Maurepas Swamp WMA, Old US 51 Launch
Kayak paddle route map starting from the Old US 51 launch (labeled on google maps as ‘Wild LA Launch’). This area is in the strip of land that separates Lake Maurepas from Lake Pontchartrain just north/northwest of New Orleans. The morning was foggy and mysterious, making this trip particularly swampy and scenic. There are are quite a few channels, sloughs, and bayous to explore. And it seems there are several possible routes out to Lake Maurepas (one of the pictures below is out at the lake), although the map above omits any particular route out there. I mostly stayed in the areas near the launch; lake access may depend on whether the channels are clogged with hyacinth and how badly you want to get there.
Even on a weekday morning the launch was busy with kayak tours, I saw two groups of paddler-photographers. Most but not all of the area is inside the Maurepas Swamp WMA and trees on the shore were sometimes posted with white LA WMA markers. One of the kayak tour guides told me the area can be very busy during hunting season, weekends especially. There were no self clearing WMA permits available at the launch site. There are lots of alligators; some were groggy from the winter reptilian slowdown. Although close to the highway, the area has a nice swampy feel and the scenery is terrific…quite different from the open marsh/prairie of the Manchac and Joyce WMAs a few miles to the north. It’s not a long paddle but there are enough few exploratory out and backs to make it interesting. A good place just to sit in the boat and ‘be there’.
Above: The Old U.S. 51 Launch, in the morning fog. It’s right along the highway.
Above: The Interstate 55 corridor, or canal, looking north in the direction of Ponchatoula.
Above: Well, this is the problem, Water Hyacinth, which clogs many of the channels.
Above: Squeezing through.
Above: This alligator was pretty groggy from winter brumation. It didn’t move.
Above: From the southern edge of Lake Maurepas, looking north. It’s 12 miles from here to the northern shore.
Above: Incredible. Not AI generated.
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