Fast Facts
- Population
- 227,470 (2020 census)
- State Capitol Height
- 450 ft, 34 stories, tallest in the U.S.
- State Capitol Completed
- 1931
- LSU Founded
- 1860
What to Know Before You Arrive
Baton Rouge, Louisiana's capital, had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 census, making it the state's second-most populous city. Built on the Istrouma Bluff, the first natural bluff upriver from the Mississippi River Delta, the city has been governed by six different flags over its history: France, Spain, Britain, the short-lived Republic of West Florida, the Confederacy, and the United States. Today it is a major industrial, petrochemical and research center, and the Port of Greater Baton Rouge is the tenth-largest U.S. port by tonnage shipped, the farthest upstream Mississippi River port able to handle Panamax ships.
The Louisiana State Capitol, completed in 1931 and often called "Huey Long's monument" for the governor's role in getting it built, is the tallest capitol building in the country. Long kept a 24th-floor apartment in the building; a 27th-floor observation deck offers views over the city and river today, and the ground-floor Memorial Hall holds a 10-foot bronze relief map of Louisiana embedded in its floor. The building it replaced, the Old State Capitol, built in neogothic style and sometimes called the "Louisiana Castle," now operates as a Museum of Political History a short distance away.
Baton Rouge is home to Louisiana State University, founded in 1860 near Pineville before relocating; its current 650-acre riverfront campus, dedicated in 1926, was built in the style of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. On the river downtown, the USS Kidd, a World War II Fletcher-class destroyer, is preserved as a museum ship and National Historic Landmark, one of only two U.S. destroyers surviving in their wartime configuration.
The Road Trip Stop
The Louisiana State Capitol, on a 27-acre tract overlooking the Mississippi River, has been the seat of Louisiana's government since 1932. A 27th-floor observation deck offers views of Baton Rouge and the river, and the ground-floor Memorial Hall displays a large bronze relief map of the state.
Budget the time
- We were unable to confirm how long a visit to the Capitol grounds, Memorial Hall and observation deck takes. The state welcome center lists guided tours as available by contacting staff.
- The Capitol is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, closed on New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and admission is free. The state welcome center page also states that the observation deck is closed for renovations while still listing deck hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; the welcome center at (225) 342-7317 can confirm the deck's status before a visit.
- The Old State Capitol, a separate historic building nearby, now operates as a Museum of Political History. Its own site lists free admission and museum hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, with the museum closed Sunday, Monday and Thursday.
- The USS Kidd museum ship is a short drive from the Capitol, berthed on the Mississippi River downtown.
Neighborhoods
Downtown & the Capitol grounds
Home to both the current Louisiana State Capitol and the neogothic Old State Capitol.
The riverfront
Along the Mississippi River downtown, home to the USS Kidd museum ship.
The LSU campus area
The 650-acre riverfront campus of Louisiana State University, south of downtown.
Mid City
A historic residential area between downtown and the LSU campus.
The Food Stop
Downtown Baton Rouge, near the Capitol complex, holds a mix of restaurants within walking distance of both statehouses.
The LSU campus area offers additional dining options geared toward students and visitors.
One brewery within 10 miles of Baton Rouge, though our source does not record a room you can sit in.
See all 1
- Tin Roof Brewing Co1624 Wyoming St, Baton Rougeproduction site*
*Check before you go. This list says what the source records as open and where it is — nothing more. Opening hours, whether a kitchen is serving, and whether anywhere suits your family are not in this data and change without notice. A production site may have no public room at all. Please confirm with the venue.
Brewpub locations from Open Brewery DB (MIT)
The Home Teams
LSU Tigers
NCAA (SEC)LSU fields 21 varsity teams as a member of the Southeastern Conference, represented by mascot Mike the Tiger.
Baton Rouge has no major-league professional team; LSU's Tigers are the city's primary home team.
Day Trips
| Destination | Time | Distance | How we got it |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Orleansguide | 1 hr 40 min | 82 mi | routed |
| Louisiana's largest city, southeast along the Mississippi River. | |||
| St. Francisville | 41 min | 32 mi | routed |
| A small river town with antebellum houses, north of Baton Rouge. | |||
| Donaldsonville | 48 min | 35 mi | routed |
| A former Louisiana capital, south along the river. | |||
| Lafayetteguide | 1 hr 5 min | 55 mi | routed |
| The heart of Cajun and Creole country, west of Baton Rouge. | |||
2 of these are places the Hub has its own guide to — marked guide and linked from the name.
Routed figures are computed over map data at free-flowing speeds, between map points rather than street addresses, so a real drive runs longer.
Distances routed by OSRM and places geocoded by Nominatim, over map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
Worth a Weekend
4 more Highway Heads places lie within about 180 miles of Baton Rouge in a straight line — far enough that most are a night away rather than an afternoon.
- National WWII MuseumLouisianaabout 75 mi
- NatchezMississippiabout 80 mi
- BiloxiMississippiabout 140 mi
- JacksonMississippiabout 140 mi
Distilleries Nearby
1 producer we have checked near here. These are the ones from our research we could check against their own site — not every producer there is.
Sugarfield Spirits
Opened in January 2020; tasting room and gift shop.
- Toursyes; tours and tasting room
- Phone(225) 647-2029
481 W. Eastbank St, Gonzales, LA 70737
*Check before you go. Every producer here links to its own site, which is where we read these details on the date we checked. Opening hours, tour times, tasting fees and who may come in change without notice and belong to the producer. A blank is something we did not confirm, not something they lack. None of these say anything about children, so do not plan around it without asking them.
Zoos and Aquariums Nearby
Within 60 miles of Baton Rouge, nearest first.
Blue Zoo Aquarium (Baton Rouge) — some details below are unconfirmedBaton Rouge
* We could not confirm: site blocked fetch. Check their site before you go.
BREC's Baton Rouge ZooBaker (Baton Rouge)
- Hours
- 9:30am-5pm; last entry 4pm
- Admission
- Adult $10 (adults/teens) · Child $7 + tax (2-12); 1 and under free
Entrance now via Greenwood Community Park, 13350 Hwy 19
This is a list of what is near you, not a recommendation of any of it. None of these carry an accreditation we were able to confirm, which is not the same as none being accredited — we check against one register, and plenty of good municipal, state and university places are in no register at all. One entry is marked with an asterisk: we could not confirm part of what is listed, and the note under it says which part. Opening times, prices and seasons change without notice, so check the operator’s own site — every name above links to it.
Practical Road Trip Info
A half day covers the current and Old State Capitols; a full day allows time for the USS Kidd and LSU's campus as well.
The Old State Capitol and current Capitol are separate buildings a short distance apart, both open to visitors.
Baton Rouge sits at the junction of I-10 and I-12, making it a natural stop between New Orleans and points west or north.
The USS Kidd is berthed directly on the Mississippi River, within a short drive of downtown.
The Local Debate
Family-Friendly
The Louisiana State Capitol observation deck
A high vantage point over the city and river, an easy add-on to a Capitol visit.
The USS Kidd
A real WWII warship that can be explored deck by deck.
The Old State Capitol
A castle-like building whose architecture alone makes it a distinctive stop.
Plan Your Visit
Louisiana State Capitol
- Address
- 900 N 3rd St, Baton Rouge, LA 70802
- Hours
- Check the official site for current hours
- Price
- Free
- Link
- crt.state.la.us
We checked contact details, opening hours, fees and closures on 2026-10-13. These change without notice — confirm with crt.louisiana.gov and louisianaoldstatecapitol.org the week you travel.
Sources — 21 claims, 20 checked against the source on 2026-09-23
| Claim | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana, population 227,470 at the 2020 census, the state's second-most populous city; located on the Istrouma Bluff, the first natural bluff upriver from the Mississippi River Delta; governed historically by six flags: France, Spain, Britain, the Republic of West Florida, the Confederate States and the United States | Baton Rouge, Louisiana — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, research and technology center; the Port of Greater Baton Rouge is the tenth-largest U.S. port by tonnage shipped and the farthest upstream Mississippi River port capable of handling Panamax ships | Baton Rouge, Louisiana — Wikipedia | Checked |
| The Louisiana State Capitol, in downtown Baton Rouge, is 450 feet tall with 34 stories, making it the tallest skyscraper in Baton Rouge and the tallest state capitol building in the United States; construction was completed in 1931; the building is often called "Huey Long's monument" due to the former governor's influence in getting it built; listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982 | Louisiana State Capitol — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Huey Long had an apartment installed on the Louisiana State Capitol's 24th floor; a 27th-floor observation deck with a gift shop offers views of Baton Rouge and the Mississippi River; the ground-floor Memorial Hall is 124 feet long and 40 feet wide, with a 10-foot bronze relief map of Louisiana embedded in the floor depicting parish boundaries, industries and exports | Louisiana State Capitol — Wikipedia | Checked |
| The Old Louisiana State Capitol, at 100 North Boulevard in Baton Rouge, housed the state legislature from the mid-19th century until the current Capitol tower was built in 1929-1932; built in neogothic style to resemble a castle, sometimes called the "Louisiana Castle"; now houses a Museum of Political History; designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974; New York architect James H. Dakin designed the building after the city donated land on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi in 1847 | Old Louisiana State Capitol — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Louisiana State University (LSU), a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, was founded in 1860 near Pineville as the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy, with William Tecumseh Sherman as its first superintendent; the current main campus, dedicated in 1926, spans 650 riverfront acres and more than 250 buildings built in the style of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio; LSU fields 21 varsity teams as a member of the NCAA and Southeastern Conference, with mascot Mike the Tiger | Louisiana State University — Wikipedia | Checked |
| USS Kidd (DD-661), a Fletcher-class destroyer named for Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who died aboard USS Arizona during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, is a National Historic Landmark museum ship berthed on the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge; one of four preserved Fletcher-class destroyers and one of only two U.S. destroyers preserved in their World War II configuration; launched February 28, 1943 and commissioned April 23, 1943 | USS Kidd (DD-661) — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Baton Rouge is home to Southern University, the flagship institution of the Southern University System, the nation's only historically Black college system | Baton Rouge, Louisiana — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Greater Baton Rouge had 870,569 residents in 2020, Louisiana's second-largest metropolitan area; East Baton Rouge Parish is Louisiana's most populous parish | Baton Rouge, Louisiana — Wikipedia | Checked |
| New Orleans served as Louisiana's capital before the state legislature required by an 1845 constitutional clause that the capital move from New Orleans by 1849; the legislature had briefly relocated to Donaldsonville in 1830 before returning to New Orleans | Louisiana State Capitol — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Human habitation in the Baton Rouge area dates to 12,000-6,500 BC, with earthwork mounds built by hunter-gatherer societies beginning in the Middle Archaic period | Baton Rouge, Louisiana — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Donaldsonville drive distance and time from Baton Rouge; how long a visit to the Louisiana State Capitol takes. Tried: Explore Louisiana's Donaldsonville page, City of Donaldsonville, Visit Baton Rouge, the state welcome center page and the Louisiana House virtual-tour pages (none states these); the Ascension Parish tourism site could not be fetched (expired TLS certificate). | No source accepted yet | Not confirmed |
| Guided tours of the Louisiana State Capitol are listed as available by contacting staff at the State Capitol Welcome Center, (225) 342-7317 | State Capitol Welcome Center — Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| The Louisiana State Capitol is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, closed New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day | State Capitol Welcome Center — Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| Admission to the Louisiana State Capitol is listed as free | State Capitol Welcome Center — Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| The Louisiana State Capitol observation deck is listed as closed for renovations, although the same page lists deck hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily | State Capitol Welcome Center — Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| Louisiana's Old State Capitol museum hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; closed Sunday, Monday and Thursday | Visit — Louisiana's Old State Capitol | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| Admission to Louisiana's Old State Capitol is listed as free | Visit — Louisiana's Old State Capitol | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| Baton Rouge is 30 miles from St. Francisville and 55 miles from Lafayette; Baton Rouge's visitor bureau describes the city as about an hour from New Orleans and Lafayette | Group travel and About Baton Rouge — Visit Baton Rouge | Checked |
| St. Francisville is located 30 miles north of Baton Rouge, in West Feliciana Parish; the parish government places it 30 minutes north of Baton Rouge | Town of St. Francisville and West Feliciana Parish government | Checked |
| Donaldsonville was once home of the state capitol of Louisiana | Visit Donaldsonville — Explore Louisiana | Checked |
Road Trippin’ with the Harts
The Highway Heads books turn the miles between stops into a game the whole car can play.
See the booksLive Conditions
Wildlife Spotted Nearby
Nearest Airports
Straight-line distance from Baton Rouge, not drive time.
- Baton Rouge Metropolitan (BTR) — 7 miles
- Acadiana Regional (ARA) — 50 miles
- Lafayette Regional (LFT) — 50 miles
On these trips
This guide sits on a road we have written up end to end, with the stops we publish along the way.
Explore the Full Road Trip
Return to the Highway Heads map and discover the next family-ready stop.
Explore the Map