We enjoyed the change in scenery as we left the Gulf beaches and headed into the Louisiana bayous. We hadn’t really known where we were going to find our next campsite, but after doing a little digging around on Campendium (our favorite go-to site when looking for a place to stay), we discovered a local park with a campground near Lake Charles.
The online reviews didn’t exactly rave about the Intracoastal Parish Park Campground, stating that the nearby drawbridge and constant barge traffic on the Intracoastal Waterway was noisy. But at only $12 a night for a site that included water and 50 amp electrical hookups, we felt we had to at least try it out.
We made our initial reservation for three nights. We figured if we liked it, we could always stay longer. Sites have to be reserved through the park’s website, which was fairly easy to navigate.
Initially we had wanted a site overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway. Unfortunately the sites were listed as 40 feet long, and the sites on the water were up against a fence with no room to let the rear of the trailer hang over the end of the campsite. Instead, we chose a site towards the back of the park, with a grassy area that ran behind the campsites.
It turns out this was the best choice we could have made. Not only did we have plenty of room for the RV and the truck, but being in the back, away from the bridge, made our stay significantly quieter than if we had chosen one of the waterfront sites. We still had a small inlet behind us, which made for some great wildlife viewing.
We have to admit, the bridge could be loud, especially when the factory down the road had a shift change. It apparently operated 24 hours, and people would come and go at all hours of the day and night. A steady flow of buses ran back and forth between the factory and town, increasing traffic (and noise) over the bridge. We found, though, that sleeping with the windows closed and the air conditioner or fan running made any noise from the road almost unnoticeable. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the barges cruise up and down the waterway, and the drawbridge was only activated about once a day.
The city of Lake Charles is about half an hour drive, and not only offers all the conveniences we needed (grocery, laundry, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco), but has a beautiful casino area as well.
We took a drive down to the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, where a variety of signs warned visitors against feeding the resident alligators. Unfortunately we were there on a cool day in winter, and apparently the gators were keeping warm in their dens because we didn’t get to see any. We did see one lone turtle, and many different types of birds. Despite the let down of not seeing an alligator, it was a beautiful day to get out and take a walk among nature.
Following our walk we decided to head over to the little town of Cameron for lunch. The drive took us along the coast and onto a ferry for a short ride across the waterway. It turns out the ferry is free for eastbound traffic and costs $1 for westbound traffic, and is large enough to transport several semis. (This helped us decide to take this route when it was time to hook up the rig and head to New Orleans). It was a beautiful drive in an area that felt very Forrest Gump-ish, with lots of shrimp boats to see along the way.
We found a little restaurant called the Anchors Up Grill, which came highly recommended on Trip Advisor. It’s a walk-up window with covered patio seating and a distinctly beachy feel. I had the burger and fries (having a shellfish allergy), and Bubba had the shrimp po boy sandwich. Both were delicious.
As it turns out, we enjoyed our campsite at the Intracoastal Parish Park Campground so much, we extended our stay to the maximum 14 days. It was a great place to just relax and slow down for a while, and watch the barges glide past along with the passing days.
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