Jean Lafitte Scenic Byway

The Jean Lafitte Scenic Byway is a 178 mile (286.5 km) network of highways through Acadiana in south Louisiana, listed by the Federal Highway Administration as one of America's Byways. Every leg starts and finishes in Abbeville: south to the Gulf coast marshes, west through rice country to Lake Arthur, and east through Erath, Delcambre and New Iberia to Lafayette.

The southern leg follows LA 82, which the byway calls the Hug-the-Coast Highway. Between Perry and the Intracoastal Waterway it runs past crawfish ponds and rice and sugarcane fields, then heads into some of the most extensive marshlands in North America and on to Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf.

The western leg takes LA 14 through Kaplan and Gueydan to Lake Arthur, near Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge. The eastern leg follows LA 14 east to New Iberia and US 90 north to Lafayette, and the loop closes on US 167 from Maurice back to Abbeville.

• South of Abbeville on LA 82, the farmland between Perry and the Intracoastal Waterway is crawfish ponds, rice and sugarcane fields and old working barns.
• Past the waterway the road crosses open marsh. In spring the marsh flowers are out, including water hyacinth and Louisiana iris.
• Big live oaks along the road mark the approach to Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge, which borders the Gulf of Mexico for 26.5 miles. Up to 160,000 waterfowl winter there, and more than 250 bird species have been recorded.
• Price Lake Road, just west of the refuge headquarters, is a 3.3 mile gravel road past canals and shallow marsh lakes, with an observation tower and wading birds, ducks and shorebirds in view from the car.
• On the western leg, Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge has a three mile auto tour with interpretive signs around Lacassine Pool, where waterfowl gather in autumn and winter. Visitors are asked to stay in their vehicles.
• The western leg on LA 14 runs through the rice farming towns of Kaplan and Gueydan to Lake Arthur.
• The eastern leg runs through Erath, Delcambre and New Iberia to Lafayette, then back south through Maurice to Abbeville.
• Best way to experience it: drive it yourself in your own car or a hire car, or ride it on a motorbike.

• The LA 82 Perry Bridge, on the southern leg just out of Abbeville, closed to all vehicles in October 2026 for rehabilitation and is due to reopen on 31 May 2027, weather permitting. DOTD's posted detour is LA 3267 to LA 14 to US 167 to LA 335 to LA 694.
• Louisiana 511 (511la.org, dial 511, or 1 888 762 3511 from out of state) shows current closures and roadworks.
• Every visitor to Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge needs a WMA Access Permit. The refuge is open daily from sunrise to sunset, and some areas, including Price Lake Road, close from 1 December to 1 March. The headquarters is at 5476 Grand Chenier Highway, Grand Chenier.
• Price Lake Road has portable toilets and limited parking (10 pull offs and two larger parking areas), and drivers pull to the side of the road when stopping. Joseph Harbor Recreation Area, about 3.1 miles east of the headquarters, has portable toilets and large parking areas.
• Camping, canoeing and kayaking are not allowed at Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge.
• Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge is at 209 Nature Road, Lake Arthur, phone 337 774 5923.
• Abbeville is the hub of the byway, and Lafayette is the largest city on it.

• Last verified: 10 November 2026
• Official link: https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/bywaysp/byway/2069