The Mississippi River, one of the largest in the world
More than 3,700 km long, the river rises at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, near the Canada-U.S. border, before flowing south to New Orleans. It is part of the Missouri-Mississippi river basin, one of the largest in the world, and its watershed, the3rd largest in the world behind the Amazon and the Congo, encompasses 31 American states and two Canadian provinces. At the end of its course, the Mississippi flows into the Gulf of Mexico after drowning the whole of southern Louisiana, creating bayous and an immense 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 Amerindians. Black slaves, who nicknamed him Old Miss' or Old Al' (for alligator), often invoked him to produce fog and stop work. When the weather was fine, they helped him a little by throwing tobacco plants into the fog, hoping that Old Al' would fill his pipe and start smoking.
The meandering Mississippi bends to seduce and bog down the adventurers who travel on its back. Early explorers dreaded the impressive floods its wrath provoked. In 1717, Governor de Bienville imposed the construction of levees (earthen dykes) in an attempt to tame the river. Over the centuries, a system for controlling, draining and diverting 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 river flood in Les Palmiers sauvages - Si je t'oublie, Jérusalem). But since the flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, this system of river flood control in the New Orleans area has been called into question and re-examined.
Today, the river remains the preferred means of communication for heavy goods, but river traffic has largely diminished since the invention of the railway and then the car. Very few romantics prefer to stroll along the Mississippi rather than take a faster means of transport.
That said, many cruises are offered on the Mississippi, notably aboard paddle steamers. Some, like the New Orleans Steamboat Company, take the form of sightseeing excursions lasting a few hours, while others, like American Queen Voyages, offer the chance to set sail for a few days across several states. If you don't have sea legs, there's a tourist route that follows the Mississippi 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's a road trip not to be missed! Last but not least, there are several museums and interpretation centers dedicated to 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 a Native American name (from Choctaw bayuk) meaning "small stream/creek" or "snake". Bayous are stretches of stagnant water, punctuated by bald cypress trees, that extend into a green jungle in the southern part of the state, notably in Acadiana (Cajun country), forming an immense navigable network of thousands of kilometers of "guts". Although the water seems stagnant, there's a very slight current. It's also where the Acadians settled during the Great Upheaval. During your trip, you'll hear about both bayou and swamp - the latter being more difficult to penetrate, but the two words are synonymous - and marsh, brackish water marshes devoid of trees.
There are several state parks and conservation areas where you can discover these natural environments, including 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 and the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area in Breaux Bridge. Museums and interpretive centers, such as the Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum in Houma, the Wetlands Cajun Cultural Center in Thibodaux and the Bayou Teche Museum in New Iberia, also focus on bayou life and the development of Acadian settlements. But the most popular activity in the bayous is undoubtedly the famous swamp tour (guided tour by hydrofoil or boat), most of which are offered in Greater New Orleans and Cajun country. In this guide, you'll find plenty of good addresses for this totally different experience.
Atchafalaya Basin: Atchafalaya comes from the Choctaw language and means "long river". A former branch of the Mississippi River, the Atchafalaya basin stretches over 5,700 km2 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, surpassing the Everglades in Florida and the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia.
Native Americans led the first settlers, mainly Acadians, through the meandering basin, while local settlers preferred to live along the river. For a long time, the Cajuns remained isolated from the rest of Louisiana, living alone in the swamps. Churches and schools were nothing more than boats. But the arrival of man in the basin changed the ecosystem, and 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 over 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 (around 22 million pounds are harvested annually). Tourism also plays an important role, with fishing, boating, hunting and birdwatching, not to mention the famous swamp tours. For further information on the Atchafalaya basin: atchafalaya.org
The Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast, as it's commonly known, stretches across five southeastern states, with Louisiana having the3rd longest coastline after Florida and Texas. Creeks, bays, lagoons and marshes are part of the landscape of this vast region, and numerous rivers flow into the Gulf, including the largest of them all, the Mississippi. One in five Americans live in this region, and the economy revolves around petrochemical industries, fisheries and tourism, to name but a few.
Louisiana's Gulf coast is not easily accessible, with few roads except in the western part of the state. To the south of New Orleans, the coast is slowly losing its marshes to rising sea levels caused by global warming, storms and hurricanes that frequently flood the area, and the huge number of canals cut by the oil industry, ruining the entire surrounding ecosystem. In fact, from west to east, it's impossible to miss the omnipresence of the petrochemical industry, not to mention the dozens of oil rigs off the coast of Louisiana (the most of which can be found here). Let's just say that the idyllic view of the Gulf Coast has taken a hit! That said, there are a few seaside destinations such as Venice, Grand Isle, Holly Beach and Little Florida Beach. However, these were hard hit by the hurricanes in 2020 and 2021, and several facilities were wiped out. For 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 almost 800 km2, it is the largest man-made body of water in Louisiana and the American South, and the5th largest in the country.
Following the frequent flooding of the Sabine River, the two states embarked on the acquisition of land and construction of the dam in the 1960s, managed jointly by Texas and Louisiana, making it the only project of its kind without any federal aid for permanent funding. Work was completed in 1969, and the power plant went into operation the same year. Toledo Bend Reservoir Dam, located in Newton County, Texas, is capable of generating approximately 92 megawatts of electrical power.
Every year, many people come to enjoy the 2,000 km of shoreline, the water sports and the resorts and campgrounds in the area. On the Texas side, the Sabine National Forest runs along the entire western shore of the reservoir, while on the eastern shore 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 navigating the reservoir, even when following marked routes.
