In the last few years, East Bank parks have been renovated and polished to provide a multitude of recreational possibilities for parishioners.
Whether you like to fish, run, bike, camp or just lay in the sun, a park on the East Bank has the perfect place for you.
Duane Foret, director of Parks and Recreation for the parish, said that there have been many improvements made to parish parks in the past few years that have expanded the opportunities for residents.
The gem of St. Charles parks is the newly-built Wetland Watchers Park in Norco. The state-of-the-art grounds were built on land that was reclaimed from erosion that had occurred over the years. The park was the vision of local Milton Cambre and Harry Hurst teacher Barry Guillot, who brought the park to life by bringing the parish’s youth together there to learn about the environment in south Louisiana.
The park consists of two fishing jetties, a large pavilion, seven small pavilions with picnic tables, playground equipment and a boardwalk through the LaBranche Wetlands to the DOW-sponsored outdoor classroom. And the parish isn’t done perfecting this modern park.
Additional parking, new pavilions and a canoe and kayak launch will be added to the park thanks to a recent $25,000 donation from Entergy along with funds from the parish and Coastal Zone Management.
Montz Park has also undergone some recent improvements by the parish, such as the addition of playground equipment and the removal of trees that were not in good condition. And Foret said that parish residents should stay on the look-out for coming renovations at Montz Park, including additional ball fields, a multi-purpose field, a walking path and refurbished basketball courts.
The largest recreational area in the parish by far is the Bonnet Carre Spillway.
“The Spillway is one of St. Charles Parish’s greatest recreational assets,” Foret said.
Visitors to the Spillway can take advantage of three boat launches, stocked fishing ponds, ATV riding areas, bike routes through the swamp, bank fishing, crabbing, horseback riding, hiking and wildlife watching. Foret said hunting is even allowed at the spillway in permitted areas as well as overnight camping with a parish permit.
“An average of over 20,000 visitors a month visit the Bonnet Carre Spillway to enjoy the recreational offerings it provides,” he said.
Because of the numerous new recreational activities in the parish, Foret thinks that a recent study showing that parish residents are inactive for over 25 percent of their free time may no longer be accurate.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a study that said adults in St. Charles Parish are inactive for 27.9 percent of their free time. The information was based on census and telephone survey information from 2007 and 2008. Nationally, adults are inactive for anywhere between 10.1 percent and 43 percent of their free time.
Foret said that so many more opportunities for leisure activities have been added to the parish since 2008 that he believes parish inactivity rates have probably gone down.
Levee paths, Wetland Watchers Park and Rathborne Park have all been added to the parish since the survey information was collected and Foret said he has seen many parish families take part in the new outdoor recreation opportunities.
“There are a lot of people using parish recreation,” Foret said.
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