Paddling the Rigolets from Fort Pike: 2 routes, plus a third option

Paddling through the Rigolets is quite an experience and I really enjoy it. But for many reasons, I’m going to rate this as an intermediate to advanced paddle. The cautious tone I'll have here is mainly because I've just seen too many people try to do 10-15 mile trips in boats that are just not adequate, and often their skills and fitness levels aren't up to task either. This trip, in the wrong boat, on the wrong day, could be rough. If you've paddled a bit, know some of your limits and want to test them a little, and know how to read a tide chart, this can be a good route for you. The route I'll describe through St Catherine Pass and the Rigolets is 13-14 miles.  Some of that, at some point, will be against the flow of the tide.  
Compared to most of my other articles, this one will be more about the conditions and safety concerns, and less about the photography and details of the route. I’ll list some images of maps and routes, and you’ll see that the common routes are pretty easy to follow.

Here's a capture from Google Earth of three routes my Garmin has recorded on some of my trips in this area. This post is primarily about the fuchsia route in this image, but I also mention the light blue route.

The light blue route also has its own post here:
http://www.southeasternlouisianapaddling.com/2016/04/old-pearl-river-rigolets-kayak.html

And, the red route is described in this post:  
http://www.southeasternlouisianapaddling.com/2016/05/marathon-kayak-trip-fort-pike-lake-st.html

A few things need to be considered before paddling the Rigolets, Lake St Catherine, and Bay Jaune, as well as the passes between the Rigolets and Bay Jaune, all affecting safety and difficulty levels. First and foremost are the tides.  This area is a coastal marsh, so any trip or loop in this area, and especially on the 8 mile Rigolets, has to be based around the timing and flow of the tides. I will not pretend to be an expert in this area—my knowledge of tides is  pretty amateurish, to be honest. But I can speak to experiences that I’ve had. 

In very general terms, look at a map of this area, and try to envision an overall movement of water, either going out, or coming in. That's a lot of water being squeezed into small channels. So, if you leave from Fort Pike and head out to Lake St Catherine and then Bay Jaune with an ebb tide (tide going out), your paddle will be fun and easy until you turn back towards the fort in the Rigolets itself, and then you’ll slow down a lot, depending on the range of the tides and your timing.  How the tidal currents will feel going through Bay Jaune and St Catherine Pass is fairly predictable—you’ll work harder or more easily, depending on the your heading versus the tide. But, the same is not true of the Rigolets. 

My first two or three times out here, I really had a simplistic view of the flow of the tides. For an amateur at understanding tides, it was easy for me to look at the map and think of the flow through the Rigolets as being like the flow of a river. I assumed it would simply be "with me" or "against me" as the tides moved in and out. But that’s really not the case here. This is not a river, whose course was cut by the one-way flow of water, so you're not simply paddling upstream or downstream. This is a curved, narrow pass that has water “pushed" or "pulled" through it with each movement of the tide. The flow interacts with the shape of the land on both sides, so there’s a good bit of reflective energy. This channel also gets pretty deep compared to the areas around it--in excess of 50 feet. so there's a lot of energy, and it can feel very bouncy. And the energy changes as you pass through each curve. 

I have paddled through the Rigolets on the day of a full moon (Spring Tide), and was paddling “with” the flow through the Rigolets, but I hardly felt any benefit. My partner and I were in nice sea kayaks, but with no skegs or rudders, and it was a lot of work. We had already fought against the tide paddling through Bay Jaune and St Catherine Pass getting to the Rigolets, thinking we'd ride the flood tide in once we hit the Rigolets. Not so much. We were tired from the effort getting to the Rigolets, and once there, the water was very bouncy and our boats were really weather cocking. This was the wrong day to bring an inexperienced paddler, especially in a boat without a skeg or rudder. I did not know there was a full moon (poor planning), and I'm sure the tidal range was larger due to that, so more water was moving that day. For my partner, with little experience in bouncy water or with edging and correcting for pretty severe weather cocking, who was already tired, this was just too much. Especially with a good bit of fast moving motor boat traffic. As we moved through the Rigolets, the water energy changed with the shape of the channel,  and we'd go from weather cocking to the left for a while, then to the right for a while. For more experienced and confident paddlers, it could have been a fun day to test fitness and boat handling.

But that day was the most difficult I've experienced out here. I've had several trips through the Rigolets that were much, much calmer, with the main concern simply being the direction of the tide or the wind. In fact, the last time I paddled this area, I got to the Rigolets at the very end of the incoming tide, or more likely at slack tide, and it was the smoothest part of the entire trip. 

And of course, wind will have a very strong influence. There’s a lot of open water around, and that’s surrounded by flat terrain and only grassy vegetation. So if there’s a wind, you’ll feel it. The marsh grass offers some protection from the wind as you pass through any of the smaller channels, but not a lot. 

In Lake St Catherine and Bay Jaune, you’ll probably only encounter fishing boats, but some will be moving pretty fast. In the Rigolets, you’ll encounter a large variety of boats, most moving fast, and few expecting to see kayaks out there. Stay to the edges, and if you need to cross from one side to the other, be very careful. The crossing can be a third to a half mile, and again, larger vessels won’t be looking for you.

Finally, another consideration is that you may not encounter any firm ground to stop and take a break. On the St Catherine Pass option, you should be able to pull over and rest at the train tracks just past the left hand turn that you’ll see on that route image. Basically, go past your left hand turn, take a break, and then keep right when you set off again. If you want to add a little bit to the paddle, there's a sandy landing spot past the RR bridge, also. On the Counterfeit Pass route, you should expect to have to stay in your boat the entire time.

None of this is to discourage you. It's only meant to prepare you and to make sure you plan your trip and know what you could experience. I really do enjoy paddling through the Rigolets. 

Okay, the routes:
As I mentioned above, the routes are pretty easy to follow on a map, but it is worth remembering that one “intersection” in the marsh looks like another, and you will come across some small waterways through the marsh grass that you may confuse with your actual route. If you take the route through Counterfeit Pass, it would certainly be helpful to load the route into a GPS device. It’s not that hard to follow, but again, you may get tempted to go down the wrong path. The route through St Catherine Pass is easier to follow, since that pass is pretty wide and easy to distinguish from the others. To follow this route, you just need to look for the very wide and noticeable left hand turn shown on the image I’ve provided. In the route image below, you can see the train tracks where you should be able to stop and relax. This is actually just past the left turn I mentioned above, so you can go past the turn, land, stretch and eat, and then head back to the Rigolets. Looking at the map, you can see that St Catherine Pass has a much more direct flow to and from Lake Borgne, so the tidal influence is very noticeable.

I actually haven't yet made it through Counterfeit Pass, but I'm eager to. I am curious to see if the tidal influence is less noticeable, since this pass is really an offshoot from the Rigolets, and runs more perpendicular to the general tidal flow. My hunch is that the tidal flow is a little less strong here, but I just don't know yet. On the day I intended to take this path, my GPS failed, my directional confidence was low, and tidal flow was very strong, so I didn't want to take any wrong turns, and I just went to St Catherine Pass (and worked very hard against the current). I've added an image of gmap-pedometer route through Counterfeit Pass also, as well as a link to that route that you could export as a GPX to add to your GPS.

Finally, some friends and I did a very fun paddle down the Old Pearl River to the Rigolets once that involved only a short vehicle shuttle from Fort Pike to our launch farther down Hwy 90. I've included an image of that route, as recorded by my Garmin Forerunner. That launch was right across Hwy 90 from Cajun Encounters Swamp Tours. 

The Fort Pike Launch:

Just west of Fort Pike on Hwy 90 is a public boat launch:

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.1653248,-89.7371044,164m/data=!3m1!1e3

The launch at Fort Pike

A loop through St Catherine Pass to the Rigolets. The white line cutting the bottom right corner is the train tracks, and that's one spot to stop and stretch and eat.

An option going through Counterfeit Pass, with a link to this below:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6706681

Old Pearl River to Rigolets, with  short car shuttle between launch and finish.

Lake St Catherine, just leaving the launch.

As you launch from Fort Pike, you should see the Rigolets train bridge off in the distance (above picture).  But this is NOT the same train bridge you'll come to on St. Catherine Pass.

Lunch at the train tracks--above and below:

As you can see, it's wide open out here--nothing to stop the wind.

Just past the train bridge

There's a lot of open water out here.

Fort Pike

Paddling Cane Bayou (or is it Bayou Cane?)

****UPDATE 2020

Apparently the state or the parish 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.

 

You should expect to see some alligators - one or two. Leave 'em alone and they'll just watch you go by, no problem.

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:

Stopping for a snack along the shore of the lake:

This is us paddling along the lake a few years back:

out on the lake

That's about it! Paddle out to lake, explore, enjoy, head back.

Paddling Bayou Bienvenue-right in our backyard

Bayou Bienvenue and its adjacent waterways sit right above the 9th Ward of New Orleans and Chalmette, and the actual bayou winds from the Industrial Canal (almost) over to Lake Borgne. It's an amazing getaway for something so close to downtown. 

Right off the bat, I'll mention that the biggest problem with paddling Bayou Bienvenue has to do with its launch options. There is a free spot on Florida Ave at Fats Domino Ave (formerly Caffin Ave) with a small parking area, but you have to carry your boat up and then down stairs that take you over the levee. And the two times I've looked at this spot, the blanket of water hyacinths seemed too thick to overcome. Instead, I've headed over to Paris Road, and used two private launches that charge $7 (as of Jan 2016) per car. The link below is the option closer to the city and right on the bayou itself. I've also included a link to the Florida Ave spot. And by the way, my friends with Kayak-iti-yak only use the Florida Ave spot, and have told me that the hyacinths aren't usually the problem that they were in December 2015 and January 2016.

Here's a link to my preferred Paris Road launch, behind the Paradise Casino:

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.9824387,-89.9446016,271m/data=!3m1!1e3

And the link to the Florida Avenue launch:
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.977191,-90.0122017,692m/data=!3m1!1e3

***Quick update: Caffin Avenue is now Fats Domino Ave***

Between Paris Road and the city you can enjoy two very different experiences on this trip. Bayou Bienvenue used to snake through a cypress forest/swamp. That forest is gone now, and only the "outline" of Bayou Bienvenue remains.  Right across from the launch behind the Paradise Casino, you pass under Paris Road and follow the bayou for a bit. Soon, you'll have an option to go south/left into the open area that feels like a small lake or coastal marsh, or keep more to your right and follow the bayou. On the trip I'll show a map of below, I go left here. If it's windy, you'll feel it. You'll see downtown New Orleans on your left, and probably hear the steady and familiar (to us natives) sound of a freight train horn. It's an interesting mix to feel like you're "away from it all", but hear and see civilization right there. Pelicans, hawks, eagles(?), trains and skyscrapers. As with most marshes, you can explore the various routes through the marsh, but here you won't have to worry about getting lost (even for me) because the overall area is not that large, and the city to your south  and west helps you keep your bearing. 

But when you're on the bayou itself (if you continue straight, or on the return trip in my route shown below), you really feel away from it all. An unbelievable amount of birds--every splash of the paddle seems to stir another flock of birds--and trees on both sides, blocking your view of the city for much of the route. You can really forget that the city is so close.

By the way, pelicans are very willing models, so that's most of what you'll see in my photos. But you will see a very large variety of birds, depending upon the season.

I've done a little exploring in this area, with some trips going east, through the flood gates and out to  Battery Bienvenue and Lake Borgne: Bayou Bienvenue to Fort McComb

But my standard loop of Bayou Bienvenue is this 10 mile loop:

By the way, looking at the route above, the start/finish is in the center of the right edge. Much of that large loop is pretty exposed to any wind. But in the top center of the image above, you enter into what actually feels like a bayou, with a little more protection from the wind. Also note that a potential hazard zone exists on this loop in the south western part of the loop. Just south of the intersection where this route extends into the main outfall canal are the remnants of the old cypress forest, and you do need to look for semi-submerged tree stumps. Again, that's just about the left/center of the image above.

That's about it for this trip. Just remember that even though this is a relatively enclosed area, this terrain can get a little confusing from our low perspective, so you could end up exploring or backtracking more than you intended. Bring a map and/or a GPS device, and study it first. And, most important about this trip: respect the wind. This is an exposed area, and if the wind is blowing, you will feel it out here.

And, here's a posting of a trip going east from this launch spot, out into Lake Borgne and over to Fort McComb:

http://www.southeasternlouisianapaddling.com/2016/03/bayou-bienvenue-lake-borgne-kayak.html

Enjoy!

Paddling Blind River-Two Options

Blind River, Two options:

Upstream—away from Lake Maurepas and power boats, or downstream, to old chapel (and headed towards the mouth at Lake Maurepas).

***NOTE***
In the summer of 2016, this region experienced record flooding which damaged the Our Lady of Blind River Chapel and destroyed its dock. Since this is the typical lunch spot and turnaround for the downstream option, consider your options or check the chapel's Facebook page for updates:
https://www.facebook.com/Our-Lady-Of-Blind-River-158075900881659/
I don't have any confirmed updates, but I've heard that progress is being made on this rebuild process (as of early 2020) and I've seen pictures of folks sitting on the incomplete deck. 

***Latest update as of 2021 - the chapel and deck are restored!! We paddled there in Dec 2020 and were able to stop and relax on the deck and see the restored chapel.

***NOTE #2***
In early November, 2019, I was unable to do the upstream option, due to extremely thick water hyacinth growth blocking passage under the Hwy 61 bridge. From boat level, this looked much, much too thick for me to try to push through, so I simply went downstream.  Of course, on my next trip to Blind River in April 2020, the path under the bridge was clear. So the main point is: Be flexible and willing to change plans. There are plenty of options out here. 

I've added a new post about other options for paddling around Blind River:
Paddling Blind River - Just Exploring

I will describe both in this single document, so this is long.
But, you could read the general notes below, and then jump to the details of the upstream option by clicking here, or the downstream option by clicking here.

Difficulty: Easy, if you're okay with 10 miles and (seasonally) heavy motor boat traffic on the downstream option. Typically no perceptible current in upstream option, and very mellow current in downstream option. Motor boat traffic can be very heavy in the downstream option, so you’ll deal with some wake action. Most boaters are very polite and try to minimize wake. Virtually any kayak or canoe would be fine for this trip--but of course, any kayak under 12' long will be tiring for this distance.

Distance: 8-10 miles, depending on options for upstream routes, and about 10 miles for the downstream option, if your turnaround is the chapel(described below).

General Description and Launch: The St.  James Boat Club offers a great launch along Hwy 61 in Gramercy. This is the same launch for both options.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/St+James+Boat+Club/@30.1015316,-90.7364447,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xa5713959d1be6b18

The upstream option (go right) goes under Hwy 61, which limits it to smaller boats. This route feels much more isolated and “swampy”, and has very little motor boat traffic. The biggest thing to keep in mind with this option is that other than an old, abandoned hunting club very early into this paddle, you may not find a stopping spot. It can be very hard to distinguish between mushy mud and firm ground out here. On one trip, our group of 8 or so found a spot right around the 4.5-5 mile mark where we were able to pull over, get out, stretch and eat. But, the next time we didn’t find it. So, you need to be prepared to stay in your kayak for all but the near beginning and near end of this trip.

The downstream option (go left) is, and feels like a very slow moving river the whole time. It’s wide enough to allow motor boats and kayakers to make plenty of room for each other.  The typical destination on this option is the Our Lady of Blind River Chapel, near the 5 mile mark. You can get out, relax on the wooden deck, visit the chapel, and use a restroom. Water levels can make docking and securing boats tricky. Bring rope—you may need to string boats together.
Both options, upstream and downstream, offer up-close access to a cypress forest as the river moves through it. As you look at the photos, you'll see that there are no banks to this river.  As you paddle along the edges, you brush up against lily pads and look right into the forest. Plenty of birds, varying with the season. 

Details of the upstream option:

Bring your camera.

There is no specific destination: paddle until overgrowth, fatigue, or nature’s call turn you around.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6640389

The upstream option starts wide, and is very calm.  I usually describe this route as having no current, but we did do a trip here in October 2017, within a day or two of a pretty good downpour, and we definitely felt like we were paddling upstream. It was a pretty light current, but it definitely made the return leg faster.

You’ll pass one or two bayous off to your right, and you’ll come upon an old abandoned hunting club. The dock looks pretty rough, but it’s stable.  

After this, and another bayou off to the right, the river quickly narrows and this begins to feel more like a swamp paddle. Eventually, it’s just you and whoever you’re with, and nature. No motor boats, no other people.

One of the side bayous

Exploring on of the side bayous.

And another side bayou.

You’ll encounter two logging canals that you may think are the actual river, but they are not. Both are to the left, and are very straight canals. Continue towards your right, past those.  The second of these will very much feel like the river itself, but again, when you see a very straight option to your left and a more natural option to your right, go right.  There’s a bit of an island to the right, and the river continues beyond that. After this, the river really narrows and the vegetation thickens.

On our trips upstream, we usually determine our turn around spot by hitting a blockage that looks impassable and/or realizing we’ll need to answer nature’s call soon.  

In fact, you’ll have some nice options to explore or continue farther if you’re willing to push and trudge through a few vegetation blockages. These blockages are often only 5-15 feet thick, and then the river opens up again, but they do seem to get more numerous the farther along you go.

Lunch! Of course, we passed this spot the next trip, but didn't see it.

In the thick of summer, you can expect to have to push through at least one “blockage” to continue more than 3 or 4 miles out on the main river, or to explore the side bayous, some of which are worth the effort to explore. If you give up on your first blockage in summer, this could be a very short paddle…the vegetation is soft and doesn’t hurt my fiberglass kayak.

In person, this looks impassable, but it really just took a couple of minutes of work to push through.

Otherwise, this is a very simple out-and-back. 

Details of the downstream option:

Bring your camera.

And rope to tie the boat(s) at the chapel (explained later).

Don’t let this shorter description suggest this route is more boring than the other. It’s just a simpler route to follow, and there are fewer options. In fact, the options really are limited to exploring one or two side routes (I haven’t), or continuing farther down the river past the chapel.

Update-April 12, 2016: We did the trip again for a social paddle, and my friends Nick and Stephanie continued past the chapel, up to a canal that connected with Bayou Fusil, which looped them back onto Blind River headed back to the start/finish. They said it added about 3 miles, and they saw "unbelievable amounts of wildlife."

As mentioned, this route remains wide and keeps its “river” feel. You’ll almost always share the water with fishing boats, and in spring and summer, you’ll have a lot of pleasure boats also. It’s very green, with cypress trees and birds all around.  Each bend in the river seems to bring another photo op. You’ll probably feel a very slight current helping you along on your way out, so plan on the return trip being a little slower. Even though it's usually a pretty light current, it can combine with the distance to tire out a shorter boat or less experienced paddler.

Between the 4.5 and 5 mile mark, you’ll see Our Lady of Blind River on the left. This is a small, very rustic chapel with a large deck out front. The dock can be high, and there may not be any easy spots to land on the shore. In our group paddles, one person will typically exit onto the dock, tie his/her kayak off and then start helping others up, while tying the boats to each other.  There is a separate restroom to the right rear of the chapel. Relax, eat, visit. Then head back when everyone’s ready.