Quick Paddle Guide to Shell Bank Bayou and Maurepas Swamp

This is sort of foreword to the very first post I made here a few years back: Shell Bank Bayou: Two Routes...

My first version of that post was based on my first handful of trips through Shell Bank Bayou, out to Lake Maurepas, and then in and around the surrounding Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area. A lot has changed since my first paddles in this area in 2012 or 2013. First, I was still very new to kayaking and had much to learn about all things kayak-related and about the nature of Nature. And this bayou is an excellent classroom. Second, this classroom changes cyclically, and it evolves. After some time, I realized I needed to update the post to keep it current. Then, again. And again. And it started to feel sloppy or overly long.

One of the key factors for all these updates: Water Hyacinth. When I first started paddling out here, the hyacinth problem was much, much less severe. Sure, the bayou itself, and the narrow channels through "the prairie" always had water level and vegetation challenges for us. But by 2019 or 2020, whole swaths of the area were getting completely choked off by this plant. And it does just that: It suffocates the waterway beneath it. All paddling in this area is defined by it now.  I discuss this a lot in the specific route info in the original post, so...'nuff said. For now.

So again, this post is more of a foreword to the first; or a general overview of Shell Bank Bayou and the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Areas, and some of the paddling options in the vicinity. The original post is still there, with details on specific places to paddle and explore. And if you see something here that makes you want to go paddle "that route", you can go to the original post: Paddling Shell Bank Bayou: Two Routes and Some Wandering Options and hopefully find the info you need to enjoy yourself.

Here's a snippet from Google Maps of the whole area, from I-10 at the bottom to Pass Manchac at the top:

And here are a couple of snippets that I also have on the original post. These are a little more zoomed in, and I've added labels--some of these labels are official names, like "Ruddock Canal", and some are the local names I've heard others use, like "The Prairie Canal".

 And zoomed in more on Shell Bank Bayou itself, and the Maurepas Swamp side of the bayou:

In an effort to not just repeat things from the original post (though that will happen), I'm going to keep this pretty brief. No "photographer-wannabe" pictures.

This area is very much Paddling Heaven. On Google Maps, someone actually added "kayak heaven" as a label.  Pretty much anyone, in any boat, can come out here and spend however much time they have doing a looping trip, or a wandering photo adventure, a fishing trip, or whatever they want. Hours can be spent without going out to Lake Maurepas or deep into the swamp.  But, if you do wander into the woods, or Lily Bayou, bring a GPS device, or at the very least, a compass, and a better sense of direction than mine.

General info - Shell Bank Bayou itself snakes out to Lake Maurepas, and at points it's wide open, and at other points, it's very narrow, and those narrow spots often get clogged by vegetation, especially...yep, you guessed it: water hyacinth. As I say in my original post, the roughly 2 mile paddle to the lake can be very tiring, or sometimes impossible, to get through.

Then there's the logging canal at the very beginning of the trip to SBB (see the image above), and this logging canal offers a lot of options. See the maps above and the original post (and a little info below). In extreme cases, this canal has been completely covered by water hyacinth, but it's usually open. Take a GPS, map, compass, etc, and spend time exploring and relaxing.

Also, if you paddle along what I call the I-55 Canal, under the raised interstate, you'll probably find some bayous to explore, especially as you head north toward the Ruddock Canal. You can expect some boat traffic traveling along this stretch, by the way. If you do go wandering into the bayous off of the I-55 canal, some split into forks, or interconnect with others, especially closer to Ruddock Canal, so someone with a sense of direction like mine may need to take extra care to not get lost.

Lots of options to explore.

Safety concerns? Of course - life vest, water, snacks, knowing your limits, etc... Gators? Yep. I seldom see large ones here, but they're out here. If you go to Lake Maurepas, you may have waves or you may have glassy smooth water. If the wind is generally from the west, north, or NW, it will have good fetch coming across the lake, so the water will roll a little, if not a lot. All this is in the original post if you want specific concerns about specific areas.

What about you? New to kayaking and just want to paddle around as far as you can? Starting from the launch:

Hwy 51 Shell Bank Bayou Launch

Paddle into Shell Bank Bayou as far as you can, and when it gets too challenging (it will), turn around and go back to the logging canal and explore the finger lakes, or make your way into the woods, or Lily Bayou.  You'll almost certainly see kayak tour groups out here, and almost certainly, this is the trip they'll be doing. For these wanderings, as I said, pretty much any boat is fine. In fact, if you do go into the woods or down any of the really narrow waterways, a 12'-14' boat is probably better than a long sea kayak.  

Yes, this area does deserve two posts, I think. And I hope this smaller post is useful, and please visit the original:

Paddling Shell Bank Bayou: Two Routes and Some Wandering Options 

Oh, and did I say something about "changes"?

More to come! Advocate Article - Restoration Project

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beyond LA - Kayaking Fort De Soto Park - Pinellas County, FL

Fort De Soto Park is just south of St Pete Beach and St Petersburg, FL--actually, just past the area called Tierra Verde. It's the kind of place where I'd spend A LOT of time if I lived in the area. We've taken two trips to the Tampa Bay area, and after a beautiful but stormy paddle here in July,2019, we returned to do the same paddle on a much  prettier day in June, 2022. You'll see some dark clouds in some of the pictures below. There was a tropical system developing barely offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. It became Tropical Storm Barry, in fact, and followed us home to New Orleans a few days later. Our 2022 trip as much prettier.

So, this post is about the same route, done two different times. But the reason I say I'd spend a lot of time here is because there so many different paddling options, plus beaches, dog areas, a bicycle lane, nature...more nature.  When you include the Shell Key area north of Bunces Pass, it's easy to see hours of mangrove and sandy beaches and manatees. This trip, as described here, is very close to 8 miles round trip. It is an out-and-back.

Here's a snippet from Google Maps of the overall area:

 And here's a link to the Fort DeSoto County Park website:

Fort DeSoto County Park

There are several launch spots and trip options inside the park, and there are some launch options north of the park if you wanted to paddle into Sawyer Key and up to Shell Key or over to Shell Key Preserve.

For our two trips, we launched near one of the park's kayak rental spots, currently called "Topwater Kayak Outpost", located near the southwest corner of the park, on Anderson Blvd/679.  This is a nice little dirt launch:

Dirt launch - Fort De Soto Park

If you're viewing that link in satellite view, you'll see a small parking area for perhaps 3 or 4 cars, near our little dirt launch spot. On both of our trips, these spots were open and available. There seems to be a lot of parking near the rental shop, so if this small parking area is full, perhaps you can unload your kayak(s) here and then park in the larger area - I just don't know if that's for rental customers only or not. 

As we headed north, at the beginning of our paddle, we passed another dirt launch spot, which also seems to have parking. Here's a link to that from good ol' Google Maps:

2nd dirt kayak launch - Fort De Soto Park 

We love this trip because we paddle through the mangroves, see some manatees, then get a taste of some beaches and areas to get out and walk around, and then eventually over to the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, and a large cove formed by a curved sandbar.  Inside the cove, it should be very easy to beach land and get out and walk along the beaches. On our most recent trip, we were fairly near high tide, so the cove was pretty "floatable" and we were able to paddle almost over to the park's North Beach:

As I mention earlier, we had to deal with stormy weather on our 2019 trip and we could see thunderstorms forming and moving at several points on the horizon. By the time we got out on the northern tip of this sandbar/beach, the sky overhead was getting dark, fast, and the wind was kicking up--so we jumped back in our kayaks and headed back. 

So I guess I should do my usual thing about safety and knowing your limits, and what you should know about this area:

First, there are kayak rental places here, so there are definitely some very beginner friendly areas to paddle here. The mangroves provide good shelter from the wind, and for the first mile or so of this route,there are mangroves on both sides, so it's calm, fairly shallow water. But after you pass De Soto Point and the next mangrove island, you paddle into water that is very exposed to the east, northeast, and north. Wind from those directions can add a lot of energy to this route, so if you're not comfortable with crosswinds and bouncy water, stay close to the shoreline. Closer to the mangroves, the water should be shallower and likely to have thick sea grass, which will absorb some of that energy. 

 

In fact, staying close to the shoreline is the key to this trip if you aren't comfortable in bouncy, breezy water. Then, as you approach and paddle through Bunces Pass after the picnic area, you can expect more energy in the water from any tide movement, and from the wakes of motor boats and jet skis.  I'm pretty sure this entire route offered shallow, grassy water along the shore, so you should be able to stay in safe conditions. Gaps like Bunces Pass offer interesting combinations of wind versus tidal flow versus boat wakes, so just know your skills, check the weather and tides, and use good judgement. And the earlier in the day you go, the less motor traffic you'll see.

Okay--back to paddling:

The particular route I'll describe here starts in the fairly sheltered "Soldier Hole", which makes an "L" through the Mangroves. We follow the "L" north, past De Soto Point into Mullet Key Bayou, and follow the Mangroves on our left north, then northeast, to the point at Bunces Pass.

 

Then we turn left, going west past a picnic area.  Here, the scenery starts to change as you pass some sandy spots and a lovely inlet to your left, more mangroves, and then a larger inlet or small bay where we pulled in and walked around a bit on our 2019 trip. 

 The yellow arrow in the image below is where we pulled over and walked around - keeping a close eye on those storms:

After this small bay, the coastline changes completely as you approach the sandy edges of the Gulf of Mexico:

 

 

After you paddle past those sandy "cliffs" in the picture above, you're entering the opening to the shallow cove on your left, and the top of the curved sandbar directly across from you. The water can get very shallow between the "cliffs" and the top of that sandbar.  You can actually see this in the image below, and that hard left shown in our track is us going around the shallow water so we could cross over to the gulf side. 

This is a really enjoyable part of the trip. You can walk along the upside-down-J-shaped sandbar, wade into the water to cool off, and paddle further down into the cove(depending on water levels). It'd make a great regroup and lunch spot for a group paddle. In 2019, the storms chased us back before we could relax here, but in 2022 we spent a while enjoying this cove.

 
That should be St Pete Beach in the distance (below):

Cooling off in the Gulf of Mexico:

The cove:

After relaxing and enjoying the cove for a while, we just head back the way we came. We started mid-morning, and by the time we headed back, pleasure boat and jet ski traffic was picking up, so we did have some wakes to deal with, but nothing serious, and again, the water is very shallow along the edge of Bunces Pass.

 

We did 2 or 3 other paddles in the area during our 2022 trip, and we definitely wanted to come back to Tierra Verde and explore Sawyer Key and paddle up to Shell Key and the islands and beaches in that area. But we ran out of time. And as I write this post and look at these pictures and at the satellite images of the area in general, I'm already wondering when my next trip to the Tampa Bay Area will be.

By the way, free plug for a great restaurant we visited on our last night. Sea Worthy Fish Bar, in Tierra Verde, was very comfortable and friendly, with amazing food. Go kayaking in Fort DeSoto Park, change clothes, and relax with some amazing food (no--they did not pay me).

Another Fort Proctor Paddle - 5 - 6 Mile Loop

Here's my second post about Fort Proctor, and this time I actually do have my own photos. This is based on a trip 9 of us did on an amazingly beautiful Halloween day in 2021. Unlike my previous post about Fort Proctor, I do have my own pictures, and on this trip I did go into the fort itself. And I'm glad I did.

By the way, Fort Proctor is also known as Fort Beauregard, and you'll see street names and other references in the area to "Beauregard" instead of "Proctor".  Here's the Wiki on this fort:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Proctor 

This route is around 5.5 miles, unless you take wrong turns as we did (more on this later), and then your mileage may vary. 

So, I'll start with the usual stuff and some launch information:

To get to Fort Proctor from this launch, you cross the old "MR GO" waterway. The Mississippi River Gulf Outlet is now closed off in sections, but it's still has fishing and shrimping boat traffic, and it's perhaps a quarter mile across. So watch traffic, be careful, and if you're with a group, stay together to be more visible as a group. It's not treacherous, but this is a popular trip for paddlers  of all skill levels and in all sizes of boats. So a new paddler in a short boat may want to be particularly careful and paddle with others. You should expect to experience some wakes from fishing boats--Shell Beach is a very popular launch spot for fisherman. 

This post is based on one trip, on a very mild day with a very light breeze, and Lake Borgne was very calm.  But Lake Borgne is really a lagoon that opens up to the Mississippi Sound, with virtually nothing to break the winds from the Sound. East, northeast, or southeast winds can easily create waves out here, and since this route is on the western edge of Borgne, a steady E or NE wind will have a lot of fetch, and the water will have energy. Actually, you may not feel southeasterly winds directly, thanks to the marshland south of the lake, but a decent, steady SE wind will probably push some energy into Lake Borgne.  If you come out here in a 9' or 10' kayak, with a steady E, NE, or SE wind of even below 10 mph, you may just want to do the trip to the fort through Bayou Yscloskey and then head back to the launch. You could be dealing with waves splashing into your cockpit and with your boat weather-cocking out into the lake if you continue along the western edge of Borgne as we did on this 5 1/2 mile route. As I always say: check the forecasts and the marine reports and stay within your limits. And wear your PFD.

Okay, the launch info: From New Orleans, this drive is a surprising 55 - 60 minutes. I say "surprising" because it's not that far from the city, but most of the drive is on small state or parish roads that wind along bayous down through St. Bernard Parish and over to Yscloskey, Louisiana, and Shell Beach.

We launched from Campos Marina:

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.8536271,-89.6788254,123m/data=!3m1!1e3

Campos Marina has a ton of parking and has never accepted money for kayaks (or other paddlers). Very friendly folks, and just follow their lead on where to park your vehicle after you unload your boat across from the parking lot, near the launch area. There's a very comfortable space alongside the two concrete ramps, with room for us to stage up the 7 kayaks and 2 paddle boards we had on this trip. You can launch from the dock or from the concrete ramps. It was clear from the parking area that most fisherman were already out on the water. This was a Facebook event that my friend, Maarten Buijsman, and I put together, with a very comfortable 10am start, so we missed rush hour on the launch. There was a good bit more coming and going when we returned between 2pm and 3pm. 

On a day as crystal clear as this one, it was easy to see Fort Proctor from the launch, even if it's not so clear in this picture:

From the launch, you'll paddle to your right, with MRGO right in front of you. As you enter MRGO, you'll pass a Hurricane Katrina memorial on your right:

On land, right behind this cross, is also a plaque commemorating The Battle of Lake Borgne--a small skirmish between American gunboats and larger British vessels leading up to the Battle of New Orleans. 

Check traffic for motorized boats, and once you're sure MRGO is clear, go directly across. There's a breakwater running along the far side of MRGO that may make you think you're at a left/right fork (or maybe I'm just easily confused), but just continue straight into Bayou Yscloskey:

You'll see the fort in front of you, on the left side, and just continue along the bayou until you reach the lake. 

As the bayou opens up to the lake, you'll start to feel any waves. If it's calm, just head directly towards the fort. If it feels bouncy, you may want to hug the left side of the bayou and its mouth, following the rocky edge. But use your good judgement - don't get pushed into the rocks, and don't get over your head (bad humor intended) with waves. It's a short jump over to the fort, but if you aren't comfortable with the conditions, just come back another day. On calm days, you should be fine.

Be aware that as you approach the first, easternmost, corner of the rocky bank surrounding the fort, some of the submerged rocks and broken concrete extend out into the water more than you might suspect--don't cut too closely to that corner and hit rocks.

If you want to get out and explore the fort, go all the way around to the southwestern side of the fort, and you'll come to a break in the rocky bank and a pretty rough sandy, weedy place to get out and secure your boat. This is rough landing spot, and you'll have to pull your boat up into the tall weeds. 

To get to the fort itself, you'll first have to search for some semblance of a trail through tall weeds, and be comfortable walking through the tall grass, possibly through mud, over chunks of bricks, and then through knee or thigh-deep water:

 

As I stood in my short pants and light shirt and watched my friends go through this, I wondered if I wanted to follow, but I did, and I'm glad I did.  

You'll see in the picture above that my friends got to the corner of the fort and then edged along a very narrow "ledge" at the base of the fort. I found that if I stepped carefully, I could find chunks of bricks below the water, and simply walk carefully in thigh-deep water to the entrance. 

Once in the fort, it's time to take interesting pictures of this collapsed fort, with its graffiti, and climb around and enjoy.

Once you're done climbing and exploring, you trudge back through the water and weeds, and continue on!

After paddling back around the fort to the northern and eastern side, you'll paddle basically due east, past some concrete structures (I don't know what used to be here) and then follow the coast east/southeast about a mile and a half. On this very sunny day, we saw what looked like an island way off in the distance to the east, but this was just a grove of trees, probably at St. Malo. Don't head for that. Just follow the land on your right, which again will take you on an east/southeast bearing.

Then you'll come to the opening to Douluts Canal (I'm told this whole area is excellent for fishing):

Turn right into Douluts Canal--this little cove is where we stopped and ate a snack before continuing on. Douluts Canal curves its way to MRGO, but we decided to follow another small bayou that would eliminate some of our time on MRGO and any larger boat traffic. The first time I followed this little side bayou, a few years back, there was no confusion. This time, we didn't pay enough attention to the maps and simply thought we'd follow a single bayou west and then south back out to the main channel. And...we carelessly missed a couple of left hand turns and wandered into a maze of ponds and bayous and left hand and right hand turns, all of which looked alike, and when we realized we were heading north, we realized we were a bit lost. 

Intended route:

Actual route:

Honestly, this was simply a matter of my friend Maarten and me being a little too cocky and not looking at the maps well enough in advance to see this maze of bayous even existed. Luckily, we all had good cell phone reception and were able to view our navigation apps, and we had one tall person on a stand up board who could see over much of the marsh grass, and we eventually made our way back to where we meant to be. 

So, learn from our carelessness: either follow the canal back to MRGO, or bring a map, study the map, bring a GPS device or compass, and pay attention. Once you're in that maze, it really is a maze--every turn looks exactly the same. There are no trees, no structures, no anything to use as landmarks. You can lose A LOT of time in there if you miss your turn,

Once you're back on MRGO, follow the breakwater on your right, and you should start seeing boat traffic coming and going from Shell Beach and Bayou Yscloskey. There is a small canal just before the bayou, but the entrance to the bayou and Shell Beach should be pretty clear, especially since the bayou has an opening on both sides of MRGO. Of course, you can cross whenever you want, and the entrance to the bayou/marina would be easier to spot from the southeastern side of MRGO.

When the channel is clear, make your crossing and head in. By the way, we wondered if we would see the cross of the Katrina Memorial as a landmark, but it really isn't that visible until you're practically right across from it. But again, if you cross over sooner, you'll paddle right up to the memorial and know to turn left.

That's it! The trip as we did it was just over 6 miles. The trip as we planned it would have been around 5 1/2 miles.

Kayaking Bayou Lacombe - North from Main Street Launch

Here's a really nice paddle on beautiful Bayou Lacombe, starting and finishing at the Main St public boat launch, in Lacombe, LA. Lacombe is located on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, in St. Tammany Parish. The trip to the launch from the Metairie/New Orleans side of the Causeway Bridge is typically a 40-50 minute drive, depending on traffic.

Main St Boat Launch 

Here's a snip of a Google Map image of the general area for perspective. You'll notice the Cane Bayou launch on the left side of this map:

The Bayou Lacombe Main Street  launch is just a little detour off of Hwy 190, where Hwy 190 makes a sharp turn through the town of Lacombe, and is at the end of a very pretty, oak-lined road. There are some classic live oaks overhanging the road, and I've heard you sometimes need to watch for low branches on one of the trees (not in this picture) if you have your kayak or canoe on the roof of your car, but it's always been clear for me. 

When you look at a map of Bayou Lacombe at the Main St ramp, you'll see a clear option to the left, winding and curving west and north (that's the red route below), and a clear option to the right, going south (mostly) to the lake. You'll also see a smaller branch in between these two that takes a more northerly route. This post will be about the option to the left (in red), following the very curvy bayou north and west. 

I don't have any experience with that smaller, center option, but the right-hand option, out to Lake Pontchartrain, is also a very nice paddle. I may update this post, or add a separate post altogether for that one. Keep in mind, that route out to the lake is completely different than the route I'm describing here. Between the launch and the lake, Bayou Lacombe becomes more of a coastal grassland, and is much more exposed to any wind. Plus, almost all power boats leaving the launch will be going to the lake, so you'll deal with some wake. And.....to add a little excitement, you'll probably see a few gators swimming back and forth. But again, more about that in another post or in an update to this one.

Our route today is a "walk in the woods". Other than any wind, this is a very calm, very flat water route, lined with trees and a few homes. I would call this a beginner friendly paddle suitable for kayaks or canoes of almost any length. The only caveat: so far I have not paddled this route in the peak times of peak boating season, but based on the number of private boats I've passed docked along this route, you should expect some traffic headed to or from the lake. So far, I've only passed smaller fishing boats. Along the way you will pass some places to stop if you need to. Some of these places will be unmarked land, some will be private docks, and some will clearly be someone's land--so be careful about trespassing. Much of this paddle zigzags semi-parallel to Fish Hatchery Road, close enough that you can sometimes hear traffic driving nearby, and as I mentioned, you will pass homes. But you're still semi-isolated out here, so stay within your limits, wear your PFD, if you're alone make sure someone knows where you're going and when you should be back, and bring a phone in a waterproof sleeve or dry bag.

This is an out-and-back trip, so you can set your distance. On my last trip, I had to turn around a little after the 4 mile mark due to this(I didn't bring my machete):

So far, I've only gotten usable pictures on a beautiful fall day in October 2020. There is a myth that we don't get fall colors this far south. Wrong: You just need to paddle to them. Cypress trees, in particular, start turning beautiful shades of orange/rust and red.  I'll make a point of getting some pictures next spring, when the reds and yellows in these pictures will be vivid green, mixed with blooming flowers. 

 Again, this is an out-and-back, so I don't need to give much direction. I'll just describe a couple of things, and let the pictures say the rest. 

 

As you leave the launch, the bayou is fairly wide, and you'll pass a few homes and their docks and boats. You'll continue to pass a few houses off and on along much of this route. Water levels do change enough with tides and winds that some "land" marks change or disappear around this launch from day to day or week to week, so remember, go left almost as soon as you launch.

On my October 2020 trip, each curve of the bayou seemed to give another amazing camera shot of colors and water birds. With the dark, mirror-like surface, this paddle is a wannabe photographer's dream. Being a wannabee, I took a ton of pictures.

Just after a mile or so, you pass under Hwy 190:

Shortly after Hwy 190, you'll pass a couple of short oxbows or cul de sacs  as you paddle past the Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge and a Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries hatchery.  Then the bayou becomes a little less curvy for a bit, maybe a mile, before the curves return, zigzagging a little more east of north.

 

The two pictures above are of the same spot--one on the way out, and one on the way back.

As you continue paddling "upriver", you may hear animals moving in the woods alongside your paddle (sounded like deer to me), and you'll definitely see and hear birds all around, and of course, turtles splashing into the water as you approach. At one point, while playing master photographer, I'm pretty sure I heard something swimming in the bayou behind my kayak, but I never caught a glimpse of whatever it was.  

The bayou narrows as you continue, with more branches hanging overhead. Around the 3 1/2 or 4 mile mark you may have to duck branches or maneuver around trees and logs. Expect to scrape some semi-submerged logs, by the way.

 

I mentioned that on my October 2020 trip I was forced to turn around by some blockage I couldn't get through, but the water was also getting pretty shallow by that point. On that day, the water level at the launch was pretty high--probably 10-12 inches deeper than usual (we'd had a few days of east-southeast winds, pushing water into Lake Pontchartrain and into the north shore rivers and bayous). So it's possible that in different wind/water level conditions, I would have been forced to turn around just due shallow water.

For me, this is such a photo tour that I'm taking a lot of time, paddling slowly, stopping to take pictures, etc, and turning around after 3 or 4 miles is fine.  Because this route is so curvy, your return trip does not feel like a simple "return trip". You'll be seeing each of those beautiful curves from a different angle, and I end up taking pictures of some of the same spots. With the sun at a different angle on your return, you see brand new sights, or see some of the same spots in a brand new light, so to speak.

I'll probably update this post as I paddle Bayou Lacombe in different seasons. Meanwhile, enjoy this great walk in the woods!