River Log section: Baton Rouge to Venice
Baton Rouge to Venice
25.2 LBD Ostrica Pass Ostrica Pass is controlled by the Ostrica Lock & Dam. Ostrica Lock is owned by the State of Louisiana, and was opened to navigation in 1952. It provides passage from the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, via Breton Sound. The lock at Ostrica is
Baton Rouge to Venice
25.2 RBD Buras Landing Boat Ramp There is a rough but very usable boat ramp at 25.2 RBD where LA Highway 11 comes close to the river above the town of Buras. Paddlers in need of water, ice, or convenience store items could find it with a short
Baton Rouge to Venice
26.7 LBD - Chevron Pipeline Company Empire Terminal This terminal is used to unload crude oil from barges and tankers before being sent up to refineries. Hurricane Katrina caused approximately 1,400,000 gallons of crude oil to spill from two of the tanks into the surrounding environment. The
Baton Rouge to Venice
27.5 - 24.7 LBD Chevron Company (Oil & Butane) Another landmark at the end of your expedition: the last refinery! Needless to say you won’t want to camp anywhere near here. Avoid camping anywhere along Point Pleasant in south winds. The smell alone will make you sick.
Baton Rouge to Venice
29 RBD Empire Locks Access to Adam’s Bay, Barataria Bay, and beaches along West Bay of the Gulf of Mexico. Heavily trafficked by fishermen. The Empire Lock and Waterway connect the Lower Mississippi with the Gulf of Mexico via Adams Bay. The lock, built by the Corps of Engineers,
Baton Rouge to Venice
29.1 RBD - Daybrook Fisheries Just over the levee in Empire is a menhaden processing plant. The plant processes menhaden (locally called pogies) into fish oil and fish meal. You may see the iconic blue and yellow boats, carrying two net tenders piggyback, motoring up or down the river
Baton Rouge to Venice
28 - 31 LBD Point Pleasant Good low/med water camping on grassy shelves. Paddlers will find several miles of natural wild shoreline below Point Pleasant on the East Bank, from 28 - 31 LBD. If you seek a campsite, stop at the first good-looking place you find. Further down
Baton Rouge to Venice
30.4 RBD Plaquemine Towing Corp. Mooring and Banta mile 207 Fleet
Baton Rouge to Venice
32 - 28 Tropical Bend Funny Note: on the USACE there is a typo that reads “Tropical Blend” at this point. Maybe that’s what the USACE map-makers were mixing up as they proof-read this 2007 edition of the Lower Mississippi Maps?
Baton Rouge to Venice
33.2 LBD Bayou LaMoques/Balandock Canal Three possible openings flowing towards gulf. Witnessed airboat pass through one in Nov 2015.
Baton Rouge to Venice
35.2 LBD - Bass Enterprises In 1973 a major flood crisis occurred at Nairn, Louisiana, on the west bank of the Mississippi about 60 miles below New Orleans. On April 26, 1973, late in the evening, a bank in front of the levee began to slough, and by dawn
Baton Rouge to Venice
35.2 LBD Pointe a la Hache Relief Outlet Two monstrous box-shaped motors 3-stories tall straddle the riverbank here, for unknown reasons. Are these water pumps? They look like a box fans on steroids -- like something gone wild from another dimension. Like air boats made for dinosaurs. Woody Allen