atchafalaya basin backwater tours

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Wetland Boat & Swamp Tours

Where else would you find the most intriguing wetland tours but in the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area?  Check out all the listings below for a wide variety of independently owned and operated boat and swamp tours. For more information about a specific tour or to make a reservation, contact the tour operator directly:

Take an Adventure with River of Swamps Boat Tours

Authentic Atchafalaya Basin Swamp Tours

River of Swamps Boat Tours operates between Baton Rouge and Lafayette, LA in an area known as the Atchafalaya River Basin. This rich natural swampland is best experienced with local outdoorsman, Ronnie Briscoe. Ronnie can show you areas not seen by tourists and help you make memories to last a lifetime.

Your Swamp Tour Guide Says...

What makes this boat tour awesome?

Because I use a smaller boat, with only six passengers max, I have the ability to venture deep into the magical swamps of the Atchafalaya Basin, where air boats and bigger boats cannot go. Therefore, I provide a personalized swamp tour without sacrificing the comfort of a bigger boat. My boat is powered by an outboard motor that is not loud as an airboat which takes away the natural sounds and quietness of the natural swamp environment with virtually no effects to the wildlife.

Swamp Tours and Guided Fishing Trips

True Louisiana Boating Experiences

Basin Swamp Tour

Photography

Swamp Wildlife Tour

More Boat Tour Options

Cajun crawfish experience.

See how the Cajuns do it! Venture into the swamp to find our crawfish traps and help harvest your own sack of true Louisiana crawfish. Contact Ronnie for more info and booking information. 

Call or Contact

Have questions about our tours? Call Ronnie at [337]-257-4889 or give him a shout here. 

SWAMP TOURS

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We Truly Are...Beyond the Bayou

• All-Day Adventure
• Lunch Included!

Last Wilderness Swamp & Plantation Tour

Historic plantation visit, small-boat swamp tour and a delicious Cajun lunch!

Quick Details

• Duration: 11 hours | Pickup 8 AM | Return, approx. 7 PM
• Capacity: Minimum 2 guests; Maximum 10 guests
• Included:  Roundtrip transportation from New Orleans with your driver-guide, self-guided audio walking tour of Whitney Plantation, boat ecotour of the Atchafalaya Basin with an expert captain, Cajun lunch.
• Transportation: While booking, if your tour is a Private Tour, please write the address that you would like to be picked up from in the address field. If your tour is a Public Tour, please select the Pickup Locations drop-down and choose the pickup location of your choice (one at the bottom of the French Quarter and one at the top). We pick up at specific accommodations in the Greater New Orleans area for private tours only. 
• Regular Tour: $199 per guest
• Private Tour : 1-5 guests; $999 total price. 6-10 guests; $1899 total price.

About the Last Wilderness Swamp & Plantation Tour

On this all-day tour, we visit the Whitney Plantation in the morning, fuel up with a Cajun lunch, and tour the forested wetland of the Atchafalaya basin by boat in the afternoon.

We start with the Whitney Plantation, which gives visitors a realistic look at life in the pre-Civil War South. While the restored antebellum mansion is beautiful and grand, the walking tour tells the story of this part of American history through the eyes of the enslaved. It’s an educational and moving experience not to be missed.

For lunch, we chow down at one of our favorite local Cajun restaurants and treat y’all to some of our legendary Cajun cuisine!

After lunch, we’ll explore a portion of the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest unbroken forested wetland in the United States, with The Last Wilderness Swamp Tours. Look for birds, gators, turtles and other wildlife while learning about the history, and fragility, of this magnificent water world.

Whitney Plantation

This stretch of the Mississippi River is known as the German Coast and is rich with history and culture. The area is home to many beautiful properties, including the Whitney Plantation. Originally founded in 1752, the Whitney Plantation opened as a museum in 2014, following 15 years and $8 million worth of renovations. It is the only museum in Louisiana with an exclusive focus on the lives of enslaved people. The grounds are gorgeous, like most antebellum plantations, but it’s also an important educational experience for anyone interested in the history of Louisiana and slavery in America.

After your Whitney Plantation tour, we drive deeper into Cajun Country for lunch. Choose from amazing gumbo and specialties made with locally caught seafood. Snack on alligator bites, boiled shrimp, or chow down on a classic Louisiana  po’ boy.

The Last Wilderness Swamp Tour

After lunch, we meet The Last Wilderness Swamp Tours, a family owned and operated business. Its owner, Dean Wilson, also founded Atchafalaya  Basinkeeper in 2004 to protect and restore the swamps, lakes, rivers, streams and bayous of the Atchafalaya Basin for future generations. Dean, the Jean-Michel Cousteau of Louisiana’s wetlands, is the Executive Director and Basinkeeper of this vital organization, which defends daily the indispensable resources of the Basin from commercial exploitation. Damages from this exploitation include erosion, the destruction of habitat and the unnecessary loss of wildlife.

Last Wilderness uses only small boats, which enables us to venture deep into these incredible swamps and bayous. The average water levels can change as much as nine feet from season to season, depending on the amount of water coming from the Mississippi River. As the water rises and falls, it provides different habitats for varying flora and fauna, making every swamp tour truly unique. No matter what, you’ll experience breathtaking views, gigantic cypress trees and native wildlife that is never baited or fed.

Why Choose our Swamp Ecotour?

On our swamp boat tours, we ally with only reputable partners that offer exceptional experiences and who never bait or feed the wildlife. We are a 100% Carbon Neutral ecotour company. We believe in respecting the environment and trying to mitigate the threats that face this valuable region of wetlands.

Small, fuel-efficient motors are used, contributing to a quiet exploration of our famous waterways that doesn’t scare off wildlife, as airboats do. Glide around wide river bends at 30 mph with the wind blowing through your hair, and look for gators and other creatures while the boat slowly creeps through narrow passageways surrounded by bald cypress trees draped with Spanish moss.

Our small group size ensures that you can properly relax, avoid the crowds, and ask all the questions of your driver-guide and boat captain that you want. We provide an authentic, educational tour that leaves you with a deeper understanding of what makes the culture and ecosystems here so unique.

The Atchafalaya Basin

The Atchafalaya Basin, home of North America’s last great river swamp, is the basin of the Atchafalaya River, a 135-mile long natural distributary of the Mississippi River that empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The Basin makes up 1.4 million acres and is Louisiana’s only growing river delta. Situated at the mouth of North America’s most important flyaway, the Basin supports half of America’s migratory waterfowl (more than 300 bird species) and provides the most important habitat for neotropical migratory land birds in the Western Hemisphere.

The Basin can be divided into three distinct areas: (1) the upper part of the Basin, which is composed of the largest unbroken bottomland hardwood forest in North America; (2) the middle portion, which is composed of the largest cypress-tupelo swamps on the continent; and (3) the lower area, which contains freshwater and brackish marsh. The most ecologically vital parts of the Atchafalaya Basin include some 885,000 acres of forested wetlands and 517,000 acres of marshland.

Nearly the entire eastern North American population of neotropical birds, and much of the western population, as well, migrate from Yucatan through coastal Louisiana and the Atchafalaya Basin. Containing the largest wetland forest in North America, the Basin provides critical habitat for these, and many other, important unique species.

Overall, the Atchafalaya Basin is home to eight federal and state listed endangered or threatened wildlife species, six endangered or threatened bird species, as well as twenty-nine rookeries, over forty mammalian and reptile species, each, and more than twenty amphibian species.

The Atchafalaya is also considered the most economically productive swamp in the world and is estimated to be three to five times more productive than the Everglades and the Okefenokee Swamp. Approximately 90 percent of wild crawfish sold in Louisiana come from the Atchafalaya Basin. This productivity enables the Basin to provide the last bastion for swamp-based Cajun culture in the United States and is vital to the livelihoods and heritage of local Cajun fishing communities who harvest fish and seafood that is sold across Louisiana and the U.S.

Discover Our New Offering - Kayak Tours! Use Promo Code 'Kayak2024' for $10 off and Book Now!

The Last Wilderness Swamp Tours, a family-operated business in Plaquemine, embodies eco-friendliness through the Wilson family’s passion for preserving the Atchafalaya Basin. Led by Dean and his children, Al and Silvia, our team is devoted to sharing our profound love for this natural wonder while ensuring sustainable practices guide every tour.

Captain Dean A. Wilson

Dean is the owner of The Last Wilderness Tours. He became the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper after making his living as a commercial fisherman and hunter in the Atchafalaya Basin for over 16 years.  For many years, he was also the Chair of the Atchafalaya Basin Committee with the Sierra Club. He works to protect the Atchafalaya Basin and Louisiana’s swamps through education, research, and enforcement of our environmental laws. With help from volunteer pilots through SouthWings , Atchafalaya Basinkeeper is the only group monitoring for illegal cypress logging in southern Louisiana and is the main group working to stop the cypress mulch industry. Dean spearheaded the Save Our Cypress Coalition that managed to stop most of the cypress logging in coastal Louisiana. To learn more about Atchafalaya Basinkeeper please go to www.basinkeeper.org . Dean habla Español. 

Albert (Al) Wilson

Meet Capt. Albert “Al” Wilson, owner of Last Wilderness Kayaks & Rentals. A local through and through, Al has been guiding swamp tours for over a decade. Holding a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Ecology and Management with a focus on Wetland Science from LSU, Al brings a wealth of knowledge to our beautiful swamps. As a part-time commercial crawfisherman, he adds hands-on experience to his expertise, ensuring you get the best possible experience when exploring the Atchafalaya Basin. Al habla Español.

Silvia Wilson Drinkwater

Silvia is a full-time mom and the marketing director for The Last Wilderness Swamp Tours. You can take her out of the swamp, but you can’t take the swamp out of her! She is Dean Wilson’s one of two daughters and has an associate degree in General Studies. Traveling and primitive camping are in her roots but Silvia also grew up fishing and exploring the Atchafalaya Basin with her dad. When Silvia is not assisting customers or managing The Last Wilderness Swamp tours, she is gardening, cooking, tending to her family farm, and spending time with her family. Silvia habla Español.

SWAMP TOURS

Get ready for a tour of a lifetime through moss-draped cypress trees, where graceful egrets perch just out of the reach of lingering alligators! The young and not-so young will enjoy our swamp tours and airboat rides through one of the most unique wildernesses on Earth.

While on the tour, you'll explore the diverse natural beauty and rich ecological systems of America's largest and most mysterious swamp ecosystem, the Atchafalaya Basin Swamp!

Native Cajun tour guides will explain from personal experience what it is like to live on a houseboat or survive off the swamp--while pointing out the abundant plants of the area and getting you up close and personal with the wildlife!

AIRBOAT RIDES

Join our swamp guides and prepare for an exciting 90-minute tour through the Atchafalaya Basin Swamp! Airboat tours are great for families and groups interested in an exciting way to see the swamp.

Tours Operate Daily

Daily Tour Departures at 9:00AM, 11:00AM, 1:00PM and 3:00PM.   

Adult: $52.50 

Children (5 to 10 years): $45.00

Minimum of 3 Adults for Departure or $157.50

90-minute tours through Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin Swamp on our swamp tour boats. A comfortable way to experience the swamp. Perfect for tour groups and school field trip experiences!

Boat capacities: are 25, 48 and 48 people

Daily Tour Departures at 10:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 3:00 PM   

Adult: $35.00 

Children (3-10 years old): $25

Children (0-2 years): FREE

Group Rates (20 or more people): $25.00

Minimum of 4 Adults for Departure or $140.00

PLEASE CALL FOR GROUPS OVER 20 PEOPLE

TOURS OFFERED SEASONALLY

Please call for availability, sunset tours.

Begin your tour just before sundown before venturing into the dark. Watch out for the Rougarou as you spotlight alligators and see the swamp in a completely new light!

Boat capacity: 25 people

Tours Operate SEASONALLY on Friday & Saturday Evenings

Call for Tour Departure times  

Adult: $40.00 

Children (3-10 years old): $35.00

Minimum of 3 Adults for Departure or $120.00

Swamp Tours in the Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana

The Atchafalaya Basin is the nation’s largest river swamp, containing almost one million acres of the nation’s most significant bottomland hardwoods, swamps, bayous and backwater lakes.

Besides the giant cypress trees and abundant fauna, the swamp is home to a variety of alligators, turtles, snakes, birds and other wildlife.

One of the most popular things to do in Louisiana is touring the swamps!

The area between Lafayette and Baton Rouge offers a number of swamp tours, operating from communities such as Breaux Bridge, Henderson, St. Martinvile and Plaquemine.

Swamp tour operators provide a variety of options, boats, tour length and cost. Some use flat bottom boats, other airboats. Kayak and canoe tours are also available.

Some operators offer online reservations but others accept reservations only by phone. Some tours accept credit cards but others require cash, so make your plans accordingly.

We have no connection with any of the tour operators listed below ... we just know of their existence and offer their names, web addresses and phone numbers as a starting point in choosing the right tour for you and your group. We also offer links to TripAdvisor to read reviews for many of the tour companies.

List of Selected Atchafalaya Swamp Tours by City

The Atchafalaya Basin is the nation’s largest river swamp, containing about a million acres of bottomland hardwoods, swamps, bayous and backwater lakes.

An American-Indian word, " Atchafalaya" (ah-CHA-fa-LIE-ah) means long river. Established in 2006, the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area stretches across 14 parishes in south-central Louisiana.

The Atchafalaya River meanders from near Simmesport southward past Pierre Part down to Morgan City and the Gulf of Mexico. The Atchafalaya Basin is a unique combination of wetlands, bayous, marshes, estuaries,and river delta area. It is often called "America's Wetland" , and covers an area 20 miles wide and 150 miles long.

Some interesting facts about the Atchafalaya Basin:

• It’s larger than the Florida Everglades.
• It’s five times more productive than any other river basin in North America.
• About 65 species of reptiles and amphibians inhabit the Basin.
• Other species of animals found in the area include the Florida panther, black bear, bobcat, nutria, mink, fox, muskrat, beaver, otter and raccoon.
• The Basin is home to the largest nesting concentration of bald eagles in the south central United States.
• There are more than 100 different species of fish and aquatic life in the Basin.
• The Basin has an estimated average annual commercial harvest of nearly 22 million pounds of crawfish.
• The Basin contains the largest contiguous bottomland hardwood forest in North America and is the largest overflow alluvial hardwood swamp in the United States.

It is among the most culturally rich and ecologically varied regions in the United States, home to the widely recognized Cajun culture as well as a diverse population of European, African, Caribbean and Native-American descent.

Video in the Atchafalaya Basin by Troy Landry

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2024 Tour Dates:

Nov. 9- Nov. 16 Register

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Atchafalaya Basin

Experience the beauty of the Atchafalaya Basin — the nation’s largest river swamp, containing almost one million acres of America's most significant bottomland hardwoods, swamps, bayous, and backwater lakes.

See a diverse collection of wildlife including gamebirds, reptiles, amphibians, alligators, and more. The Atchafalaya is home to over 85 species of fish, 200 species of birds, alligators, and black bear. We will help you identify what you see and photograph.

Kayaking in the Atchafalaya allows you to easily glide into untouched areas of the swamp, get up close to this beautiful ecosystem, and capture images of wildlife and cypress trees. Kayaks, paddles, anchors, and life vests are provided. We now offer a boat only option, stay onboard the 24' boat and explore.

Photography

Capture stunning images of the Atchafalaya during spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Your guides will work hard to find ideal places to take photos. Or, feel free to explore on your own!

Louisiana Cookout

Savor traditional Louisiana cooking on the shores of the Atchafalaya. Relax and enjoy this time with fellow attendees and get to know your guides a bit better.

Experienced Guides

Our experienced guides are committed to helping you get the most out of the tour. With a 5:1 student to instructor ratio, you’re sure to get individual attention.

As the Mist Rises is pleased to work with the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area. Their mission is to build understanding and identity, raising local, regional, and national awareness of the Atchafalaya region; to strengthen the fabric of the place; to expand economic opportunities and to increase the community collaboration and involvement within the parishes that constitute the heritage area while supporting a healthier Atchafalaya ecosystem and enhancing natural resource-based recreation opportunities. Learn more on the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area website .

Airboat Swamp Tours of the Atchafalaya Basin provided by Atchafalaya Basin Landing & Airboat Swamp Tours

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Atchafalaya Basin Backwater Adventure Swamp Tour

240 Fandall St, Gibson , Louisiana 70356 USA

• Independent

Learn more about this business on Yelp .

Reviewed by Martha D.

Took the tour with Captain Tony and if you want someone authentic and knowledgable with the bayou in his front yard then book with him! Awesome trip!! Thank you. Read more

Reviewed by Dena A.

This man gives the best n informin tour ive ever been on hes an awsome guide n captain Read more

Reviewed by Michelle C.

No website. Yelp and "attractions" on google maps, but SO worth the search! Captain Tony is as phenomenal as they get. Stories, well known history, and extra tidbits along the way! For me, it was... Read more

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• Sun - Sat: 7:00 am - 5:00 pm

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Atchafalaya Basin Backwater Adventure Swamp Tour

Location & Hours

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240 Fandall St

Gibson, LA 70356

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No website. Yelp and "attractions" on google maps, but SO worth the search! Captain Tony is as phenomenal as they get. Stories, well known history, and extra tidbits along the way! For me, it was worth going out on a limb and going with this guide that had no website. I wanted one that didn't feed the gators. This was one of two. Called the number listed, made sure that I could make it there for 10, and I added I would be "the chic on the bike". Two gator spottings, a couple of turtles and A LOT of water hyacinth(which, by the way, he taught me that the flower petal is VERY tasty(which it is, I tried it)). All of the needs can be found in the bayou! If you're willing to listen and learn something, it's well worth it. Not recommended for young children(probably 10-11 and up). WHEN I come back to this area I will definitely search out Captain Tony! He doesn't feed the gators and doesn't condone it either...

This man gives the best n informin tour ive ever been on hes an awsome guide n captain

See all photos from Dena A. for Atchafalaya Basin Backwater Adventure Swamp Tour

Took the tour with Captain Tony and if you want someone authentic and knowledgable with the bayou in his front yard then book with him! Awesome trip!! Thank you.

1 other review that is not currently recommended

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