Sunday, June 9, 2013

Park # 253, Cane River Creole NHP- Louisiana


I made the drive up here today Sunday, June 9th to save 120 miles on the motor home, driving up from Alexandria, La. 

I had planned to hit three locations that were open for this park, and did. 

I got to the Natchitoches Visitor Information Center, in downtown Natchitoches, and also the Magnolia and Oakland Plantation sites. 

The Downtown visitor center didn't have any stamps for this park, so I headed first on down to the Oakland Plantation. 

There were supposed to be two locations for stamps here, a pavilion, only open on the weekends, and a store. 

Nobody home here at the Pavilion, and no stamps, either. 

This was the store building, and it was eerie, not a soul was there. 

Totally empty!!!!!!

The plantation house on the property is privately owned, and not part of the park.
Well, this was a first, the first time I have visited a totally unmanned National park!!  Fortunately, the three passport stamps that were listed for here were there, but none were at the Pavilion.  

From there, I headed about 11 miles down the road to the next unit, the Magnolia Plantation. 


The same situation here-  totally unmanned!!!!  Here too, the stamps were out on a ledge, so I got the three stamps that were supposed to be here. 

Because there was no one around, I was not able to get to the store at Oakland, so I was not able to get any pins, hiking medallions, or postcards, if they exist at all. 

This is probably the greatest disappointment for a National Park I have seen-  very little signage, invitations to self tour if you wanted to, so what- to see part of an old southern plantation. 

On to Natchez tomorrow!!

2 comments:

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  2. Dear Jim Bob,

    We’re sorry that you were not satisfied with your recent visit to Cane River Creole National Historical Park. We wish we had staffing levels which would allow us to meet all the needs of every single visitor, but unfortunately that is not the case.

    Effective March 1, 2013, Cane River Creole National Historical Park was required like all national parks to reduce its annual budget by five percent. The park was forced to absorb that cut in the remaining four months of this fiscal year that ends September 30. The federal law imposing sequestration required that each national park take this cut.

    For Cane River Creole National Historical Park, this amounts to a reduction of over $56,000. The park cut all travel, training, overtime, supply purchases, and reduced staff hours in order to meet the required spending reduction.

    This has forced us to reduce our visitor services at both Oakland and Magnolia Plantations. Guided tours of the Magnolia Plantation grounds are now available by appointment only. We continue to offer a guided tour of the Oakland Plantation main house daily at 1pm. If staffing permits on any particular day we offer additional tours whenever we can. Both sites remain open daily from 8:00am-4:00pm, with self-guided tours available between those hours.

    When you visited Oakland on Sunday June 9, we had one maintenance employee and one interpretive ranger on duty. The interpretive ranger was most likely giving a guided tour of the main house during the time of your visit. That explains why you were not able to meet with a ranger or see our gift shop.

    I would also like to take this opportunity to clarify some of the other comments from your blog:

    •Cane River Creole National Historical Park consists of Oakland Plantation and the Magnolia Plantation outbuildings. These are the only locations where one can get their passport cancellation stamps. The cancellation stamps are located at the plantation store buildings. At one time the cancellation stamps were located at the Oakland pavilion, but due to frequent theft we removed them from that location.

    •Your photograph of the Oakland main house has a caption that reads “The plantation house on the property is privately owned, and not part of the park.” This is not the case. Oakland’s main house is on park property, and opens to the public for guided tours. Your caption would have been accurate had the photo been of the Magnolia main house. The outbuildings at Magnolia are part of the national park, but the main house there is still privately owned.

    •The entrance pavilion at Oakland is open seven days a week from 8am-4pm. This is the location of the park’s restrooms and picnic area. Maps and brochures are also available at the pavilion. There is also a large sign at the pavilion that shows the guided tour schedule for each day. A similar sign is also located at the plantation store. We have submitted funding requests for additional forms of signage which have not been fulfilled as of yet.

    •The park has a small gift shop at the Oakland plantation store building. We sell pins, postcards, magnets, and a wide variety of books. We’re sorry that a staff member was not available to open the gift shop during the time of your visit.

    Again, I’m very sorry that you were not satisfied with your visit to the park. I hope that you come again on a day when we’re better able to meet your needs. If you are able to call ahead, I would love to lead you and your wife on a personal tour of this wonderful park. If you have any additional concerns or if you would like to order something from our gift shop please do not hesitate to contact me.

    Thank you for your interest in our national parks, and good luck on your quest to collect passport stamps for each of the sites.

    Sincerely,
    Nathan Hatfield
    Chief of Interpretation
    318-356-8441
    nathan_hatfield@nps.gov

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