Welcome to Louisiana: Black Bayou Lake

Welcome to Louisiana: Black Bayou Lake

Well I’ve been in Louisiana for a couple months now, and I still don’t understand what a bayou is. To me, it just looks the same as a river. Except there are trees growing in it? And alligators. And snakes. And who knows what else that probably wants to kill you.

Black Bayou Lake, Monroe, Louisiana | longdistancebaking.com

Black Bayou Lake, Monroe, Louisiana | longdistancebaking.com

But really, other than slightly fearing for my life every time I go near the water, it really is kind of beautiful. Black Bayou Lake is a wildlife refuge just north of Monroe. There’s an educational center, walking trails, a boat ramp and canoes to rent. Coming from somewhere with hiking trails galore, I’ll take whatever kind of outdoorsy path I can get.

Black Bayou Lake, Monroe, Louisiana | longdistancebaking.com

Now if you don’t like spiders, you may want to scroll past this next image (Eek!). I’ve never really minded bugs, but the ones here are no joke! I didn’t realize how lucky we were on the west coast to have relatively normal sized creepy crawlers. Yuck…

Black Bayou Lake, Monroe, Louisiana | longdistancebaking.com

Sometimes I still look around and think to myself “This is where I live. Three blocks from a bayou, in Louisiana”. It definitely hasn’t sunk it yet, and I have a feeling it won’t for awhile. The good news is I’ve only seen one alligator (from a distance) and one cottonmouth snake, but you can bet I will not be getting in a canoe in that water. Just in case…

-Stephanie

Black Bayou Lake, Monroe, Louisiana | longdistancebaking.com

Black Bayou Lake, Monroe, Louisiana | longdistancebaking.com

Black Bayou Lake, Monroe, Louisiana | longdistancebaking.com

Black Bayou Lake, Monroe, Louisiana | longdistancebaking.com



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