Lake Bruin State Park
Lake Bruin State Park, one of twenty-two Louisiana state parks, is located on Lake Bruin, a relatively clear ox-bow lake of the Mississippi River near St. Joseph in Tensas Parish, Louisiana.
The lake consists of more than three thousand acres 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.[1] The 53-acre park was established in 1928 as a fish hatchery.[2]
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 in southern Tensas Parish.[3]
The park has twenty-five improved campsites, all with water, electrical outlets, 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. White perch are taken in the early spring. Bluegill fishing is best in shallow waters at each end of the lake.[1]
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.[4]
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 in 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. Camping and boating fees are extra. Patrons may telephone 318-766-3530 or 888-677-2784 toll-free.[5]
Fourteen miles northwest of St. Joseph is Buckhorn Wildlife Management Area, nearly nine thousand acres of bottomland hardwood forest and opportunities for hunting, fishing, and wildlife-viewing.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lake Bruin State Park. stateparks.com. Retrieved on April 29, 2021.
- ↑ The Camping Club; no longer on-line.
- ↑ Statement of park ranger, Lake Bruin State Park, December 28, 2009.
- ↑ Lake Bruin State Park. goingoutside.com. Retrieved on April 29, 2021.
- ↑ Louisiana Department of Culture Recreation and Tourism, no longer on-line.