Mile 235.8 - LBD Devil’s Swamp Bayou

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026 � 3 min read

235.8 LBD Devil’s Swamp Bayou

The main entrance to Devil’s Swamp is through a deep steep muddy canyon (at low water) cut into the left bank shore, below and behind all of the fleeted barges near mile 235.8 LBD. If you are interested in seeing Devil’s Swamp this access is easily accessible to any paddlers of any ability. With an ever-vigilant eye out for approaching tows, go middle river and then paddle over towards the left shoreline, and watch for the opening. It will be immediately recognizable when you spot a decrepit swamp-rat cabin that is falling into disrepair on the upstream side of the bayou. Dive in below the fleeted barges wherever you get a safe opportunity, and paddle back upstream (sometimes behind the fleeted barges) to reach Devil’s Swamp opening.

The mouth of Devil’s Swamp Bayou (Bayou Baton Rouge) is usually obscured by rafts of barges. A small hunting camp on the upriver side is a good landmark to look for when searching for the small bayou. Devil’s Swamp Bayou (Bayou Baton Rouge) leads into Devil’s swamp with multiple branches for the paddler to explore. Devil’s Swamp is a prime example of “the very bottom,” in that you see the vitality of life growing directly above and off the dregs of life.

A hazardous waste disposal facility called Rollin’s Environmental Services (now Clean Harbors) was located adjacent to Devil’s Swamp in 1971 near the North end of Baton Rouge Harbor (also called the Baton Rouge Barge Canal). Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) were found to have moved off of the Rollin’s site and into Devil’s Swamp and Devil’s Swamp Lake, a small oxbow lake just North of the North end of Baton Rouge Harbor. EPA Region 6 has found concentrations of PCBs in the Rollins outfall ditch, Devil's Swamp Lake, southern Devil's Swamp, and southern Devil’s Swamp Bayou (Bayou Baton Rouge) ranging from 76 to 13,200 micrograms per kilogram (µg/kg). The maximum allowable level in drinking water is 0. Other hazardous substances were also detected in the sediments and fish tissues. The most distant sediment sample was located 2.09 miles downstream of the Rollins outfall ditch, the downstream extent - beyond 2.09 miles - of PCB contamination attributable to Rollins has not been determined. Devil’s Swamp Lake is now a Superfund Site and possible cleanup measures are being examined by the EPA. Paddlers should not consume any fish caught in Devil’s Swamp Lake, Devil’s Swamp Bayou (Bayou Baton Rouge), Baton Rouge Harbor, or the Mississippi River in the area around where Bayou Baton Rouge and Baton Rouge Harbor enters the Mississippi River. (LMRK)

Despite its unpleasant past Devil’s swamp is still a beautiful area and can make for an interesting detour for paddlers. The eastern fork of the bayou flows through a nice bottomland hardwood forest and the western fork flows through a more open swamp with a number of large old gnarly cypress trees.

Devil’s Swamp is a prime example of life at “the very bottom,” in that you witness the vitality of life growing directly above and literally off the dregs of life. Devil’s Swamp was the dumping site for a Baton Rouge hazardous waste incinerator, and is at present being considered as a US Superfund site for the resulting radical mix of crazy carbon compounds, heavy metals, and everything else nasty and toxic to living creatures buried in its mud. Take appropriate precautions within this basin. Do you see two-headed frogs and pink cypress trees? No, but don’t drink or swim in the water, and don’t eat any of the many edibles found here. You do see all kinds of warty toads and frogs and fantastic foliage. Swamp irises grace some of the man-made mounds of land in springtime. Rare orchids have been found, and also bromeliads. Some beautiful old cypress trees in some of the upper reaches of the bayou and its tributaries. All old cypress trees look other-worldly regardless of where they are growing.

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