Paddling near Lake Charles, LA

Set in Calcasieu Parish in southwest Louisiana, Lake Charles sits among lakes, bayous, cypress swamps, and salt-grass marshes that make it one of the most paddler-rich urban areas in the Gulf South. Lake Charles itself is a brackish estuary lake within the city limits, part of the Calcasieu River estuary system, while the river basin spans more than 4,000 square miles with hundreds of miles of interconnected waterways. Sam Houston Jones State Park anchors the region at the confluence of the Houston and Calcasieu Rivers.