Autumn still brings a splash of color to this hardwood forest of bald cypress in Louisiana. But make no mistake, a stroll through these wetlands is not a cozy New England leaf-peeping journey. The swamp forest floor is often covered by the waters of the Atchafalaya River delta as it drains into the Gulf of Mexico, so the autumn colors here are best viewed from the seat of a canoe or a pirogue, as the local Cajuns use. The water-resistant bald cypress trees thriving in the Atchafalaya Basin constitute the largest tract of contiguous cypress forest in the United States. The ecosystem here is so unlike any other in the US, the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area organization calls it "America"s foreign country."
Autumn in the cypress swamp
Today in History
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Celebrating Bike to Work Week, May 14-18
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Bluespotted ribbontail ray
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Celebrating World Water Day
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Keep watching the skies
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Happy Star Wars Day!
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Humpbacks return to the Inside Passage
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Love on ice
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Manatees rebound
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Cold? What cold?
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Celebrating Panama s independence
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A light at the edge of the world
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Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
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Relationship status: It s complicated
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Lanterns alight in Pingxi
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Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
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Happy Easter!
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Honoring the rangers on World Ranger Day
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Celebrating 200 years of statehood
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Flamenco dancers
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The mighty, mighty mushroom
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The Zugspitze: Germany s highest point
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Happy Independence Day!
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Celebrating National Dentist Day
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Happy New Year! (Again!)
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Presidents Day in America’s front yard
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Green sea turtle on World Oceans Day
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Take me to the river
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A winter’s holiday ends
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Green fields of grain
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The call of the wild in Alaska