Cruising the Shaded Waters of Luces Bayou

After hearing good things about Luces Bayou from people in my paddling group, I finally got a chance to visit. It proved to be a great place to paddle on a warm summer day. The bayou is fairly wide at our launch point at Ponderosa Marina. From there you can either paddle downstream toward Lake Houston or upstream toward the bayou's headwaters.

We chose the upstream option and found ourselves in a gradually narrowing channel heavily shaded by cypress trees. We paddled beneath a couple of bridges and past a few houses and camps, but overall the setting is very natural and unspoiled. After paddling about three and a half miles, the bayou was obstructed by some broken concrete, an old metal culvert, and some fallen trees. We decided that was the right time to turn around, but I'll definitely be coming back.