Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge: Route 15 Trail (Blog Hike #889)

Trail: Route 15 Trail
Hike Location: Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge
Geographic Location: south of Vidalia, LA (31.56459, -91.55725)
Length: 2.6 miles
Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: March 2022
Overview: An out-and-back on an old logging road through periodically inundated land.
Refuge Information: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/bayou-cocodrie
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=903208
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: From Vidalia, LA, take SR 131 south 6.6 miles to SR 15 and turn right on SR 15.  Drive SR 15 north 3.4 miles to the unmarked gravel road on the left that leads to the Route 15 Trail parking area.  Park in the large gravel cul de sac at the end of this short road.

The hike: Located across the Mississippi River from the historic town of Natchez, Mississippi, Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge protects 14,668 acres of bottomland hardwood forest along its namesake bayou.  The refuge came to be in 1988 when The Nature Conservancy purchased land from the Fisher Lumber Company and resold it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  The central tract of land offers one of the largest and least disturbed groves of bottomland hardwood forest in the Lower Mississippi River Valley, and the refuge is one of a complex of nine national wildlife refuges in the region.

            Most experts believe the refuge's best trail to be the Old Growth Trail, which as its name suggests leads through the least disturbed part of the forest.  Unfortunately, the Old Growth Trail requires a 3 mile hike just to reach its trailhead, and when I came here a large rainstorm lurked to the west.  Thus, I had to forego the Old Growth Trail and hike the refuge's most convenient trail: the Route 15 Trail.  As indicated by this trail's rather unappealing name, this hike is not the most appealing hike, but its ease of access allowed me to salvage what would otherwise have been a complete washout of a day.

Trailhead for Route 15 Trail

            From the rear of the gravel cul de sac, the unmarked trail heads west into the woods on the bed of an old logging road, which the trail follows for its entire distance.  The surrounding scenery varies from inundated to somewhat drier with small changes in elevation.  While some wet spots will need to be negotiated, in general the old logging road keeps the trail drier than its surrounding area.

Palmettos along the trail

            The forest along the Route 15 Trail exhibits more diversity than you might expect.  Tupelo trees dominate the wetter areas, while sweetgum trees prevail in the drier areas.  Dwarf palmetto is the dominant shrub in the understory, and some yellow asters brightened my path when I came here in early March.  I heard some woodpeckers and other birds, but the greenery is too think to allow me to see many.

Wet area on the trail

            After passing through a particularly wet area, the trail curves left to begin heading more south than west.  Some small stems were growing in the trail on my visit, and this trail will need to be re-cleared in a few years if the refuge wants to keep it passable.  At 1.3 miles, the trail ends at an old logging landing.  The Route 15 Trail connects with no other trails, so your only option is to turn around and retrace your steps to the parking area to complete the hike.  The rain I had been racing started falling about 15 minutes after I made it back to my car, and it continued for the rest of the day.