View from the Hills

New hiking trails and vistas for the Tunica Hills, thanks to a $2.6 million federal grant

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Louisiana may be lacking in mountains, but those familiar with West Feliciana Parish are quick and enthusiastic to champion the unexpected natural beauty of the Tunica Hills—whose rugged bluffs and ravines and hardwood forests seem more akin to the geography of the Appalachian states than Louisiana’s swamps and prairies. “Where else in Louisiana can you go from swampland in Cat Island to almost 400 feet in elevation?” asked West Feliciana Parish President Kenny Havard. “If you were blindfolded and dropped off there, you would think that you were in North Carolina someplace.”

Scenic as it is, the Tunica Hills Wildlife Management Area’s over six thousand acres have remained largely undeveloped. But at the end of November, Governor John Bel Edwards, Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser, Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne, and Havard announced the approval of a $2.6 million federal Economic Development Authority Grant to fund the development of the area, including the creation of extensive new recreational hiking trails that will showcase a stunning overlook of the Mississippi River. 

“If you were blindfolded and dropped off there, you would think that you were in North Carolina someplace.” —Kenny Havard

“Tunica Hills has and always will be a special place, just like West Feliciana and St. Francisville,” Havard said. “It just helps make West Feliciana even more special, and gives us the opportunity to share this spectacular place with others.” 

Read more about the development at visitstfrancisvillela.com.