Two Ways to Finish the Mississippi River: The Atchafalaya vs Main Channel

That all changes after 1,992 miles when the Atchafalaya splits off the now massive main channel and heads down to the gulf via a quiet series of gator infested swamps. Meanwhile the main river gets even bigger and busier passing by Baton Rouge and New Orleans before it's own quiet finish out past Head of Passes. Both are considered by the community to be valid finishes to the Mississippi Source to Sea.

One might be excused for wondering why the Atchafalaya is considered a valid finish to something called the Mississippi Source to Sea.

As near as I can tell this is mostly due to concerns of the heavy barge and oil tanker traffic in the main channel past Baton Rouge. When we did our initial research we found most people seemed to take the Atch. Possibly influenced by occasionally over the top fear mongering about the main river just not being safe.

There is also the justification that the Atchafalaya is where the main flow of the river would be going if it wasn't for the Army Corp of Engineers waging their ongoing battle to keep the ports of New Orleans and Baton Rouge operational.

In actuality I'd argue it comes down to it's shorter, it's quieter, and it's an easier finish logistically.  

Actual Risk vs Fear Mongering When It Comes to the Main Channel

The most dangerous boat related incidents we had along the whole river were with personal recreation boats and that all happened in the earlier sections. I'd take a barge any day over reckless drivers with fast boats who may possibly have been drinking coming far too close and creating high wakes.

Also if you're trying to judge this ahead of time be aware that by the time you are 1,900 miles and however many days in you will have spent weeks around barges and will probably be a lot more comfortable than you think you'll be.

The other thing often cited is the pollution risk of the so called Cancer Alley which is an understandable concern. However I see a huge difference in passing through over the course of a few days vs living there for years or decades.

I will say we did change our behaviors through here. We didn't swim in the river south of Baton Rouge and did our best to avoid contact with the water as best we could. We did see locals fishing and swimming in the river multiple times sometimes right next to the runoff from a power plant or other industrial facility.

Also keep in mind it tends to be human nature for people to justify their own choices. So if more people have gone via the Atchafalaya there are going to be more posts in the Facebook group supporting it as the "best" finish.

We followed the accepted route from the Facebook Mississippi Paddlers Group. You can find a GPS track to follow complete with mile markers on our post here: River Coordinates & Distances | Mississippi River Source to Sea 2023

The first benefit of choosing the Atchafalaya is of course you get to do one more lock. And since it doesn't get near as much traffic as the main channel locks we found the lock employees to be super friendly and chatty.

Our single town stop was Butte La Rose where we took the opportunity to get an AirBNB to escape the brutal levels of heat we'd been enduring for weeks. Of note is the fact the city does not have any safe tap water so we had to scrounge up some bottles from a local river angel.

Our final camp was an official DNR campsite not worth it's name. The closest thing we found to a tent spot was so overgrown we made due down by the short gambling we had enough clearance for the current tide cycle.

Burns Point does get credit for being an amazing finish. There's just a mile or two of open water and then you have an easy exit ramp leading to a bit quiet campground complete with showers.

Since it's vehicle accessible it's quite easy to get picked up here. Which we did though it was to catch a two and a half hour ride back to Old River Lock.

For the record I would not recommend the double finish. I'm glad we did it but it was a lot of hassle to arrange.

Due to last minute circumstances we actually ended up portaging down Decatur Street in New Orleans to get to the home of a trail angel who hosted us for a much needed break from the heat. This was highly entertaining and seemed to amuse everyone we passed even the street scammers.

Soon after New Orleans things quieted down again. We still had the big oil tankers but with little reason to cross the now massive river and long sight lines they mostly didn't concern us. 

River Mile 0 is actually Head of Passes which isn't actually where the Mississippi enters the gulf. That's another 13 miles down South Pass. We'd come over 2,400 miles by this point and we weren't about to stop before we hit salt.

South Pass itself is much quieter as the oil tanker traffic seemed to be coming and going via Southwest Pass. Most of the traffic was recreational fisherman and one work barge that appeared to be dredging. For the most part it was just us and the birds / gators.

Our final camp before finishing was a short distance off the South Pass channel at the South Pass Primitive Campground. This was one of Jen's favorite nights thanks to all the animals and the general sense of quiet calm.

The final few miles from the end of South Pass is Port Eads an outpost destroyed in Katrina only to be rebuilt and then abandoned when it couldn't make a profit. Most of the buildings are locked but the lighthouse in the back is accessible.

The view from the top was amazing and let us finally see the ocean a few more miles ahead.

Our true finish line was the far end of South Pass where salty waves rolled over a debris-strewn beach and fishermen watched our antics from boats just offshore.

The biggest downside to this route is you're now 13 miles past Head of Passes and another 10 or so miles past that to get back to Venice which is the last vehicle accessible point. Even on a low water year it was a lot of work paddling back against the current and we were quite happy when we managed to flag down a passing fishing charter and get a ride back to the port.

For the record we priced having a boat come and pick us up at the end and were quoted $400+. For that much we had decided we could paddle against the current for another day.

 

There are other options people use to reach the gulf but these seem to be used very rarely. Bayou Lafourche for example leaves the main channel at Donaldsonville and spends 100 miles reaching the gulf between the Atch and main channel. We have mile markers on our coordinates post here but don't have any direct experience on it.

 

So what would we do if we went back and did the river again? The main channel. In a heartbeat. 

While it was nice to relax and get a mellow few days with a low stress ending the Atchafalaya just didn't feel that different from what had come before. While on the main channel we had to be on our toes for long stretches it was really something getting to paddle past all the industrial and port activity and the sudden shift back to quiet nature at the end was just perfect. 

Plus Jen got to see baby raccoons in that lighthouse at Port Eads. Totally worth the climb.