Southeastern Louisiana Paddling: Paddling Cane Bayou (or is it Bayou Cane?)

****UPDATE 2020

Apparently the state or the state is now charging $3 to park/launch at this spot. I have not been here since this was enacted, but I'm told there is a kiosk to pay and get a stub for your dashboard. ****

Everyone I know calls this Cane Bayou, but Google Maps calls it Bayou Cane. I'm sticking with Cane Bayou...

This is a beautiful little paddle in the Mandeville/Lacombe area, and perhaps the ideal beginner's paddle for a few reasons: It's as beautiful as any paddle you'll do around here; you can make it very short, as it's well less than 2 miles to the lake; it's very calm and very easy, and you'll only encounter small fishing boats. Or, you can play in the lake, or go exploring in the marshy areas around the bayou.

Our launch spot is a dirt/gravel launch on the south side Hwy 190, very near Monteleone High School, and almost directly across from a fire station:

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.3378854,-90.0023513,505m/data=!3m1!1e3

It's just on the west side of the small bridge over Cane Bayou on Hwy 190.

Once you launch, the most simple options are to head north for a while, and then turn around and head to the lake. The one time I did explore going north, we hit downed trees and overgrowth that turned us around pretty soon, but it was beautiful and I recommend doing this. It's just more beauty to enjoy, even if you end up turning around within a few minutes. Once you are heading south towards the lake, it's pretty simple to follow. Just south of the launch, you may have a couple of small right-hand routes to take, but they just loop back around to the bayou. I don't need to guide you much here. Just stay on the bayou until you get to the lake. The pictures speak for themselves.

You can also choose to take a detour via a left hand fork about a mile south of the launch. With this, you can explore the marshy areas north of Lake Pontchartrain. However, be warned, it's very easy to lose your way on this detour. The marsh has quite a few turns and dead ends, and one junction looks just like another in the marsh. I took a trip with a friend once who was sure he could lead us through this detour out to the lake, since he had done it before. We made it eventually, and it was very nice, but we did an awful lot of back-paddling, turning around, trying to read our location on our smartphones (which is hard in the bright sun). This was on a hot, sunny June day, and it's very exposed in the marshy areas off of Cane Bayou, so we were pretty happy when we finally made it out to the lake. Here's a screenshot of that trip, as recorded by my Garmin Forerunner:

This was about a 9 mile trip, and you can see where we did some back tracking trying to find our way through the marsh (bottom right of this photo)

Finally, the route through the marsh out to the lake.

Assuming you stay on the bayou, you'll reach Lake Pontchartrain in about a mile and a half. There is a transitional zone right as the bayou opens up to the lake where the water gets very shallow. Sometimes we have to get out and "walk" our kayaks and canoes through 4 or 5 inches of grassy water. Other times, it can be a foot or more, and there can be a little bounce as the deeper lake water washes up to this shallow zone. Either way, it should be easy to find some sandy and/or grassy areas to pull over and rest, picnic, take pictures, etc.

This little area is a big part of what makes this a great social paddle. On my last Meetup.com social paddle out here, we had true first timers, and very young children (with parents, of course), and it was an amazing time. Of course, you can explore either east or west along the edge as far as you want. Any waves will be hitting you sideways, probably making your kayak want to weathercock out into the lake, so a rudder or skeg will help beginners stay straight. You will probably be able to find spots to pull over and secure the boats and swim, relax, eat, enjoy.

These next pictures are from that social paddle in May of 2017:

Where the bayou meets the lake: