Mile 214.5 RBD — Manchac Point

Great all-weather campsite or picnic site up to flood stage BR 35. Tight 180 degree bend, watch carefully for freighters, tugs and tows.

Manchac Point is the first of the classic “Blind Corners” that paddlers will encounter after passing south of Baton Rouge. Unlike the gently curving bends you’ve enjoyed above Baton Rouge, for some geologic or hydraulic reason the bends of the river below Baton Rouge often curve around a single crux point, sometimes with a 180 degree swing of direction. The river seems to eddy and sometimes pool with giant boils at these crux points, and the normal flow of water displays strange behavior, from smooth laminar flow to massive boils and swirlings that seem to wander aimlessly about the river face, and can leave paddlers in a bit of confusion. This can be a bit un-nerving to lose all your current at one of these points. But imagine the extra fright when you lose all your current and then simultaneously you are confronted with an oncoming freighter who has suddenly appeared downstream and is furiously headed your way full steam ahead and you seem to be directly in its line of passage!

At Manchac Point the entire river squeezes down to half its width, so you can visualize what happens to water speed, river depth and turbulence. All liquid parameters seem to increase in inverse proportion. Whatever width the river loses it adds to its other factors making for a riverscape full of surprises and transformational beauty. Be ready to for a wild ride on windy days, stormy days, or when a tugboat has passed by. On calm days you will find yourself casually maneuvered by swirly meanderings, and may be amazed by the expressions of boils and whirlpools, the reflections of the sky, the forests, and the clouds stirred into the muddiness of America. When you make landing the view upstream and down is a rich mixture of tall trees with a fantastically taller radio tower rising behind like the beanstalk in Jack’s fable, disappearing into the atmosphere on cloudy days. Freighters parade around Manchac Point making a graceful dance with carefully placed steps. The lower the water the better the view from the sandbar. You can see miles down Medora Crossing with Plaquemine Island peaking like a child playing hide-and-go-seek from around Clara Belle Landing (halfway down Plaquemine Point). At the end of this great causeway rises the crackers and towers and burn-off flares of Dow Chemical, its lower docking facility also visible as a line of bright lights after dark. The distances are so great that even the giant sea-going freighters appear to be toys as they appear and disappear around Plaquemine Island.

If you intend to camp at Manchac Point stay right bank descending along the West Bank and enjoy close encounters with wildlife and a tangled forest falling into the water. A thick sycamore forest gives way eventually to willows. Towards the end of the point giant black willows punctuate the otherwise thin forest. Hidden over the bank a narrow slough choked with trees parallels the main channel. This slough is only accessible when the river is bank full, 30 BR or higher. The best sandbars form below 214.8RBD just beyond the sharpest point of the bend. I guess you could consider them “downstream” of the bend, or maybe you could say in the pooling area below the bend. It seems as if the turbulent waters flush the sediments out of the bottom of the river here and deposit the best sand in high piles past the crux of the bend.

Manchac bursts open with insects like dragonflies, buffalo gnats, cicadas, mayflies, wasps, wild bees, and many moths and butterflies including monarchs (in their season). You might see crawfish chimneys here growing up amongst the elephant ears and sagitaria along the muddy banks. Meanwhile out on the open sand bar red grass and other grasses, vines and weeds take hold where they can. At low water levels 0-12 BR there will be endless choices for landings along the mile-long length of biggest and best bar (from approx 214.5 down to 213.5 RBD), with other smaller bars forming above the point. At low water you will also find a long line of skinny bars descending downstream of 213.5 below the tree line becoming muddier and muddier in composition and bisected by layers of deep squishy black mud with questionable heavy metal content. Beautiful protected inlets form at low water, and are found as the water rises in various shapes and configurations. Look for a particularly protected harbor at base of big dune above the main sandbar between 5 and 10 BR. You can paddle into this protected place, and make landing without having to worry so much about big waves from freighters (and others). A protective ring of shallows forms around this harbor and as result destructive waves are greatly reduced by the shoaling effect. You will find this same protection at various other landings further downstream, such as at the head of some of the smaller passes (notably Baptiste Collette at mile 11 LBD).

At medium water levels 12-22 BR all secondary choices above and below 214.5 disappear, but you will still have acres of high ground to choose from on the high ground atop the main bar at 214.5 RBD. Manchac Beach will accommodate paddling groups of any size at any water level up to bank full. At bank full 30BR you will have to camp in the willows at the edge of the river. There are no protective sandy harbors at this level, but you will be able to pull your vessel up close to camp, and the tent sites will be as good as it gets. Amongst the willows you will find buttonbush, mimosas, pea vine and chamomile growing on the sandy ridges, with blood clot grasses and aromatic flowers. Camping becomes increasingly limited above 30BR, and disappears completely at flood stage.