Black Bayou Lake NWR

The kayak route in the above map explores the Black Bayou Lake NWR just north of Monroe, Louisiana. This is another option among many in the Monroe area including Corney Bayou, Chemin-A-Haut, and D’Arbonne NWR. The NWR has a launch at the north side close to the visitors center and you paddle out a long corridor formed by the lilies to get into the main lake. Some of the areas to the northeast were either off limits or were heavily congested with invasive vegetation. Still, there were quite a few nooks and crannies to investigate, and you can paddle out into the large lake portion of the refuge to the west. I had several alligator sightings, and the sky for this trip was spectacular.

Above: Green.

Above: Curious sky reflections.

Above: Wow.