Mile 229.0 - LBD Glass Beach

229 LBD Glass Beach

Best start place, end place and resupply place in the Baton Rouge area. Possible camp spot, if needed, but popular urban area.

There is a paved public ramp just downstream from the Interstate 10 Bridge, at mile 229 on the East bank. On the maps it is labeled Baton Rouge Boat Ramp, but locals call it “Glass Beach.” Its banks are covered with white clamshells of the rangia type. These were imported big time from the Gulf in previous years as a reinforcing substrate for all kinds of landings, foundations, and other construction uses. Some Louisiana roads are paved using rangia and asphalt. Glass Beach Boat Ramp is located directly upstream from the old Municipal Dock, future (2015) site of the Water Institute of the Gulf. The Pastime Lounge (po-boy sandwiches and pizza) lies about 400 yards from the ramp in the shadow of the bridge approach ramp.

Why “Glass Beach?” Embedded in the levee on the East bank (left bank descending) just upstream from the I-10 Bridge, behind some sheet piling, sits –not inappropriately—a dump. It closed before 1960, but locals know this spot as the “glass beach,” because it glitters at low water. Don’t go exploring barefoot here. The ground is sparkling with the razor sharp edges of thick green glass -- the kind from yesteryear that is robust and slightly greenish-bluish in its translucence. If you want a souvenir of Baton Rouge, see if you can find an old Coke bottle bottom with “Baton Rouge” molded into it. (Mike Beck)

Glass Beach Ramp is the only public access for boaters on the main channel of the Mississippi within greater Baton Rouge. If you need access to water, supplies, or a shuttle pickup, this is the ramp you’ll want to use. (Note: The boat ramp shown in the so-called “Baton Rouge Harbor” on the USACE 2007 maps is not publicly accessible it is part of an old Baton Rouge Landfill property which is behind locked gates). The only other choice would the public boat ramp on the other side (the west side) of the Port Allen Lock and Dam of the Intercostal Waterway (RBD 228.4).

Directions to Glass Beach

Getting to Glass Beach is kind of weird from the land side. Drive west down South Blvd towards river (alongside the I-10 Bridge) until you reach the levee. Take the ramp straight in front of you up the levee as South Blvd curves south to become S. River Road. Ignore “No Trespassing” signs as you drive up and over the levee. Watch for bicyclers and pedestrians on the paved levee trail. Follow the road as it deteriorates into a potholed dirt road under the I-10 Bridge and follow it to a very roughshod landing with no clear boundaries and littered with industrial and other trash. The ramp is broken concrete with steel rails of some sort attached. If you are driving in, pull off to the side wherever you can and meet your party. We have driven big trucks with long trailers to load and unload our voyageur canoes here, and have always been successful in making a good launch. It’s rough, but eminently usable, from low water to flood stage (35 BR).

Don’t leave your vessel unattended at Glass Beach. It is not recommended for overnight camping. Baton Rouge is a big city with all the problems big cities have. Use common sense safety practices. Your best option for resupply is to leave one person at the ramp and the other walk into town for whatever you need. If you are staying for any length in Baton Rouge, remove your vessel from the water and take it with you. Call the Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper 225-928-1315 if you have any questions about logistics and access.

After Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans dozens of refugees made Glass Beach their home, and it became a tent city full of the homeless huddled under blue tarps and ringed around driftwood fires. The city has since run the homeless out and keeps the area mowed to discourage its use in that way (mowing being the only upkeep that the city undertakes of the ramp).

Daytrips from Baton Rouge

Paddlers can make shorter trips from Baton Rouge to any of the landings downstream, either as a daytrip, or as an overnight with a spectacular camp on Manchac or Plaquemine Island. The first would be a take-out at 210.4 RBD Morrisonville Landing which is a primitive gravel and rip-rap landing found off La Hwy 988 where it cuts north around Dow Chemical. Not far downstream is 208.7 RBD Plaquemine Beach, a perennial beach (that is only present in low or med water conditions) can be found along the riverbank directly below the old Plaquemine Lock & Dam facility.