The Mississippi River, one of the largest in the world
The river is more than 3,700 km long, originating in Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota near the U.S.-Canadian border, before emptying into the southernmost part of the country at New Orleans. It is part of the Missouri-Mississippi River Basin, one of the largest in the world, and its watershed,the third largest in the world behind the Amazon and the Congo, encompasses 31 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. At the end of its course, the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico after drowning all of southern Louisiana, creating the bayous and a huge delta that is a favorite refuge for millions of birds and aquatic animals.
The Mee-zee-see-bee was the "Father of the Waters" for the Indians. The black slaves, who called him Old Miss' or Old Al' (for alligator), often invoked him to produce fog and to stop work. When the weather was good, they helped him out a bit by throwing tobacco plants in, hoping that Old Al' would fill his pipe and start smoking.
The meandering Mississippi River bends to seduce and bog down the adventurers who travel on its back. The first explorers feared the impressive floods that its anger provoked. In 1717, the governor of Bienville imposed the construction of levees (earthen dykes) to try to tame it. Over the centuries, a system of control, drainage and diversion of the river was put in place, but the whims of the "Father" wiped out the region several times, notably in 1912, 1913 and 1927 (William Faulkner masterfully described a flood of the river in The Wild Palms - If I Forget You, Jerusalem) But since the floods of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, this system of river flood control in the New Orleans area has been questioned and re-examined.
Today, the river remains the preferred route for heavy goods traffic, but river traffic has largely declined since the invention of the railroad and then the automobile. Few romantics prefer to take a ride on the Mississippi rather than a faster mode of transportation.
That said, there are many cruises available on the Mississippi, including paddlewheelers. Some of them are tourist excursions of a few hours, for example with the New Orleans Steamboat Company, while others offer to take off for a few days through several states, as with the American Queen Voyages company. If you don't have the sea legs, you should know that a tourist route follows the Mississippi River for some 4,800 km, from Minnesota to Louisiana: The Great River Road (experiencemississippiriver.com). Punctuated by a host of points of interest and activities, it is a road trip not to be missed! Finally, several museums and interpretive centers deal with the Mississippi and the role it played in the development of Louisiana, including The Great River Road Museum in Darrow and the Capitol Park Museum in Baton Rouge.
The famous bayous of Louisiana
Bayou is an Indian name (from Choctaw bayuk) meaning "small stream/stream" or "snake". Bayous are stagnant bodies of water, punctuated by bald cypress trees, that extend into a green jungle in the southern part of the state, including Acadiana (Cajun country), forming a huge navigable system of thousands of miles of "gutters." Although the water seems to be stagnant, there is a very slight current. It is also the place where the Acadians settled during the Great Upheaval. During your trip, you will be told about bayou and swamp - the latter being more difficult to penetrate, but the two words are synonymous - and marsh, brackish water swamps, devoid of trees.
Several state parks and conservation areas allow you to discover these natural environments, such as the Barataria Preserve (Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve) in Marrero, Lake Fausse Point State Park in St. Martinville, Bayou Segnette State Park in Westwego, Tickfaw State Park in Springfield or the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area in Breaux Bridge. Museums and interpretive centers also address the subject of bayou life and the development of Acadian settlements, such as the Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum in Houma, the Wetlands Cajun Cultural Center in Thibodaux and the Bayou Teche Museum in New Iberia. But the most popular activity that draws crowds to the bayous is the famous swamp tour, most of which are offered in Greater New Orleans and Cajun Country. You will find many good addresses in this guide to live this totally different experience.
Atchafalaya Basin:
Atchafalaya comes from the Choctaw Indian language and means "long river". A former branch of the Mississippi River, the Atchafalaya Basin covers 5,700 square kilometers and begins halfway between Natchez (Mississippi) and Baton Rouge (Louisiana) before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the largest swampy area associated with a river basin in the United States, exceeding the size of the Florida Everglades and the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia. Indians led the first arrivals, mainly Acadians, among the meandering watershed, while local settlers preferred to live along the river. For a long time, the Cajuns remained isolated from the rest of Louisiana, moving through the swamps alone. Churches and schools were then nothing more than boats. Only the arrival of man in this basin modified the ecosystem and the floods multiplied, diminishing the land area. Thus, in 1973, the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge was inaugurated, the elevated portion of Highway 10 that crosses the basin for 18 miles (29 km) between Baton Rouge and Lafayette, making it the3rd longest bridge in the country.Today, a few houses and log cabins still stand on the basin. The main resources are oil, gas and crawfish (about 22 million pounds are collected per year). Tourism also plays an important role with fishing, boating, hunting and bird watching, not to mention the famous swamp tours. For more information on the Atchafalaya basin: atchafalaya.org
The Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast, as it is commonly known, spans five southeastern states, with Louisiana having thethird longest coastline after Florida and Texas. Creeks, bays, lagoons and marshes are part of the landscape of this great region and many rivers flow into the Gulf, including the largest of them, the Mississippi. One in five Americans live in this region and the economy revolves mainly around petrochemical industries, fisheries and tourism, to name a few.
In Louisiana, the Gulf Coast is not easily accessible, with few roads running along it except in the western part of the state. South of New Orleans, the coast is slowly losing its marshes due to rising water levels caused by global warming, storms and hurricanes that frequently flood the area, and the considerable number of canals that the oil industry has cut into the area, ruining the surrounding ecosystem. Moreover, from west to east, it is impossible to miss the omnipresence of petrochemical industries, not to mention the oil platforms that are counted by the dozens off the coast of Louisiana (it is here that we find the most). Let's just say that the idyllic aspect that we have of the Gulf Coast takes a hit! That said, there are a few beach destinations such as Venice, Grand Isle, Holly Beach or Little Florida Beach. However, the latter were hit hard by the hurricanes in 2020 and 2021 and several facilities were reduced to nothing. Let's not forget: the Gulf Coast is the most frequent point of entry for hurricanes on the North American continent, which frequently devastate the Gulf Coast region.
Toledo Bend Reservoir
Shared with the state of Texas and located almost halfway between Lake Charles and Shreveport in far western Louisiana, Toledo Bend is a huge dammed lake on the Sabine River. With a surface area of nearly 800 km2, it is the largest man-made body of water in Louisiana and the American South, and ranks5th in the country.
Due to the frequent flooding of the Sabine River, the two states embarked on the acquisition of land and construction of the dam in the 1960's, which was jointly managed by Texas and Louisiana, making it the only project of its kind without any federal assistance for its permanent financing. Construction was completed in 1969 and the power plant went into operation the same year. Toledo Bend Reservoir Dam, located in Newton County, Texas, can generate approximately 92 megawatts of electrical power.
Each year, many people come to enjoy its nearly 1,000 miles of shoreline, water-based fun, and the resorts and campgrounds located in the area. On the Texas side, the Sabine National Forest runs along the entire west side of the reservoir, while on the east side in Louisiana there are two small state parks: North Toledo Bend State Park in Zwolle and South Toledo Bend State Park in Anacoco. Boaters beware of stumps, trees, and floating logs when boating on the reservoir, even when following marked routes.
