The weather is finally cooling off, so that means prime running season for us in the South! Last year, I had to get creative with my running routes when training for the full Louisiana Marathon, and I’ve gotten a lot of questions on running routes ever since. So today, I’m sharing my long distance route — that to me is the most scenic in Baton Rouge. Plus, it’s easily adaptable for any distance.
On this route you’ll see:
- The University Lakes
- LSU campus
- The Parade Ground
- The Bell Tower
- The Indian Mounds
- The Greek Theater
- Tiger Stadium
- Mike The Tiger
- The Mississippi River
- The USS KIDD
- The State Capitol Building
- Horace Wilkinson Bridge
- City Park
- Sorority Row
- Lod Cook Alumni Center
Overall this route is about 20 miles, but can EASILY be adapted for any shorter run.
Things that were important to me:
- Seeing cool things
- Sidewalks (aka not getting run over)
- Lots of water fountains
- Safety
My Long Run “Pro” Tip:
The Lakes are probably the most popular running place in Baton Rouge. The loop around the University Lake is a little over 4 miles, and if you add the extra lake in it’s around 6 miles.
But when it comes to those long distance days (more than 6 miles), I could never force myself to make multiple laps around the Lakes.
Basically, I didn’t have the willpower to PASS my car for a second loop. So I never START with the Lakes. Instead I save the Lakes for last.
My *secret* to long run days is to get as far away from my car as possible. Once I’m far away, I have to come back. So that means no quitting!
A rundown of the route:
Start at Milford Wampold Memorial Park (Lakes) >> UREC >> Student Union >> Mike The Tiger >> Vet School >> Levee >> USS KIDD >> and reverse back to the Lakes, looping around City Park and back until you get to Milford Wampold Memorial Park.
I break it down here:
1- Park car at BREC’s Milford Wampold Memorial Park (aka… the Lakes on Stanford)
I run as far away from my car at this point, so I DO NOT loop the lakes first. I loop the lakes LAST and finish back at my car.
2- Leave the park and head WEST on the lake path (toward West Lakeshore Drive and the sorority houses).
3- Follow the path until you get to the corner of Sorority Row. At that point, I cross the street and run down S Campus Drive past the UREC.
4- I follow South Campus Drive until I get to Highland Road, then I take RIGHT toward the Student Union.
5- Once I pass the Union, I run toward toward the Bell Tower and Greek Theater, then past the Indian Mounds toward Tiger Stadium.
6- I run down the hill between Tiger Stadium and the PMAC — and wave at Mike The Tiger as I go by.
7- Once I get to Nicholson, I cross the street and head LEFT toward Skip Bertman Drive. (p.s. the cross light is a good place to rest for a second!)
8- I run aaaaalll the way down Skip Bertman toward the Vet School and levee.
9- Run up the steps at the levee and turn right toward Downtown and the State Capitol Building.
10- I run along the levee all the way to the USS KIDD. This is about 5.5 miles at this point.
11- Then I just do the reverse to get back to the corner of the Lakes that I left off on (so 11ish miles total so far)
12- Once I get back to the corner of the Lakes at West Lakeshore Drive and finish making the BIG loop around the lakes (about 6 miles). Just follow the Lake path — down Dalrymple, under the Interstate, around City Park - you can always loop the smaller lake or not go all the way to City Park if you need to shorten your run.
The 20-mile run was my longest training run, so I winged it on Marathon race day for the extra 6 miles. But I can confidently say that if you can run 20 miles, you can run 26! You can read my full blog post on my first marathon here!