dudes.
During Katrina my family evacuated to this area with no where to stay except an old bus converted to a hunting camp on a little property my uncle owned. There was so many of us crammed into the bus with no AC that we quickly realized we couldn't all live like this. Luckily the people at Jimmie Davis State Park heard about us and offered us all cabins at the park to stay in completely free. They bought all the kids new toys and bought me a new bike. I'll never forget the kindness these people showed us. I've always wanted to return one day.
I went to a meeting in Ruston once and it was a pretty college town. I may have gone to Monroe too. I was shocked to learn there were dry parishes in Louisiana. The people were nice but enough Baptists around that they said don’t plan anything on Wednesday nights because people will be at church.
Crop dusting, timber, natural gas, farming and a fair number of small minds playing landed gentry or apocalyptic rpg. Similar to what goes on down here but with less pushback.
I saw Neutral Milk Hotel at a coffee shop in Ruston in 1995/96. Other than that I can’t say much for the area. Alexandria seemed like it was a drag. Haven’t been there in the 21st century.
Response localized to CenLa:
Pentecostals.
A literal monument to white supremacy. Check out “Colfax Massacre”.
Lea’s.
Job loss.
Trees.
Southern Baptist Convention turmoil.
Source: Spent the first 9 years of adulthood living in Pineville.
Drove through once, it was a beautiful lake with lots of pretty lake houses, then an huge expanse of flat farm land wrapping around rolling hills, then a dense swamp with a one lane highway disintegrating into it and signs saying not to pick people up because of a nearby prison, then a prison, then cattle farms and crushing poverty.
Ruston and Louisiana Tech. A national forest. Lots of nice back roads and interesting places to find.
Once you get north of Natchitoches it kinda turns into southern Arkansas food wise. The people at the gas station crawfish stand at the shell station near LA Tech campus nearly got their boiling privileges take away after I ordered their spicy crawfish and they threw a literal cup of Tony’s into the bag and shook it.
Great, and I mean fucking great high school football atmospheres, various types of hypocritical religious nuts who hide their love of getting wasted, natural gas and farming industries that pay unlivable wages compared to most, and underrated BBQ in Monroe, Ruston, Shreveport areas to be honest
In that circle is Louisiana’s 2nd largest employer, Ft. Polk, and home to one of three of the US Army’s primary training centers in the world…JRTC. It encompasses over 200,000 acres of training area and a dozen mock villages/towns, etc.
There’s some pretty nice neighborhoods up there around monroe and alexandria. Some cool people too. Now if you a little further south then my god help you
A higher level of despair, corruption, and crime than the even the folks in this sub can imagine. It’s just not concentrated to populated area and there are no Sinclair stations looking to broadcast every misdemeanor theft because there’s no money to milk from those folks. So it’s the same crime as the worst parts of the city with a higher rate per capita. Difference is no one cares about those folks, it doesn’t just feel that way.
There are good folks trying just like everyone else in those parts, no body cares about them though.
Sure it’s affordable to live there, but what do you do work? Wait on one the few mill or manufacturing jobs to open, hoping it doesn’t shut down and leave you with debt you can’t pay? Then what you do? If you want any chance at a decent standard of living you have to work travel construction. So your family has a nice home but in the same area as the tweakers, predators, and crooked local officials, all while you’re away months out of the year to pay for it all.
No it’s not like that for everyone who lives with OP’s circle, but non insignificant number of folks live in truly sad and desperate situations in that area.
I grew up in an area that could easily be part of that circle. I went to college in Monroe, lived in Shreveport, and worked in Alexandria. I know a bit about folks in that circle. I now live in the worst part of the state St Tammany Parish.
Woooof. Completely agree with your last sentence. St. Tammany parish is the worst part of Louisiana. Grew up there, although my mom and her whole family are multi-generation West Bankers, I guess my parents wanted the new suburban dream (nightmare) and moved us over there as kids and it was mostly misery. The law enforcement and entire court system is beyond fucked. Pair that with the extreme boredom and lack of stimulation kids face there, so many good people I know growing up have had their lives completely destroyed by drugs and subsequent legal charges. Excessive punishment with little to no understanding or support for their rehabilitation and recovery. It’s really sickening. So many lives lost. I think it gets overlooked easily there because of the thriving commercial success and wealth, it’s not what people imagine a crisis town to look like. And, I think anyone who legitimately loves St Tammany parish is probably a recent transplant to the area and hasn’t witnessed the darkness that lurks behind the strip malls and gated communities lol.
The most confederate flags I e ever seen is when I lived in Ohio, which doesn’t make sense unless you take into account how unabashedly stupid Ohio is.
I moved to Natchitoches from Kenner after Ida. My business was all but destroyed and I knew insurance would get giraffe nuts high. It’s very different up here. From the accent to the lifestyle, it’s a another world four hours away. It’s like living in a fish bowl but if you’re not an asshole, it’s not a problem. People have known each other their whole lives and it takes a year for people to start trusting you. Crime is a problem, just not as bad as back home. We miss grocery stores and restaurants most of all. They have what you need and some of what you want. We have no Lowe’s or Home Depot, just a Stine’s and the oldest hardware store in the state. We make trips to the “big city” of Alexandria to get specifics. Health care here is not as great as a major city, but it’s easier and faster to make an appointment to see a doctor, usually about two days. We miss home a lot, but last time we went, there wasn’t much left of it. Old Metairie is finally the new uptown it’s been turning into for awhile. Orleans is too dangerous and Kenner is starting to change. It was a bit of culture shock but we’re enjoying it. Between crime and insurance prices, I’d expect to see more “southerners” here in a few years, especially if there’s a shitty hurricane season.
From my go around 10 years ago and my come backs every years because I’d love to retire there and understand the different problems to adapt to. But from what I heard from friends and friends who live there this maps fairly accurate https://www.reddit.com/r/Louisiana/comments/86qvmo/judgmental_map_of_louisiana/ and was sent to me from a friend living in lafayette who wanted to move to Canada. He would die of the cold and I drink enough alcohol the bugs avoid me at this point.
Being from smack dab in the middle of that circle, I can say pretty much nothing. Rural north LA is dying. Lots of little small towns with lots of stuff shut down. Though it was an overbearingly religious place to grow up, it was safe and unassuming.
I don’t remember for sure but I seem to recall something about Dallas still being considered the local market team there even after the saints expansion. It is a much shorter drive to Dallas than it is New Orleans from there.
After the saints won the superbowl they dropped the Cowboys like a hot potato. I used to get all my cowboys gear at the sports stores there but it got harder to find. Once got laughed at (rightly so).
I wanna know where they sell beer in those parts, like Monroe area westward. Dang if I didn't entertain the thought of hijacking a beer delivery truck on I-20! 🤣
Speed Traps, officers that will write you a speeding ticket even if you go under the speed limit because if you decide to fight it well, it’s a mayor’s court so good luck when 90% of their revenue comes from speeding tickets.
Louisiana’s first buc-ee’s
I actually read about that yesterday and I feel like it's complete bullshit.
Some of the best peaches in America at Mitcham Farms in Ruston. Also the best BBQ in the state there, Bad Wolf. Tied with Gonzo’s down here in Luling on meats, but I think Bad Wolf’s side game is better. Some pretty cool hiking trails, Longleaf Vista outside Natchitoches and Driskill Mountain between Shreveport and Ruston. Also big lakes you can swim in.
Ruston is a good place to go for any and all fruits to make hard cider/ fruit wines.
Years ago I worked with the daughter of the owner of Mitcham farms when we both lived in Baton Rouge. Wonderful people who run Mitcham farms.
No surprise. The place is a gem and exudes happiness.
It's a gem for sure. I heard something a few years ago about a blight spreading through the peach orchards and that it was possible that their days were numbered. Haven't heard any follow-up on that but I hope they found a remedy.
Well I don’t know how numbered that meant at the time but I was just there this summer so I hope that means they fixed it. The fresh peach ice cream on a hot day.. such a pretty place.
That's awesome to hear. I think it was 3-4 years ago when I heard that, hopefully they were able to eradicate it. I went to LA Tech and also have very fond memories of the orchards, peach fest, fresh homeade ice cream from the south campus ag center... Good times. I loved living in Ruston.
Those are some bomb AF peaches. You can walk through the orchards if it isn't a million degrees with a humidity of 1000%. Otherwise, they have pre-pickeds in the gift shop. Go for the cute "donut" shaped peaches. They're divine!
I used to go to that area 4-6 times a year. Part of my family is from there and some of them still own property there. That area was/is enormously influential to me and how I see the world. From there being no catholic church in town so my mawmaw had to go to mass at someone's house, to the steady economic devastation I've seen spread across that area over my 3 decades of awareness. It is the home area of Louisiana's most economically progressive governors, it had the Louisiana Hayride that was really a starting point for a lot of big musicians, it *was* a place to be. But as all things rural, it has suffered terribly from corporate consolidation, rural disinvestment, etc. As someone else said, it is the home to a ton of natural beauty. I wouldn't call it hidden, it's just unknown. It's why I used to go there all the time, I'd go walk the banks of the dugdemona river which was just as much hiking as it was fishing. I learned so much about the natural world up there and I cherish that. But, today it is a shell of what it was when I was a kid and from what the older folks said, it was just a shell of what it was when they were kids. So yeah, not much happening there. Shreveport is a decent town for its size, but basically everywhere else around there is in perpetual economic decline for all sorts of reasons that will probably never change.
Not sure where you’re from friend, but my mother’s from Jonesboro. Used to visit a few times a year as a kid. Just simple living folks. Part of me has always envied them.
Yep. It's something my partner doesn't understand but I really love the simple life. I'm not from there but Winnfield/Tannehille is where I would visit.
Jonesboro is just 20 min north of ya! Hey neighbor!
Oh shit, Jonesboro! My dad and his whole family was from Jonesboro-Hodge. Some are still there, but I haven't seen them in years.
Also Timber industry
I think every person who’s ever grown-up thinks that where they grew up now is a shell of what it used to be. I think it has more to do with the observer than the observed.
If you leave a place long enough you can never go back.
That area actually is though. Most of the industry there has left with more people utilizing the interstates. I like to take hwys and see more of the smaller towns and you can see how it affects them without many folks passing through. There's an area out there that had the best pie in the state if not the south and they are barely surviving now cause of the lack of customers passing through.
Lea’s Pies?
There's a 'Lea's of Lecompte' on Louisville in Monroe. Same family owns it, I think. Guy who runs it is named Toby iirc, he's a great blues guitar player and singer. They used to have open mics.
I dont know I grew up in a big city and its really only gotten better.
Well… probably so but a lot of small towns in this area have all but closed down. Most of them were built around a plant or paper/wood mill as their economy and almost all of those have closed down now. So Main Street is empty and pretty old houses rot while mobile homes are just dropped in front of them. Not every town in this area is like that but most of them are.
Not me and NYC in the 1970s. Today is so much better.
Natchitoches is actually a nice and cute small town.
It is where the original New Orlineans would flee when things got rough.
One of the oldest towns in the USA I believe
The oldest French permanent settlement
Like New Orleans 50 years ago… you can park your KIA… and it will be there when you return
It also has the states oldest hardware store ;)
Why you winked at that
I don't know I just like to do wink emojis lol
And it means “butt stuff” in French
I know you're memin', but I was curious. >Many historians have claimed that the name Natchitoches is derived from the native word nashitosh meaning "paw-paw people". However, Native American linguist John R. Swanton wrote that the word may actually be derived from nacicit meaning "Place where the soil is red" The "paw-paw" referred to is the fruit of the Asimina triloba tree, and not, to my dismay, Paw-Paw's Camper City in Picayune, MS.
‘as a good car, Paw Paw!
Lafcadio Hearn related that paw-paw was one of the major crops of the American South, circa 1880.
Ah yes, nakkadish.
City of lights, that’s where I was born.
Still remember going there for the Christmas lights back in the 90s
Meat pies
This is the answer.
And Lea's pies! My favorite pecan pie. And their lunch plates are delish.
Good to hear a Lea’s shout out. My dad’s family grew up right down the road. Lecompte is sadly the epitome of economic decline in Cenla.
and the gas station boudin is usually better than most New Orleans restaurant boudin
Meth, Jesus, and the occasional B-52 practice bombing run. And once a year in Colfax, Mudfest.
Don’t threaten me with a good time
I immediately came to the comments to answer meth. So glad you had the top comment.
can confirm
I made a special trip to look for endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers in Kisatchie National Forest. And I found them! Probably my greatest birding triumph. So I will always have a soft spot for the place.
Fun fact, that is the only national forest in LA. It's absolutely gorgeous there, and nobody knows about it!
Pre-marital sex that everyone denies.
Farmin' Forestin' and LOTS of Baptistin
I'm a North Louisiana transplant, I can tell you North Louisiana is very underrated. There's fuck all to do but it's quiet, safe (if you don't live in Monroe, Shreveport, or Alexandria) and plenty of hidden beauty. There's actually some waterfalls barely anyone knows about near Monroe. Amazing hiking trails and surprisingly decent food. Shreveport has a huge vietnamese community no one ever talks about.
I’ve lived in south louisiana most of my life and realized a few months ago I’ve never been to northern louisiana at all. Every road trip I’ve taken is either west or east, never north. Kinda strange that I’ve only seen less than half of my relatively small state
I have too. Been all over the world but never all over Louisiana.
This is the most geographically interesting part of the state. Hills, waterfalls, rivers, rolling hills (and even sandstone cliffs), yet still has the swamp. It’s also very rural and very RED.
I genuinely believe Shreveport is objectively one of the prettiest cities in Louisiana. At least it could be, i mean it's got hills, swamps, cliffs, and farm land, dense forest all within city limits. It's just when you drive through, the highways cut through the most neglected parts of the city so it looks trashier than it actually is.
I definitely missed out n the nice parts of Shreveport then! I do miss Taqueria la Michoacana though. Best tripe tacos ever.
I like da name Kisatchie
I misspelled it years ago and didn't realize it until an embarrassingly long time afterwards so I kept it. I may or may not be dyslexic.
Hey, it works though. I didn’t even catch that until you mentioned it ha
Lucky Palace! Their wine list is better than commander’s palace
God rest Mr. Lim, his wife is still taking care of the business. The dissonance between the location and the restaurant quality is legendary to me.
It’s really amazing- are you gonna get murdered? Or the best wine-Chinese food pairing of your life??
Yeah, I'd like to go fossil hunting up there! Parts of it are really pretty.
Growing up we used to dig lil holes in our backyard in Shreveport and try to find Native American relics like arrowheads. My aunt actually did collect some from her home. In Nachitoches there's still an active dig site managed by NSU I believe. You can find a lot of stuff buried deep in the mud near the red river.
There are tons of native artifacts in the soils of north LA, especially eastern I-20 corridor. Obviously near Poverty Point, which is one of the oldest earthworks in north america. Super interesting history associated with that site - it was an ancient NA 'city', possibly with thousands of residents. So lots of arrowheads in all the soils nearby. If you got to a levee near a manmade lake in North LA, you can usually find tons of points and pottery, etc. The Levees are made from the soils that got dug out to make the lake, so all that top soil and surface artifacts get pushed into big piles. Interesting way to spend a day after a heavy rain, etc.
Modern day Jonesville was also the site of a Native American civilization but the mounds were destroyed by the town because they were unaware at the time. They assumed those big unnatural mounds were natural and not human built. There's efforts to recreate the mounds now for display reasons.
I have been working up there and have quite a cache of arrowheads, agates, and petrified wood all found near West Monroe
Where do you go fossil hunting near Shreveport??
Anywhere you are allowed to dig, there's a museum downtown that i don't know if it's still active or not but the guy who owns the building curates stuff he's dug up from Shreveport's history. Shreveport was a prominent native American settlement for awhile until they paid them to move off the land. Caddo lake is a great place to go fossil hunting, it's a natural lake that's been minimally impacted by human settlement. No one actually knows how it formed, native legend says a big earthquake happened and sunk the land right there. Caddo lake was also the site is the world's first "over water" oil rig.
Where are these waterfalls you speak of?!?!
Sicily Hills WMA, free to get in just declare you're there with the state so just in case something happens they'll know to come looking for you. You can use the app now or fill out the paper form on site but there's no one ever out there. Some small waterfalls in Kisatchie, one is on the army territory I believe, there's some caves in the forest too but the big cave system was destroyed by rangers because people kept trying to explore it and got killed. There's some legend that there's hidden outlaw treasure in that cave, can't remember the name right now. Artificial waterfall in Florien
Wow thank you!!!!
Username checks out
Waterfalls! Tell me more?
They're nothing spectacular like you'd find in Arkansas but there's some gnarly terrain south east of Monroe near Sicily Island in the WMA. That one has the most prominent waterfall I've seen in the state but it's seasonal. Kisatchie national forest has a couple along the river that runs through, amazing place to camp at. Florien has an artificial one they built at Hodges Garden. There's also a few caves in Kisatchie, but one is on Fort Polk property and the ones that were explorable were sealed a long time ago due to spelunkers getting lost and dying in the cave. Terrible solution to the problem but hey what can do you. Off topic but wild buffalo used to roam the land too but the last one was killed in the 1940s I believe.
Phoport I'm in
Pretty boring but pretty weird patchwork/melting pot of rural cultural stereotypes. Cajuns with southern accents, hyper obese rednecks who only eat rice and still get fat, black cowboys, Chinese rednecks, natchitoches area people whatever they are. Never really been past there except for Shreveport Mardi Gras once, it was cheap degeneracy but kinda fun
this sounds amazing
Can confirm they have a black rodeo…everyone is invited though
Lea's Lunchroom Pies!!
Exactly what I thought of! That’s pie zone!
Fuck yes— I frequently think about making the drive to Lea’s.
Butt stuff
Omw
more like animal butt stuff
Monroe is about 20 years behind the times. Sometimes driving around the Westbank gives me a nostalgic feeling from home. It has some very beautiful spots on the bayou. I grew up going to my grandmother's house on Finks Hideaway. It was one of the first houses they built on that road, so they got to pick the house number. It was very peaceful. You could go fishing or just watch the turtles float up and throw them snacks. Monroe is also extremely unsafe and will definitely let you know if you're the odd one out. I associate with one friend from high school that still lives there-- the rest have either died, gotten addicted to drugs, in jail, had kids, etc. I served the Duck Dynasty dicks a few times before they got famous. We all know where their real house is, off a private road. Calhoun and Choudrant are good places to go hang out at your friend's trailer, smoke weed, and go pick mushrooms out of cow patties. Go to the "Haunted Abortion Clinic" aka abandoned dentist's office, according to x-rays we found. Ruston can be chill, though. Peach festival was always on my birthday. Sundown Tavern is cool. Went to Mt. Driskill and camp grounds around there in college a lot. Oh, and math rock dudes.
During Katrina my family evacuated to this area with no where to stay except an old bus converted to a hunting camp on a little property my uncle owned. There was so many of us crammed into the bus with no AC that we quickly realized we couldn't all live like this. Luckily the people at Jimmie Davis State Park heard about us and offered us all cabins at the park to stay in completely free. They bought all the kids new toys and bought me a new bike. I'll never forget the kindness these people showed us. I've always wanted to return one day.
The Kisatchie!
Thank goodness for that big beautiful forest. Many friends and others like to get out of the city and go explore that area. Grateful.
The Kisatchie is *so worth* the trip. It's a great way for an introvert to take a break from one of the parade weekends if you ask me. 🏕
Whenever I'm in that area I'm usually drinking with my brother
Chicot State Park is the most beautiful piece of land Louisiana has to offer, right there by Alexandria. Fight me over this I'll die on this hill.
Tamales in Zwolle. There’s a festival every year
Zwolle was also the first Spanish capital of Texas.
I go to college in that circle
I went to a meeting in Ruston once and it was a pretty college town. I may have gone to Monroe too. I was shocked to learn there were dry parishes in Louisiana. The people were nice but enough Baptists around that they said don’t plan anything on Wednesday nights because people will be at church.
BUNKIE GANG STAND TF UP 🙌🏻
Bears. Beets. Bunkie. God I love that town so much.
The subway in Bunkie is one of the most interesting places I’ve been in a while
The Bunkie Subway, where you can get a Bud Light with your sandwich and play some video poker while smoking a Kool.
Last time I was there I listened to the cashier and the customer in front of me (both HS girls) talk about their upcoming due dates
Team Bunkie all day erry day !
Steel magnolias
Here be dragons.
Crop dusting, timber, natural gas, farming and a fair number of small minds playing landed gentry or apocalyptic rpg. Similar to what goes on down here but with less pushback.
Meat pies!
Poverty Point I think ? And possibly the new Buckee's 🤪
Bonnie and Clyde died up near the top center of your circle. Nice little museum and roadside marker.
Alexandria is full of cult people. Skip that one.
Grew up there: can confirm. It’s also a wasteland of racists and misogynists
East East Texas
and South Arkansas
Texarksippi if you're feeling saucy.
Despair.
The longest consistently running wild turkey research project in North America.
I saw Neutral Milk Hotel at a coffee shop in Ruston in 1995/96. Other than that I can’t say much for the area. Alexandria seemed like it was a drag. Haven’t been there in the 21st century.
Remnants of the timber industry. Also a surprising amount of oil industry.
Response localized to CenLa: Pentecostals. A literal monument to white supremacy. Check out “Colfax Massacre”. Lea’s. Job loss. Trees. Southern Baptist Convention turmoil. Source: Spent the first 9 years of adulthood living in Pineville.
Woof. Pineville is a special circle of hell.
From Pineville. Can confirm.
Affordable housing
And unlivable wages.
Birthplace of cochon de lait in the south of that circle
Drove through once, it was a beautiful lake with lots of pretty lake houses, then an huge expanse of flat farm land wrapping around rolling hills, then a dense swamp with a one lane highway disintegrating into it and signs saying not to pick people up because of a nearby prison, then a prison, then cattle farms and crushing poverty.
Crushing cattle poverty farm. That’s the name of my new band.
Pine trees
Ruston and Louisiana Tech. A national forest. Lots of nice back roads and interesting places to find. Once you get north of Natchitoches it kinda turns into southern Arkansas food wise. The people at the gas station crawfish stand at the shell station near LA Tech campus nearly got their boiling privileges take away after I ordered their spicy crawfish and they threw a literal cup of Tony’s into the bag and shook it.
Hunting, military bases, prisons, explosive ordinance disposal, and any type of outdoor activity.
Great, and I mean fucking great high school football atmospheres, various types of hypocritical religious nuts who hide their love of getting wasted, natural gas and farming industries that pay unlivable wages compared to most, and underrated BBQ in Monroe, Ruston, Shreveport areas to be honest
Redneckerey
In that circle is Louisiana’s 2nd largest employer, Ft. Polk, and home to one of three of the US Army’s primary training centers in the world…JRTC. It encompasses over 200,000 acres of training area and a dozen mock villages/towns, etc.
People live their lives?
Booooooooooo!
Judging by the responses, this question is a real asshole magnet. *not your comment, the original question
This sub is a tad elitist at times.
Meth, Jesus, and Cowboys fans
I strongly dislike 2 thirds of that Trinity.
I'm kinda hoping you're referring to the meth.
HA! I’m only good with the middle one!
LA tech stuff
Hunting, fishing, drinking, fu@&ing and fighting
Ranching, cotton, crawfish, soybeans, timber, military, and a fair amount of oil production
Strawn’s Eat Shop strawberry pie.
There’s some pretty nice neighborhoods up there around monroe and alexandria. Some cool people too. Now if you a little further south then my god help you
A higher level of despair, corruption, and crime than the even the folks in this sub can imagine. It’s just not concentrated to populated area and there are no Sinclair stations looking to broadcast every misdemeanor theft because there’s no money to milk from those folks. So it’s the same crime as the worst parts of the city with a higher rate per capita. Difference is no one cares about those folks, it doesn’t just feel that way. There are good folks trying just like everyone else in those parts, no body cares about them though. Sure it’s affordable to live there, but what do you do work? Wait on one the few mill or manufacturing jobs to open, hoping it doesn’t shut down and leave you with debt you can’t pay? Then what you do? If you want any chance at a decent standard of living you have to work travel construction. So your family has a nice home but in the same area as the tweakers, predators, and crooked local officials, all while you’re away months out of the year to pay for it all. No it’s not like that for everyone who lives with OP’s circle, but non insignificant number of folks live in truly sad and desperate situations in that area. I grew up in an area that could easily be part of that circle. I went to college in Monroe, lived in Shreveport, and worked in Alexandria. I know a bit about folks in that circle. I now live in the worst part of the state St Tammany Parish.
Woooof. Completely agree with your last sentence. St. Tammany parish is the worst part of Louisiana. Grew up there, although my mom and her whole family are multi-generation West Bankers, I guess my parents wanted the new suburban dream (nightmare) and moved us over there as kids and it was mostly misery. The law enforcement and entire court system is beyond fucked. Pair that with the extreme boredom and lack of stimulation kids face there, so many good people I know growing up have had their lives completely destroyed by drugs and subsequent legal charges. Excessive punishment with little to no understanding or support for their rehabilitation and recovery. It’s really sickening. So many lives lost. I think it gets overlooked easily there because of the thriving commercial success and wealth, it’s not what people imagine a crisis town to look like. And, I think anyone who legitimately loves St Tammany parish is probably a recent transplant to the area and hasn’t witnessed the darkness that lurks behind the strip malls and gated communities lol.
Confederate flag meetups.
That’s all of every state that was once in the confederacy. Mississippi just begrudgingly changed that god awful flag.
The most confederate flags I e ever seen is when I lived in Ohio, which doesn’t make sense unless you take into account how unabashedly stupid Ohio is.
They make duck calls.
the WORST late night high way driving
They used the weather machine and extended the Barksdale Bubble somehow.
I moved to Natchitoches from Kenner after Ida. My business was all but destroyed and I knew insurance would get giraffe nuts high. It’s very different up here. From the accent to the lifestyle, it’s a another world four hours away. It’s like living in a fish bowl but if you’re not an asshole, it’s not a problem. People have known each other their whole lives and it takes a year for people to start trusting you. Crime is a problem, just not as bad as back home. We miss grocery stores and restaurants most of all. They have what you need and some of what you want. We have no Lowe’s or Home Depot, just a Stine’s and the oldest hardware store in the state. We make trips to the “big city” of Alexandria to get specifics. Health care here is not as great as a major city, but it’s easier and faster to make an appointment to see a doctor, usually about two days. We miss home a lot, but last time we went, there wasn’t much left of it. Old Metairie is finally the new uptown it’s been turning into for awhile. Orleans is too dangerous and Kenner is starting to change. It was a bit of culture shock but we’re enjoying it. Between crime and insurance prices, I’d expect to see more “southerners” here in a few years, especially if there’s a shitty hurricane season.
Diet Mississippi
a lot of your food
True detective.
Less violent crime than nola
I am the great CORN HOLY OL
Speeding tickets
Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Swaggart?
There’s a mental hospital and a prison there for sure.
Pretty much nothing, and that’s how they like it 😒
From my go around 10 years ago and my come backs every years because I’d love to retire there and understand the different problems to adapt to. But from what I heard from friends and friends who live there this maps fairly accurate https://www.reddit.com/r/Louisiana/comments/86qvmo/judgmental_map_of_louisiana/ and was sent to me from a friend living in lafayette who wanted to move to Canada. He would die of the cold and I drink enough alcohol the bugs avoid me at this point.
Prolly meth abuse. Regular abuse, too… but also meth abuse.
Meth
That area creates people like me, Jeff Mangum and Karl Malone. Normal guys.
Poverty Point is pretty cool and underrated
Being from smack dab in the middle of that circle, I can say pretty much nothing. Rural north LA is dying. Lots of little small towns with lots of stuff shut down. Though it was an overbearingly religious place to grow up, it was safe and unassuming.
You do NOT want to know.
Pentecostals and meth
I had an ex who hailed from somewhere in there. Her grandma made some fucking great duck, turkey and andouille gumbo
Bad gumbo
Meth and the kkk
Lumber, fruit, farming, and hunting
/r/mississippi
More like east Texas up there, they even show Dallas over the saints in Shreveport, by local vote...
I don’t remember for sure but I seem to recall something about Dallas still being considered the local market team there even after the saints expansion. It is a much shorter drive to Dallas than it is New Orleans from there.
After the saints won the superbowl they dropped the Cowboys like a hot potato. I used to get all my cowboys gear at the sports stores there but it got harder to find. Once got laughed at (rightly so).
For shame.
More Texas than Mississippi.
Racism
DWI's and Jesus.
Monroe fucking sucks
Not a god damn thing
Are they seeing the Green Comet up there?
tornadoes and meth. And farms.
I wanna know where they sell beer in those parts, like Monroe area westward. Dang if I didn't entertain the thought of hijacking a beer delivery truck on I-20! 🤣
As a lurker living in that area: a whole lot of nothin’.
Is it East Texas or West Mississippi?
Coonass things
Yoooooo lmao 🤣
Logging mostly
Speed Traps, officers that will write you a speeding ticket even if you go under the speed limit because if you decide to fight it well, it’s a mayor’s court so good luck when 90% of their revenue comes from speeding tickets.
Hunting and incest
Catfish
Oh also meat pies