Bayou Teche: National Water Trail

In June 2014, Louisiana landed its first World Heritage Site when Poverty Point was inscribed to UNESCO’s list of valued and protected properties. Less than a year later, we have our first National Water Trail. Bayou Teche—which originates from Port Barre, heads south through the western portion of St. Martin Parish past Arnaudville, Breaux Bridge, and St. Martinville, and eventually empties into the Atchafalaya River—has benefitted from the attention of the outdoors-minded people of the area, most notably the people behind The TECHE Project, an organization formed in 2009 that educates on a broad variety of issues that speak to preserving the Teche from pollution by litter, sewage, and runoff.

Now with Bayou Teche’s designation as a National Water Trail—one of eighteen such waterways in the country—the nonprofit TECHE Project happily predicts an economic boost for the area, thanks to the larger group of tourists who will trek to Bayou Teche in search of recreation and adventure.