Atchafalaya Basin
National Heritage Area · Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
The largest river swamp in the United States — roughly a million and a half acres of bald cypress, tupelo, bayou and open water between Baton Rouge and Lafayette, where a distributary of the Mississippi spreads out and takes its time getting to the Gulf. It is also an engineering project: the Old River Control Structure upriver exists to stop the Mississippi abandoning its channel and taking this route instead, which it has been trying to do since the 1950s. Almost nobody sees it except from a swamp tour boat, and that is the way to see it.
Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, 70517, United States
The basin is open at all hours with no entrance fee — it is a mix of federal, state and private land with numerous public access points and boat launches. Swamp tours are commercial, run by independent operators from Henderson, Breaux Bridge and McGee's Landing, and are booked directly, typically two hours and running year round. Alligators are dormant and not visible in winter. Lake Martin has a small parking fee at some access points. The Atchafalaya Welcome Center on Interstate 10 is free.
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