78.1 LBD - Fort St. Marie

Various Forts guarded the City of New Orleans from advancement up the Mississippi River. But being such a big river, protection could not be insured unless you built two forts, one across the river from each other. This is the case here within English Turn Bend (Fort St. Marie and Fort St. Leon) and will be true again at Plaquemines Bend (Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip).

78 RBD Plaquemines Parish Public Boat Ramp (Shingle Park)

Plaquemines Parish Public Boat Ramp is located in Shingle Park on the West Bank inside English Turn Bend RBD near mile 78. From land it’s directly behind the Plaquemines Parish Health Department, 3706 Main St, Belle Chasse, LA 70037. This wide boat ramp is made of revetment, bordered by jumbles of big rocks and rip-rap, and falls at the typical steep angle into the water. Appears to be a good ramp at all water levels, even above flood stage (when you could put in right off the levee here. There is a big parking lot above ramp, with plenty of room for maneuvering trailers. Some nearby piles of sand, gravel, rocks, probably aggregate for the Plaquemines Parish road crew. But this is also a typically rough looking place for long-term parking. Do not leave your vehicle here overnight -- or suffer consequences!

Belle Chasse Industrial Stretch

While fighter jets scream in and out of the speed of sound, big industry re-emerges in Plaquemines Parish. One of the last flare-ups of intensive industry, the Belle Chasse reach features AMAX, Alpine Mud, and another big refinery, Chevron Oronite. Underneath the river are seven petrol pipes laid by Enbridge Pipeline, Southern Natural Gas, and Shell. Try not to camp anywhere within this ten mile stretch between English Turn Bend and Jesuit Bend.