cane river creole national historical park

I've been wanting to visit Magnolia Plantation for years, but my husband never would make the drive from NOLA. A friend & I visited Shreveport and I wanted to show her a plantation since she'd never been to Louisiana and I figured this was my chance. I'm in a wheelchair and found the paths relatively easy to navigate. I appreciate the park putting the mats down on the grass to make traversing them as easy as possible. The buildings we visited (slave hospital, slave quarters, general store, & blacksmith shop) were all very interesting. If you're looking to just visit Magnolia, exit Derry. It's right off that exit.

Great tour of the house by a very knowledgeable ranger. Very enjoyable and interesting. Good map and information and lots of authentic items from the last 200 years.the ranger made it great. Don't miss this one!

We just happened upon this wonderful national park and decided to stop to look around and are so glad that we did! After looking around at all of the buildings, we were just in time for a tour of the plantation home which is normally given by a park ranger. Just as we were leaving the store for the tour, a descendant of the Prud'hommes, (if I remember correctly, she is a great, great, great, great, great grand-daughter) came in and offered to give the tour for the ranger. She did an exceptional job and had many extra details to tell about the home, as she had visited her grandparents in the home when she was a child. I would definitely recommend that you take the time to visit this great piece of history!

We had a wonderful tour of the recreated fort and surrounding area by Tommy, who was in full period costume - everything seemed perfectly authentic down to his glasses. You could tell that he lives and breaths the abundant history. We had a very leisurely stroll and learned a lot about the way people lived back when the fort was in its heyday. We just wish we'd have remembered to watch the film as we were leaving. The tour is absolutely worth your time.

Spent the day in Natchitoches and decided to finish it up on the Cane River Creole Historical Driving Trail and I was not disappointed.Our first stop was at the Oakland Plantation. It is a great rest stop, with bathrooms. We took the 1:00 tour of the grounds and really enjoyed it. The history of Oakland is very interesting. The same family had owned the house for 200 years and had been living in it until selling the house and grounds in 1994.The have a old general store where the tours start and even better, the tour was free.Next we headed to the Melrose Plantation. The grounds were incredible, but the tour price was $10.00, so after being spoiled by a free tour at Oakland, we said forget it. I bought a great Christmas ornament instead that had the plantation on it. Because they charge a fee, they will not let you walk around much of the grounds. I thought this was a bit odd. I can understand not seeing the house without a fee, but the grounds. I believe in giving money to preserve history, but the grounds. My ornament cost about the same as the tour, so I did my part.But please visit the Melrose, you won't be disappointed and I didn't even take the tour.After that, we had a long drive back to Shreveport, so we headed out. Hate I didn't get to see the rest of the historical spots, but save it for next time.Visit Natchitoches on the weekend during the farmers market on the river. We bought tons of stuff.Also saw an old church that the Oakland tour guide told us to visit. There was a wedding in progress so we couldn't stop, but the graveyard in the back looked like a fun place to walk around. Kinda a New Orleans cemetery feel about it.A lot of farm land to look at, but the historical spots are worth the drive.

Beautiful grounds, serene and very picturesque. It's about five minutes from Melrose Plantation and I enjoyed wandering these grounds tremendously.

If you are interested in visiting the Cane River Creole National Historical Park in Natchitoches be warned there this park is not contained in one location. The two main locations are the Magnolia Plantation and the Melrose plantation which are about 12 to 14 miles distances from Natchitoches. The Natchitoches Visitors Bureau at 781 Front Street in Natchitoches is not part of the National Park Service. The Visitors Bureau is closed on Sunday and that was the day we came to Natchitoches. It would have helped immensely if they had been there and had given us directions to the other park sites and advised as to the time and distance of each. Unfortunately we had to figure it all out our selves.If you like history both plantations are well worth the effort to find and visit. The historical town of Natchitoches is a treat all by itself. Lots of history in town as well as many interesting shops and restaurants.

We really enjoyed our visit to the whole area. Form the town of Natchiotches to the plantation homes we visited. The area as a whole is worth seeing.

Oakland is probably the most complete example of an old working plantation in the south. This is the reason the Park Service bought and preserved it. All the outbuildings and support structures are well preserved. It's a little hard to find but we take that route anyway because it's along the Cane River Lake and very scenic. The best part, however, is speaking with Mr. Ken Prudhomme, one of the last family members to have actually lived in the original plantation house. He is a delightful gentleman to speak with and his recalling of the plantation's history is just captivating. You could listen for hours. He tells us a new story every time we visit. He is there along with the Park Service guides almost every day. Last tour is 3 pm.

This national park is well worth your visit to see, and better understand, an important piece of Creole, Louisiana, and US history. From Natchitoches, the signs are easy to follow. Take the rural road along the Cane River and soak up the history, buildings, and landscape as you go. The Oakland plantation is well preserved. Go during a tour time, so you can see inside the main house. The outbuildings include two remaining slave/tenant quarters, the overseer house, the plantation store, which remained open into the 1980's, and a number of other outbuildings including the pigeonnier. This is an important piece of French culture brought over to Louisiana. After leaving Oakland, you'll continue down the river, through Melrose, before coming to the Magnolia plantation. The main house is not open, because a member of the original family that began the plantation still lives there. However, much of the other buildings are preserved and open. They include the plantation store, the slave hospital that later became the overseer home, a pigeonnier, 8 slave cabins, and the gin building. I found it very interesting how drastically different the architecture is between each plantation. From the main house, to the overseer house, to the slave cabins, they are all very different. The park is great for families, too, because everything is free, and you can have so many great conversations with your children about our history, and how our history is still impacting our present.

This national park is well worth your visit to see, and better understand, an important piece of Creole, Louisiana, and US history. From Natchitoches, the signs are easy to follow. Take the rural road along the Cane River and soak up the history, buildings, and landscape as you go. The Oakland plantation is well preserved. Go during a tour time, so you can see inside the main house. The outbuildings include two remaining slave/tenant quarters, the overseer house, the plantation store, which remained open into the 1980's, and a number of other outbuildings including the pigeonnier. This is an important piece of French culture brought over to Louisiana. After leaving Oakland, you'll continue down the river, through Melrose, before coming to the Magnolia plantation. The main house is not open, because a member of the original family that began the plantation still lives there. However, much of the other buildings are preserved and open. They include the plantation store, the slave hospital that later became the overseer home, a pigeonnier, 8 slave cabins, and the gin building. I found it very interesting how drastically different the architecture is between each plantation. From the main house, to the overseer house, to the slave cabins, they are all very different. The park is great for families, too, because everything is free, and you can have so many great conversations with your children about our history, and how our history is still impacting our present.

This driving tour takes in several sites, the chief of which are two plantations Oakland and the grounds of Magnolia. Don't let the fact that the Magnolia home itself isn't open to the public. The grounds have several interesting outbuildings; try to go when a tour is being offered--the guide we had was excellent--interesting, knowledgeble, and willing to take time to answer questions. There is a self-guided tour available, but it's worth the trouble to schedule for a time when there is a guide available. Oakland was also interesting. There the main focus is the house. Again self guided tours are available but the guide was very good and worth waiting for. There was also a brochure here for a cell phone tour, but when we tried it for an outbuilding, it did not work. The problem with both sites is that it is very difficult to discover the times of the tours. Several websites & brochures had conflicting info. The best day seems to be a Sunday. Call before you go (but phone isn't answered on Sunday). A bonus--everything is free!

Beautiful. Knowledgeable staff. The grounds and buildings are a great way to take a stroll back through time.

This is also called Oakland Plantation. We spent approx 2 hours at this great place. There was one volunteer and one park Ranger at this place available to hand out maps, answer questions and give tours of the main house. Everything, including the house tour is free. The tours only happen at certain times of the day so be sure to know before you go. We went to a 1:00 tour on a Tuesday. It is said this is one of the most intacts plantations in the country. Many "before and after" pictures of the building restorations. The main house is great, it is a bicentinnial home, meaning it has been in the same family for over 200 years. Members of the family continued to live in the home until early 1990's. Its crazy that the house has items dating back 200 years, and items dating back to the 1990's. There is even a 1950's kitchen in the house! The tour guide was very friendly and informative. This is a MUST see!

Really enjoyed walking around the Natchitoches Historic District and around the Cane River Creole National Park. Wish I would have known how quaint this little area is,,,,would have stayed here overnight instead of heading to Alexandria...where there's nothing. If you are in the area, go to this place and visit the various neat little stores and eat at the Landing or Mama's or Papa's.