Trip Report:  White’s Bayou on September 21, 2025

Although advertised as a Turtle Bayou trip, I opted to instead paddle White’s Bayou, from the same putin location as Turtle Bayou.  There were several new-to-me paddlers in the group and I opted for short and easy and indeed it turned out to be a very pleasant day for our group of 12.

We met by 9 a.m. and were paddling away at 9:30 from the putin at White Park.  The bayou was nicely shaded and the forecast for potential rain showers thankfully came to naught although I drove through several on my way to the park that morning.

Here’s a map of our route and distance:

The putin keeps morphing there at the park.  Apparently the paved ramp for trailers has washed out at the lower end and trailered boats are backed into the water in an area that used to be only a shell beach for canoes and kayaks.

The bayou was as placid and beautiful as usual.

On their first canoe club trip were Eric, Izzy, and Alexander Lieb, Mike Grove, and guest Rich Fair (sorry no photo of Rich):

The narrow bayou as you can see presents many opportunities to practice maneuvering in tight spaces, and ducking under logs of various sizes and layouts.

A fine day was had by all, and a tasty repast afterwards at the Crawfish Place not far from the park.

Natalie Wiest

Trip coordinator

The author, Natalie Wiest