Clear streams, piney woods and idyllic communities filled with antiques shops, galleries and restaurants are found throughout St. Tammany Parish, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. There are about 80,000 acres of national wildlife refuge set aside in the parish, including Big Branch NWR and the Northlake Nature Center on Bayou Castine.
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Kayakers, paddle-boarders, and canoeists find easy access along many of the bayous and rivers and on Lake Pontchartrain. Join a guided swamp tour of the pristine Honey Island Swamp in Slidell, or go fishing with one of over a dozen experienced charter captains in Slidell. Kids especially enjoy the swamp tours, and holding or even hatching baby alligators at Insta-Gator Ranch. Or, they can get up close and personal with giraffes, camels, llamas and more at the amazing Global Wildlife Center. Exciting flavors inspire menus in elegant dining spaces and mom-and-pop seafood emporiums all along the Tammany Taste. Find happiness in perfectly fried shrimp or a mountain of spicy boiled crawfish. Enjoy wine-tasting at the Pontchartrain Vineyards or beer-tasting at Abita Brewery.