Elevate your road trip, and take advantage of Boom or Bust Byway outdoor adventures
Outdoor discoveries along the backroads of the Boom or Bust Byway are endless. On this journey, road trippers are bound to disconnect from fast-paced, modern lifestyles and reconnect their adventurous spirit throughout the countryside. Travelers can partake in everything from outdoor events and skydiving over fertile farmland to bass fishing in lakes and camping in parks.
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Parks and Lakes
Enjoy nature at your leisure
The Boom or Bust Byway is the ultimate road trip experience for the food guru, historian, festivalgoer, thrill-seeker, penny-pincher, and antique collector, but the parks and lakes cater to the outdoorsman. Travelers can stay a night under the stars at Earl G. Williamson Park or plan a relaxing picnic overlooking Caddo Lake. The lakes are great for swimming, boating activities, fishing, and more. Quiet, cozy areas are available at local parks and campgrounds for recreational vehicle parking and setting up campsites. Nature has a special way of calming the campgrounds with the sound of soft ripples from the lake’s waves or the charming chirps of birds nestled in the lush forestry.
What to See
By the Lake Park
By the Lake Park is a small park sitting on a bluff that overlooks Caddo Lake, provides picnic tables, portable toilet, pier and boat launching facilities. It is used primarily by fishermen and for family picnics. Located near the Historic Caddo Lake Drawbridge.
100 N Croom St., Mooringsport, LA 71060
Bayou Dorcheat
If calm-water canoeing interests you, beautiful Bayou Dorcheat winds its way through the entire length of Webster Parish. Once a major thoroughfare for paddleboats and steamships. Dorcheat offers scenic fishing, boating and watersport opportunities. Sportsmen can access the bayou from a number of locations, including the neighboring village of Dixie Inn.
Dorcheat Street, Minden, LA 71055
Caddo Lake
Caddo Lake is a 25,400-acre lake and wetland located on the border between Texas and Louisiana. It is the largest natural fresh water lake in the South.
11425 Hwy. 1 North., Oil City, LA 71061
318-995-7139
Caney Lake
Kisatchie National Forest is the only national forest in Louisiana and spans 604,000 acres consisting mostly of bayous with bald cypress groves and old growth pine. Beautiful Caney Lakes just north of Minden are a part of the Kisatchie National Forest. The Caney Lakes Recreation Complex has a variety of day-use areas to choose from. The upper and lower lakes are perfect for enjoying a hike on the Sugar Cane National Recreation Trail, swimming at the day-use swim beach, playing volleyball, fishing from the shore, or picnicking at the vast selection of picnic facilities. Beaver Dam Campground is situated on the shores of Upper Caney Lake in the Caney Lakes Recreation Complex. The campground is located in a beautiful setting among woods, lakes and hills. Campsites come with electric and water hookups. The group picnic area accommodates up to 200 guests while each campsite fits up to eight campers. A sanitary dump station, drinking water and flush toilets are provided.
Book campsites here.
1163 Par Road 116, Minden, LA 71055
318-927-2061
Claiborne Parish Vistas
Claiborne Parish is the highest parish in the State averaging 267 feet above sea level. After you cross into Claiborne Parish on the Boom or Bust Byway, drive 7.5 miles and you will reach what locals call “The Mountain” or officially Garrett Hill rising to around 430 feet. Pull off to the right at Garrett Hill Road for a great view of Claiborne Parish.
If you want to enjoy another great vista pull off at the Lake Claiborne spillway and dam dirt road and drive a short distance to the back side of the dam. Take a short hike on the path up the dam and get a view of Lake Claiborne and its spillway. If you traverse 1.5 miles east of the spillway/dam road there is another great overlook rising 345 feet and providing a 360-degree view of Claiborne Parish.
Highway 2 and Garrett Hill Road (Highway 3062), Homer, LA 71040
Country Haven RV Park
Country Haven RV Park is a small RV park in a serene setting that promotes relaxation and enjoyment of the outdoors. Some of the park amenities include a laundry, men and ladies showers and fishing pond.
8095 Old Mooringsport Rd., Shreveport, LA 71107
318-469-6445
Cypress Black Bayou Recreation and Water Conservation
Cypress Black Bayou is a full-service recreation area that includes a marina, swimming, camping, cabins, fishing piers, zoo, and much more. Cypress Black Bayou has a meeting room that holds up to 50 people if a small group is looking for a retreat.
135 Cypress Park Dr., Benton, LA 71006
318-965-0007
C&J RV Park LLC
C&J RV Park LLC has 26 RV sites and showers.
6941 LA-1., Mooringsport, LA 71060
318-929-3193
Earl G. Williamson Park
Earl G. Williamson Park, a 40-acre park, features a public boat ramp, a 450-foot fishing pier, paved parking areas, restrooms with showers, RV camper hook-ups, areas for tent camping, extensive picnic facilities, two playgrounds, volleyball nets, a baseball field, tennis courts, and a swimming area.
11425 LA Hwy. 1., Oil City, LA 71061
318-995-7139
Edwin Tuttle Currie Park
Edwin Tuttle Currie Park is home to the Moorinsport Cypress Festival held every fall.
574 Greenwood St., Mooringsport, LA 71060
Homer Golf Course
Come play a round of golf on one of the best 9 hole courses in north Louisiana.
193 Country Club Dr., Homer, LA 7140
318-548-9129
Horace M. Downs Park
Horace M. Downs Park sits on 8.5 acres of land that features the nearby Caddo Lake Dam, picnic tables, grills, and more for family fun.
8571 Crouch Dam Rd., Mooringsport, LA 71060
318-929-2806
Jubliee Zoo: Petting Zoo & Play Place
Jubilee Zoo offers a variety of fun experiences for their visitors, offering everything from pony rides and hay rides to stuffed animals and play areas, as well as petting baby bunnies and feeding animals twice your size and more.
6402 Highway 1, Shreveport, LA 71107
318-929-7387
Monterey Country Club
Established in 1957, Monterey Country Club is a 9-hole golf course. It is open to the public.
114 Monterey Country Club Rd., Vivian, LA 71082
318-375-3043
Muddy Bottoms ATV Park
Muddy Bottoms ATV & Recreation Park was created to provide the surrounding community with a recreational escape not far from where they live and work. Our focus is to appeal to people of all ages. With a very scenic piece of property, extensive research, and vision we began to build arguably the finest ATV and recreation park in the country, offering the perfect outdoor experience.Whether you are looking for the full outdoor experience of pitching tents, building campfires and riding through the mud, or you want to enjoy all that the outdoors has to offer and then wash off and relax in a bed, Muddy Bottoms has it all.
100 Muddy Bottoms Drive, Sarepta, LA 71071
Lake Claiborne State Park
It’s all here at Lake Claiborne State Park, which compliments the 6,300-acre lake. The lake is eight and a half miles long and has 40 miles of shoreline. Fishing, swimming, birding, boating, and waterskiing are just some of the activities you can participate in. The park has 10 modern cabins and 86 improved campsites if you’d like to spend the night, and a nature center where you can learn to see more clearly and completely the beauty of the park.
225 State Park Road, Homer, LA 71040
318-927-2976
Lake Claiborne State Park Disc Golf Course
Lake Claiborne State Park Disc Golf Course is a world-class course with two 18-basket disc golf courses.
225 State Park Road, Homer, LA 71040
318-927-2976
Robert A. Nance Park
Robert A. Nance Park features a boat ramp, fishing pier, grills, paved parking, family size picnic tables, playground equipment, and more.
14770 Odom Rd., Hosston, LA 71043
318-929-2806
Saige Acres Farm
Saige Acres Flower Farm allows visitors to pick pumpkins, orchestrate photoshoots, pick sunflowers, purchase flower arrangements, and more.
10200 Blanchard Furrh Road, Mooringsport, LA 71060
318-525-6981
Sikes Ferry Boat Ramp
Launch your fishing boat, canoe or kayak at Sikes Ferry Boat Ramp to explore the exquisite nature of Webster Parish.
Hwy 2 to Fire Tower Road, Shongaloo, LA
Skydive Louisiana
Skydive Louisiana is a USPA certified Training Center Dropzone. The experienced staff members offer tandem jumps, sports jumps, paragliding and more for one of the most memorable lifetime achievements.
5266 Gilliam Airport Road, Gilliam
318-464-5867
Walter B. Jacobs Memorial Nature Park
Walter B. Jacobs Memorial Nature Park is dedicated to helping people connect with nature by conserving a pine-oak-hickory forest for interpretation and recreation.
8012 Par Rd., Shreveport, LA 71107
318-929-2806
Scenery
Relish in the Remarkable Boom or Bust Scenery
Along the byway, enjoy the natural, scenic gems that you can’t see in the city. The roads are lined with colorful wildflowers including golden coreopsis, sunflower fields, crimson clovers, and more. Witness the well-kept, historic churches, bed and breakfasts, libraries, bridges, homes, and more. The Boom or Bust Byway forests were planted decades ago when forestry was booming, and other areas were recently harvested by the remaining forestry industries.
Let your windows down to enjoy the fresh smell of pine trees as you drive past picture-perfect landscapes such as placid bayous, peaceful plantations, shady forests, and rich productive farmland. Agriculture has also experienced booms and busts, but the byway is home to the farmlands that survived hard times to be passed down for generations. Most importantly, the byway produces some of the best picturesque sunsets.
