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Easter Weekend on the West Guide Levee of the Atchafalaya

By Antoinette DeBosier
Basin Resources Scientist

With all the energy of a tornado, a small boy runs past me, full of excitement, in anticipation of another bountiful day of fishing in the Atchafalaya. Kids are out of school for Easter Week and parents are taking advantage of the gorgeous weather for camping with friends and family.

I’m out for a walk in the moon light, something my family and I do quite often in the cooler months here in south Louisiana. It’s Holy Thursday evening and the full moon is shining down through the giant cottonwoods, onto the black water that runs just north of a small recreation area, camp ground and park in Butte Larose. I can hear the campers talking about where they’re going to fish tomorrow and where they’re going “set up on the levee” to let the kids crawfish for Good Friday (one of many Cajun traditions). Tomorrow, the tow of the levee that is meant to holdback flood waters will be covered with folks who come from near and far to take advantage of easy bank fishing and crawfishing. There will be tables and chairs, laughter and good cheer, as spring unfolds once again in the swamp.

The land in Butte Larose where the recreation area is today was once part of an old home site belonging to Mr. Dick Davis, a local whose family later donated the property to St. Martin Parish for a park. The park itself was originally built and is currently maintained by St. Martin Parish government and speaks to the history of the people of the area and their love of the swamp and its natural resources. In 2001, St. Martin Parish government requested that the Department of Natural Resource’s Atchafalaya Basin Program (ABP) take on the park as a Basin Project and suggested some much needed improvements for the Park.

Completion of much needed improvements to “Uncle Dick Davis Park”, so named for its landowner, seems to have recreated quite an opportunity for families to camp, fish, crawfish, and enjoy the splendor of one of south Louisiana’s greatest treasures, the Atchafalaya Basin. The Park is located atop the Butte Larose Ridge on Herman Dupuy Road, in St. Martin Parish, just south of Lake Henderson and offers some of the best kept fishing secrets of the Basin. With its nominal fee for tent camping, 18 RV sites, each with trailer hookups for electricity and running water, parking and bathroom facility, the park is a great get-away for folks who enjoy the outdoors. Be aware that the park fills quickly with visitors each and every weekend, as occupancy is on a first-come, first-serve basis. The onsite launch gives fishermen (and women) access to Lakes Henderson and Pelba, and Indian Bayou. Up the road to the northeast is Ducet’s grocery and another launch with access into the great Atchafalaya River.

To the west of the Park is the historic Butte Larose Pontoon Bridge, an access point, over the West Guide Levee, to get travelers in and out of the Basin. Once over the levee, traveling north, the blacktop levee road takes you past several water-front businesses along Lake Henderson that offer houseboat rentals, swamp tours, and some of the best Cajun food, music, and dance around. Continuing north on the Levee Road will take you to the quaint town of Henderson, once a renowned fishing village where goods were traded via a railway that crossed the entire swamp. Known by many as the Gateway to the Basin, Henderson is the home of the annual Atchafalaya Festival and boasts of several very good Cajun restaurants.

Traveling south on the Levee Road takes you pasted the town of Catahoula, just off Highway 96, to Lake Fausse Point State Park and beyond. Again, this area of the Basin is one of spectacular beauty, with a haunting history of Cajun swampers who made their living by hunting, trapping, crabbing, and fishing, and whose floating houses (houseboats) could be moved throughout the seasons of the year to take advantage of where the bounty of natural resources were found.

The Atchafalaya Basin is more than a great fishing spot. It is more than majestic cypress draped in Spanish moss. It’s an experience you, your family, and friends don’t want to miss. For more information on places to go and things to see go to the Department of Natural Resources Atchafalaya Basin website at: http://dnr.louisiana.gov/atchafalaya/