Interstate 10, Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana

© Brian Sytnyk/Masterfile

Interstate 10, Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana

Yes, swamps can be beautiful. You’re looking at Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin, the largest swamp in the United States. In the language of the Choctaw people, Atchafalaya means ‘long river,’ and this region of bayous and backwater lakes stretches some 140 miles through southern Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico. Riding along Interstate 10 here, motorists are likely to see groves of bald cypress – Louisiana’s state tree – and the tupelo tree, which is prized as a honey plant (and immortalized in a Van Morrison song).