North Beach

White sand on Lake Charles — the only inland white sand beach in Louisiana. Freshwater swimming, boating, picnicking, and volleyball courts, all minutes from downtown. The beach is visible from I-10 when crossing the lake. The city itself was incorporated in 1861, named for early settler Charles Sallier. The Great Fire of April 1910 devastated much of it. Lake Charles rebuilt and expanded through the 20th century with the arrival of petrochemical refineries during and after World War II. Then came the storms. Hurricane Rita heavily damaged the city in 2005. In 2020, category 4 Hurricane Laura battered it on August 26–27, with one-minute sustained winds of 150 mph and gusts reaching 137 mph in the city. The National Weather Service called the storm surge "unsurvivable." Hurricane Delta followed on October 9. After the hurricanes, the city was described as if "20 tornadoes came in and wiped the city." Lake Charles is tied with Port Arthur, Texas, and Astoria, Oregon, as the most humid city in the contiguous United States. Average relative humidity is 90% in the morning, 72% in the afternoon. Average annual precipitation is 57.49 inches per year. The Gulf of Mexico lies about 30 miles south. Oak and pine trees dot the landscape. The lakes and waterways throughout the city give the metropolitan area its nickname: the "Lake Area." North Beach has free admission and is open seasonally. It sits in a place that has burned, flooded, and rebuilt — a city on a level plain about 13 feet above sea level, bordered by the Calcasieu River and the ship channel that allows ocean-going vessels to sail up from the gulf.