Sabine Island WMA A
Sabine Island WMA is a large island area on the Texas Louisiana border just north of Orange. On the west side is the Sabine River and on the east side is the Old River. There is a lot of area to paddle, there are little channels, bayous, and sloughs all over and the kayak routes here are labeled A, B, C, D. Sometimes things are a bit busy motorboat-wise but you can get free of that pretty quickly. The launch is at Nibletts Bluff Park in Louisiana; this puts you into the Old River about midway up the island. (Do not drive too fast in Nibletts Bluff Park or a serious young man will drop by to discuss it with you). Lousiana requires an annual WMA access permit and a DIY two part WMA day pass available at the launch. The above map shows a couple routes. The red route is the first and goes north to explore the channels in and around Lundy Slough, then south to go up a ways in Brenam Bayou. The next trip, in yellow, was aimed at doing a complete Brenam Bayou transit across the island, hit the Sabine, and come back round the bottom. The water level was up a bit and this gave a bit of current in the bayou. It’s tight and twisty up there and the headings NSEW move all around before you reach the Sabine. If the water is low it would be a tougher trip.
30.20048,-93.6795
Launch Site Google Maps Link
Above: Long channel in the Lundy Bayou area.
Above: Along the Old River.
Above: Some log jams along interior channels.
Above: Hanging out.
Above: Another iphone photo zoom marvel: a fuzzy picture of a turtle resting on top of an alligators head.
