Black Bayou Lake NWR

The kayak route in the above map explores the Black Bayou Lake NWR just north of Monroe, Louisiana. There are a lot of ‘black bayous’ and sometimes its hard to keep them straight. This place is one more great option, among many, in the Monroe area, including Corney Bayou, Chemin-A-Haut, and the D’Arbonne NWR. There is a launch at the north side close to the visitors center from which you paddle out a long corridor formed by the lilies in order to get into the main lake. Some of the areas to the northeast were either off limits due to bird nesting sites 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 which extends to the west. I had several alligator sightings and the sky for this trip was spectacular. Paddling within an NWR is usually worth it.

Above: Green.

Above: Curious sky reflections.

Above: Wow.