Atchafalaya River

Mile 121.7 - 121.7 - 130.3 Bateman Island

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

121.7 - 130.3 Bateman Island

Paddlers will find several large stands of cypress trees on islands downstream of Morgan City. The biggest and best of the these cypress forests will be found on Bateman Island. Bateman is the first tall island below Morgan City. It starts less than a mile below the railroad bridge where the east bound Intracoastal Waterway begins, at mile 121.7 LBD, and continues downstream 10 miles, forming the left bank descending of the main channel of the Atchafalaya River. Bateman Island is defined by the Atchafalaya, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and Bayou Scaffer (and numerous other bayous further downstream). It is the highest wild ground around Morgan City, with good picnicking or camping up to 8 MCG )at the top end (there might be places here that stay dry up to 9MCG). A river ridge parallels the river overgrown with an inviting exotic forest of palmettos mixed with cypress, willows and hardwoods. From its top end Bateman Island gradually descends in elevation as you continue downstream, from dry at 8 MCG to 7MCG a mile downstream, down 6 and then 5 as it round the old Avoca and Beers Islands (now assimilated into Bateman) and curves downstream southward towards the open Gulf. Below mile 127.4 it falls off into partially submerged marshes and grassy wetlands typical to the Atchafalaya Delta.

Pipelines and Electrical Lines

Directly below Morgan City a number of petro pipelines cross under the river, and one electric transmission line over. Equilon Pipeline has buried an awesome 22” crude oil pipeline at mile 122.4.

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