Lake Bruin State Park

Lake Bruin State Park
Entrance sign at Lake Bruin State Park
Map of Louisiana, United States of America
Location	Tensas Parish, Louisiana, United States of America
Coordinates	31°57′38″N 91°12′04″W / 31.96056°N 91.20111°W / 31.96056; -91.20111Coordinates: 31°57′38″N 91°12′04″W / 31.96056°N 91.20111°W / 31.96056; -91.20111^[1]
Area	53 acres (0.21 km²; 0.083 sq mi)^[2]
Established	July 10, 1956 (1956-07-10)^[3]
Governing body	Louisiana Office of State Parks
http://www.crt.state.la.us/parks/iLkbruin.aspx

Lake Bruin State Park, one of twenty-two Louisiana state parks, is located on Lake Bruin, a clear ox-bow lake of the Mississippi River near St. Joseph, the seat of Tensas Parish in the northeastern portion of the state. The lake consists of more than 3,000 acres (12 km²) of water surface. Park visitors enjoy fishing, water sports, and camping. There are cypress trees in the lake which have stood since before the Spaniard Hernando de Soto traveled through the region in the 1540s.^[4] The 53-acre (210,000 m²) park was established in 1928 as a fish hatchery.^[5] On July 10, 1956, Governor Earl Kemp Long signed legislation authorizing the development of the park. Initially called Lake Bruin Wayside Park, the name was later changed to Lake Bruin State Park. Two weeks later, legislation was signed to acquire the land for the park, long promoted by the then State Representative J.C. Seaman of Waterproof.^[3]^[6]

The park has twenty-five improved campsites, all with water, electricity, picnic tables, and wheelchair-accessible bathhouses. There is also a primitive camping area for tents. The park has three fishing piers, year-round boat launching, and a shed for docking boats. Rental boats are also available. Large mouth bass are caught year round, with the prime months being April–June and September and October. Crappie or white perch are taken in the early spring. Bluegill fishing is best in shallow waters at each end of the lake.^[4]

Summer afternoon temperatures reach well into the nineties at Lake Bruin. Night temperatures in the summer drop into the seventies. During winter, high temperatures are in the fifties. On winter nights, the mercury may dip into the thirties.^[7]

The park address is 202 State Park Road in St. Joseph 71366. It is reached from the St. Joseph exit on U.S. Highway 65 via Highway 128 east and Louisiana Highway 606 north. It is accessible from Natchez and Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Ferriday in Concordia Parish and Tallulah, the seat of Madison Parish. Lake Bruin is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. The park remains open until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and on days preceding legal holidays. The entrance fee is $1 per person. Those sixty-two and above and children under three are not charged. Camping and boating fees are extra. Patrons may telephone 318-766-3530 or 888-677-2784 toll-free.^[8]

Many fashionable homes have been built in recent years outside the park on Lake Bruin. Some are vacation homes, but most are permanent residences.

Nearby attractions

Close to Lake Bruin is Winter Quarters State Historic Site, located on Lake St. Joseph, another ox-bow lake of the Mississippi River some six miles (10 km) southeast of Newellton on Louisiana Highway 608. This former plantation survived the American Civil War. It was the home of physician Haller Nutt and was spared the torch by his wife, Julia Nutt, who fed and housed Union Army soldiers under General U.S. Grant so that the structure would not be destroyed. Winter Quarters features a museum, guided tours, and special events.^[4]

Tensas National Wildlife Refuge, located off Interstate 20 via U.S. Highway 65, is a 57,000-acre (230 km²) refuge of bottomland forest with hunting, fishing, hiking, wildlife-viewing, canoeing, interpreted trails, a boardwalk and educational programs. A visitor center contains brochures, exhibits, species lists, and regulations.^[4]

Fourteen miles northwest of St. Joseph is Buckhorn Wildlife Management Area, which may be reached through Louisiana Highways 4 and 128 in Tensas Parish. Buckhorn has 8,955 acres (36.24 km²) of bottomland hardwood forest and opportunities for hunting, fishing, and wildlife-viewing.^[4]

Gallery

Lake Bruin State Park

Picnic tables at Lake Bruin State Park.

Swimming in Lake Bruin.

Trees shade much of Lake Bruin State Park.

Winter Quarters State Historic Site near Lake Bruin.

References

↑ "Lake Bruin State Park - Louisiana Office of State Parks". Retrieved 17 January 2011.
↑ Fonseca, Mary (1996-08-08). Weekend Getaways in Louisiana. Pelican Publishing. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-56554-096-5.
1 2 Wilson, Amanda (2008-12-03). "Louisiana, USA, That Is The Place For Me". Retrieved 2011-06-20.
1 2 3 4 5 StateParks.com
↑ The Camping Club
↑ Statement of park ranger, Lake Bruin State Park, December 28, 2009
↑ GoingOutside.com
↑ Louisiana Department of Culture Recreation and Tourism

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Bruin State Park.

Lake Bruin State Park - Louisiana Office of State Parks

Protected areas of Louisiana

Federal

National Historical Parks	Cane River Creole Jean Lafitte NHP and Preserve New Orleans Jazz

National Monuments	Poverty Point

National Marine Sanctuary	Flower Garden Banks

National Forests	Kisatchie

National Wildlife Refuge System	Atchafalaya Bayou Cocodrie Bayou Sauvage Bayou Teche Big Branch Marsh Black Bayou Lake Bogue Chitto Breton Cameron Prairie Cat Island Catahoula D'Arbonne Delta East Cove Grand Cote Handy Brake Lacassine Lake Ophelia Mandalay Red River Shell Keys Sabine Tensas River Upper Ouachita

State

State Parks	Bayou Segnette Bogue Chitto Chemin-A-Haut Chicot Cypremort Point Fairview-Riverside Fontainebleau Grand Isle Hodges Gardens Jimmie Davis Lake Bistineau Lake Bruin Lake Claiborne Lake D-Arbonne Lake Fausse Pointe North Toledo Bend Palmetto Island Poverty Point Reservoir St. Bernard Sam Houston Jones South Toledo Bend Tickfaw

State Historic Sites	Audubon Centenary Fort Jesup Fort Pike Fort St. Jean Baptiste Forts Randolph & Buhlow Locust Grove Longfellow-Evangeline Los Adaes Mansfield Marksville Plaquemine Lock Port Hudson Poverty Point Rebel State Rosedown Plantation Winter Quarters

State Preservation Area	Louisiana State Arboretum

State Forests	Alexander Indian Creek

State Wildlife Refuges	Elmer's Island Marsh Island Rockefeller St. Tammany State Terrebonne Barrier Islands White Lake Wetlands

Wildlife management areas	Acadiana Conservation Corridor Atchafalaya Delta Attakapas Barataria Preserve Bayou Macon Bayou Pierre Ben's Creek Big Colewa Bayou Big Lake Biloxi Bodcau Boeuf Bonnet Carré Spillway Buckhorn Camp Beauregard Catahoula Lake Clear Creek Dewey Wills Elbow Slough Elm Hall Floy Ward McElroy Fort Polk Grassy Lake Hutchinson Creek Indian Bayou Jackson Bienville Joyce Lake Boeuf Lake Ramsey Savannah Little River Loggy Bayou Manchac Marsh Bayou Maurepas Swamp Old River Control Ouachita Pass A Loutre Pearl River Peason Ridge Pointe-aux-Chenes Pomme de Terre Red River Russell Sage Sabine Island Sabine Salvador/Timken Sandy Hollow Sherburne Sicily Island Hills Soda Lake Spring Bayou Tangipahoa Parish School Board Thistlethwaite Three Rivers Tunica Hills Union Walnut Hill West Bay

Other

Private	Bird City Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary

City	Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center

Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism (web)
Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry (web)
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (web)

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