Wild Azalea Trail is a 31 mile trail through the rolling piney woods of Kisatchie National Forest near Alexandria Louisiana. The trail starts at Valentine Lake Recreation Area and winds through pine hills and hardwood bottoms, passing through managed forest areas, clearings, and untouched areas. A nice detour from hiking is offered at the Gardner Fire Tower a half mile from the start of the trail which is open for climbing if so inclined. The trail is very well marked by double yellow paint marks on the trees. Quad marks indicate severe turns in the trail and are very handy to avoid turning on a wrong trail (there are dozens of offshoots). The trail is tagged every half mile simplifying monitoring your progression. As a result, I have included only a simple map published by the National Forest and annotated by me (camps, water and miles). The trail is open to mountain bikes and the area from Valentine Lake to the trails south of Kincaid Lake are most frequented (the only place I saw any people). All major creeks are bridged; some low areas are reinforced with hex concrete.
Notable primitive campsites are flagged on the map, though camping is allowed nearly anywhere. Water is plentiful. All of the major creeks marked on the map are fast flowing sandy streams. Treating, pumping or boiling is required, but tanking water for the trek is absolutely not necessary. There are many convenient parking areas, all easily accessible from the dirt forest roads labeled on the map (4 wheel drive not needed).
Best time of year for this hike is fall - spring (Sept - Oct) and Feb-Apr. While the trail remains open year around even through hunting season, it is probably best to avoid hunting season - generally Nov-Jan (varies every year - verify dates with Louisiana fish and wildlife).
