Saturday morning Cycle Zydeco will leave Breaux Bridge and out to Henderson to enjoy a small part of the Atchafalaya Basin from McGee's Landing.  The Atchafalaya Swamp Tour is a 30 minute story telling, alligator spotting and bird watching adventure from a boat (included with registration).   While you wait the bar will be open at McGee’s Landing with coffee, beignets and Bloody Mary’s.

The Atchafalaya Basin

The Atchafalaya Basin is America’s largest wetland and the site of the nations's last cypess-tupelo.  If the Mississippi River had its way and was not contained by levees then today most of the flow from the Mississippi would be into the Atchafalaya River and the volume of water through New Orleans would be a trickle compared to it current volume.   The basin is the largest flood protection system in the world and the key components of the flood control plans for Baton Rouge and New Orleans. 

Today the basin is a wonderful playground for fishing, frogging, skiing, wakeboarding, kayaking, birding, hunting and much more.   The basin has been a tremendous resource for South Louisiana and has been mined for Cypress trees, oil & gas, fish, animal and more. From levees to canal, oil to lumber, alligators to fish, natural habitat to hunter paradise, house boats to hardwood forests, the basin has a long and emotional history.   Greg Guirard has documented the basin extensively from his photographs, plays, books and woodworking.  Martin Reuss wrote Designing the Bayous: The Control of Water in the Atchafalaya Basin, 1800-1995.  The book provides a fairly good history of the events and people involved in making the Atchafalaya Basin.  Including, how Congress in 1824 enlisted the Army Corp of Engineers into civilian work to work on clearing the Ohio & Mississippi Rivers.

The basin could just as well be known for it good times and live music at places like McGee's Landing, Whiskey River Landing, Red's Levee Bar and Pat's Levee bar to name a few.  

McGees Landing (1337 Henderson Levee Rd. Henderson, LA 70517  phone: 337 228 2384)

Red's Levee Bar (4695 Catahoula Hwy St., Martinville, 70582) This bar was used in the film "The Apostle" by Robert Duval and starring Robert Duval, Farrah Fawcett,  and Billy Bob Thornton.  The movie was filmed in and around St. Marinville, LA

Lucky Luke’s Bar (1011 Potato Shed Rd, Breaux Bridge, LA)