False River

The Mississippi cut through its own meander sometime in the 1700s and left behind a twenty-three-mile crescent of still water. French settlers named it Faux Rivière—False River. The parish took its name from the severance: Pointe Coupee, cut point. What the river abandoned became one of Louisiana's most popular recreational lakes. People fish it. They ski it. The lakeside town of New Roads anchors the community and hosts an annual Mardi Gras. The lake that was never supposed to be a lake became the reason people stay. Go for the water. Ma Mama's on the Lake and Satterfield's are the dining stops that matter—places where the lake isn't just scenery, it's the premise.