NEWS

Explore South Louisiana’s great outdoors

David Cheramie
Bayou Vermilion District
Members of Boy Scout Troop 383 of Evansville, Indiana, paddle in the Atchafalaya Basin near Henderson in 2014.

South Louisiana has long been known for its bountiful resources and natural beauty.

Our landscape and the people who inhabit it are famous for their hospitality and generosity. Hunting and fishing are the traditional outdoors activities that men and woman, young and old, have always enjoyed; long ago for survival and sustenance, nowadays for recreation and fun.

Fur-trapping and moss-picking are no longer the lucrative industries they once were. But, these enterprises involved the ability to maneuver a pirogue or a chaland in the bayous and swamps.

Today, paddling one’s canoe, kayak or paddle board is an activity unto itself that has been steadily growing in popularity, especially among younger generations. Our good friends with the T.E.C.H.E. Project recently had their 135-mile Bayou Teche paddle trail designated as part of the National Water Trails System. It is only one of 16 throughout the United States.

Guests paddle canoes during the 2014 Native American Culture Day at Vermilionville.

Right next door and connecting at a couple of spots, the Bayou Vermilion also has a paddle trail whose map can be viewed online at apps.lafayettela.gov/paddletrail/. This map is a collaborative effort between the Bayou Vermilion District, the Bayou Vermilion Preservation Association, Lafayette Consolidated Government, Project Front Yard and CGI, a global information technology company.

We maintain three boat ramps and three canoe and kayak launches, as well as three parks along the bayou, including the living history museum and folklife park Vermilionville There is also the ever popular Lake Martin where you can either fish, paddle or, if the time of year is right, you can see any number of nesting water birds in the rookery such as the Great Blue Heron, the Roseate Spoonbill and several species of egrets.

All of the local watersheds can also be grouped into the Atchafalaya Basin, which has also been designated as a national heritage area. It is the largest wetlands in the United States, about 20 miles wide and 150 miles long, covering 1.4 million acres. You can find out more about it at www.atchafalaya.org.

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Within the basin, the Boy Scouts of America have established their latest High Adventure with Swamp Base, a 100-year commitment to introduce thousands of youth to the environment and culture of the Atchafalaya. Over several weeks every summer, BSA troops from near and far begin their journey at Vermilionville where we give them an orientation to the people, flora, fauna and geography of the area. For the next five days, they leave the trailhead at Bayou Courtableau, paddle their way through the swamp until they arrive at trail end, Myette Point near Lake Fausse Pointe. You don’t have to be an Eagle Scout to appreciate the beauty of the basin. The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources has developed a map the gives the GPS coordinates of the primitive camp sites, which can be found by searching on its website at dnr.louisiana.gov.

If you are not quite that adventurous, there are several other options in the area. As a matter of fact, Halloween weekend will see the 10th annual Black Pot Festival at Vermilionville for the first time. There will be overnight camping in the baseball fields right next door while the music, dancing and cooking will be going on in the park. If you are more into camping of the RV type, Acadiana Park offers hook-ups at 1205 E Alexander St. You can also learn more about the local ecosystem at the adjacent Acadiana Nature Station, www.naturestation.org.

Lafayette and Acadiana offers many opportunities for the outdoors enthusiast and the Bayou Vermilion District is a good starting point if you want to take full advantage of them. The natural environment of south Louisiana is never far away and easily accessible so there is no excuse not to get out and enjoy it.

David Cheramie is the chief executive officer of the Bayou Vermilion District.