False River and Pointe Coupee: the tourism economy

False River is the center of Pointe Coupee Parish’s visitor trade. It is a lake about ten miles long, and New Roads, the parish seat, sits on its bank.

How the lake formed

False River is an oxbow lake, a loop of the Mississippi River that the river left behind. Geographer Richard Campanella, writing in 64 Parishes, says the bend was already breaking away from the river when La Salle passed in 1682. In 1699 the d’Iberville expedition cleared debris from a narrow neck, about 350 feet long, to get boats upriver. The current then widened the cut, and within a few years the old loop became a lake that French settlers called fausse rivière, “false river.” New Roads grew up on the lake’s bank after Catherine Depau, a free woman of color, laid out a subdivision of her plantation there in 1822.

Fishing, boating and the lake’s upkeep

The lake is managed for fishing and recreation. In 2024 the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries scheduled a drawdown, a planned lowering of the water, beginning September 3, 2024. The plan lowered the lake 1.5 inches a day, to as much as 6 feet below its normal level of 16 feet, to improve water quality, reduce sediment and improve fish habitat. The structure was set to close on January 15, 2025, so the lake could refill. The lake stayed open for fishing and recreation, but property owners were told to secure or remove vessels and floating docks, and boat lanes lacked normal clearance. The department recommends a drawdown every three years, and says its samples have shown positive responses in the largemouth bass population since restoration began in 2014.

Getting here

Until 2011 the Mississippi crossing from New Roads to St. Francisville was a ferry that carried about 720 vehicles a day. The state opened the John James Audubon Bridge on May 5, 2011, because rising river levels had closed the ferry. The Department of Transportation and Development said the ferry closed for good, and that without the bridge drivers faced a detour of 25 to 30 miles. The bridge cost $409 million and has a main span of 1,583 feet. Construction began in 2006, and the state announced the project complete on February 27, 2012.

False River Regional Airport lies northwest of New Roads. FAA data show an asphalt runway, 18/36, 5,003 feet long and 75 feet wide, with no control tower and self-serve 100LL fuel around the clock. The city of New Roads and the parish own it, and it was activated in May 1974. The airport says it has 28 T-hangars and three corporate hangars.

What visitors spend

The Louisiana Office of Tourism put direct visitor spending in Pointe Coupee Parish at $31.0 million in 2025, with $10.0 million on food and beverage, $7.6 million on transportation, $4.6 million on retail, and $4.4 million each on lodging and recreation. That supported 112 direct jobs. The parish makes up 0.2 percent of the state’s visitor spending.

Events are part of the draw. The parish tourism office says Pointe Coupée normally holds four family parades each season and ranks its Mardi Gras as the third oldest in Louisiana. New Roads is a Louisiana Main Street community, with seasonal events such as a holiday market at the mill and year-round farmers markets.