The Atchafalaya Trace loops around the Atchafalaya basin, a scenic semi-wilderness area of hardwood-forests, cypress swamps, marshes, and bayous. The Atchafalaya Basin is one of the few great wetland semi-wilderness areas left in the nation. Its 833,000 acres are home to the country's most productive habitats for fish and wildlife. Within the basin, important oil and gas fields coexist with farmlands, commercial forests, and a sizeable commercial fishing and trapping industry.

The basin also serves the Lower Mississippi Valley as both a natural and manmade floodway for conveying floodwaters from the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. Waters divested through the Old River Control structures into the Atchafalaya River play a significant role in the ecosystem of the basin.

In the 1800's the Atchafalaya Basin with its many bayous, offered a route to the heartland of Louisiana. Bayou Plaquemine was the entry point from the Mississippi River into the Atchafalaya Basin.

As a distributary of the Mississippi River, bayou Plaquemine was used as a navigable artery centuries before the age of European exploration. The bayou was documented as early as 1699 in the journal of Pierre le Moyne, Sieur d' Iberville. For the next century and a half, the waterway was dredged and widened, making it navigable during high water to most vessels plying the Mississippi River. During this time, bayou Plaquemine served as a commercial transport route, promoting settlement and economic prosperity in southwest and northern Louisiana via the Atchafalaya, Red and other rivers.

Bayou Teche, on the western edge of the Basin, provided a route for settlers coming into south Louisiana. It also provided a route for steamboats bringing goods from New Orleans and returning with the farm products that were grown in the area. South Louisiana was rich in agricultural products such as sugar cane and cotton and cypress lumber from the Atchafalaya Basin.

On the Atchafalaya Trace, you will visit the small towns that developed along the bayous that are part of the Atchafalaya Basin. Their histories date back to the 1700 and 1800's.

On the west-side of the Atchafalaya Tracethe towns of St. Martinville, New Iberia, Jeanerette, Charenton and Franklin were established along Bayou Teche. Acadians and French aristocrats settled in St. Martinville. The Spanish played an important part in the settlement of New Iberia. The native American Chitimacha Indians in Charenton were the earliest setters in the region and are among the finest weavers of their time and the tradition is carried on today by a number of tribal artisans. English settlers from Virgina and the Carolinas primarily settled in Franklin making it an Anglo-Saxon pocket in Acadiana.

At the southern end of the Basin, the Atchafalaya River shaped Morgan City's history. The 1800's and early 1900's were an era of growth and development in Morgan City. Boat building, moss picking, and a shell crushing plant were a major part of Morgan City's economic base.

As you continue your journey, you will visit the small towns of Belle River and Pierre Part. Most of the people living in this area are commercial fisherman. Delicious fresh seafood is available in many small restaurants along the route.

The east side the Atchafalaya Trace brings you through plantation country. Nottoway Plantation near White Castle is the largest plantation home in the south. It offers Bed & Breakfast accommodations as well as fine dining in Randolph Hall.

Plaquemine, located on Bayou Plaquemine, played a major role in the settlement of South Louisiana. bayou Plaquemine was a distributary of the Mississippi and provided a route to the heartland of Louisiana through the Atchafalaya Basin.

As you continue north to New Roads, you will travel along Bayou Plaquemine and Bayou Grosse Tete. Pointe Coupee Parish is one of the earliest settlements in Louisiana. Some of the nation's largest plantations are still thriving on land surrounding New Roads.

After New Roads, you will cross the Morganza Spilleay, the largest spillway in the world. The raised road through the Spillway will give you an opportunity to view an extensive wilderness area.

When you reach Highway 15, go north for about 9 miles and visit the Old River Auxilliary Control Structure. This structure is in place to keep the Mississippi River from changing course and following the Atchafalaya River to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Atchafalaya Trace continues to Marksville through the small towns of Hamburg, Moreauville, and Mansura. The French first settled here in the 1700's. The Marksville State Historic Site features earthern mounds dating from 1400 A.D. At the museum you can see artifacts and exhibits interpreting the culture of the Tunica-Biloxi Indians. And you can take your chances at the Paragon Casino and Resort that is part of the Indian Reservation.

As you continue to follow the Trace through Palmetto to Washington, you'll come to Budden's Country Store. The store has been serving the community since 1934.

In Washington, you can enjoy a rendezvous with the past. Settled in 1720, the town of Washington is the third oldest settlement in Louisiana. In 1900, the last steamboat left Washington and since that time other areas in the state have surpassed the little community on Bayou Courtableau. But Washington has never lost the character and charm of its rich heritage.

The Trace takes you through Opelousas where Zydeco music was born. It is the birthplace of the King of Zydeco, Clifton Chenier. You can hear Zydeco music at Slim's Y Ki KI just outside of Washington.

The Trace completes its 350 mile loop through the towns of Sunset, Grand Coteau and Breaux Bridge. grand Coteau is home to the beautiful and historic Academy of Sacred Heart. When you reach Breaux Bridge, you can kick your heels up at Mulattes's Cajun Dance Hall and Restaurant.

The Atchafalaya Trace will give you an opportunity to visit one of the most historic and culturally rich areas in our country.