The Vermilion River comes up from Vermilion Bay, opening up to the Gulf Intracoastal waterway. The river is navigable from Vermilion Bay all the way to the Pinhook Street bridge in Lafayette.
Though there is not a lot of activity, there are several rock and shell yards that get barge loads of limestone from the Tennessee and Ohio River Valley areas year round.

It is not uncommon to see more than one barge coming up or downriver at a time.