Manchac WMA, Galva Canal, Lake Maurepas, Old US51

The kayak route map above explores the Galva Canal and a lake to the southeast, both of which are just south of Pass Manchac in the Manchac WMA in southern Louisiana. The water levels, tide-wise, were up about a foot when I went, I was told, and the entire lake (designated on the Manchac WMA map as ‘the prairie’) was paddleable. The area has a unique feel, open, flat, with reeds and grasses and almost no trees, as those were logged years ago. So it’s an area with big sky, but no shade and prone to wind. The day of this winter paddle was calm, sunny, cool and very nice. I was lucky that by chance someone let me launch privately near the entrance to Galva Canal. It should be possible to put in a kayak at Sunset Park across the highway and go up and around to reach the canal but note that the shore is just a jumble of concrete boulders. One could launch up at the Akers landing to the north, then come down the I-10 corridor to reach the canal, but that’s a ways away. The route described in the map above does a little loop through a small channel just north of where the canal enters the lake. This was narrow and twisty and fun so I did it twice (double arrows). There were a couple of hyacinth clogs along the canal but not too bad. Treeless coastal areas with low lying grassy shorelines and islands tend to look the same from all directions and to get back it’s important to remember exactly where the canal enters the lake.