Lakeview Park and Beach
83 RV Sites, 12 Cottages, 1 Apartment
Lakeview Park and Beach sits three miles north of Eunice, Louisiana, in St. Landry Parish—42 acres of Cajun Prairie campground built around a 13-acre fishing lake and a natural swimming pond with a sandy beach in the heart of the Acadiana region, where the Saturday night fais-do-do is not a historical re-enactment but an ongoing tradition, and the Cajun and zydeco music that plays in the park's converted barn dancehall from February through November draws campers who are as interested in the culture as the fishing. This is one of the more distinctly Louisiana campgrounds in a state with many good ones.
The park offers 95 full hookup RV sites with electricity, water, sewer, free cable, and WiFi—predominantly pull-through configurations with some back-in positions—accommodating the range of rig sizes that modern RV travel involves. Eight renovated cottages with full kitchens, complimentary WiFi, and cable complete the accommodation roster for guests who prefer enclosed lodging. The 13-acre fishing lake, kayak rentals on the property, the swimming pond and sandy beach, a Tiki Hut for drinks, basketball courts, volleyball, horseshoes, two playgrounds, and a general store stocked with camping supplies and handmade crafts provide the daily recreation. The Saturday night barn dances—Cajun, country, honky-tonk, and zydeco bands rotating through the old dancehall—are a genuine cultural experience and one of the most unusual campground entertainment programs anywhere in the South.
St. Landry Parish occupies the Cajun Prairie country of south-central Louisiana, a flat, agricultural landscape of rice fields, crawfish ponds, and small Creole and Acadian communities where French is still heard in conversation and the food culture—cracklins, boudin, and rice dishes that reflect the Attakapas and Acadian heritage of the region—is distinct from the rest of the American South. Eunice is the center of that culture in the Prairie Cajun region: the Liberty Theater hosts its own Saturday performance of the Rendez-Vous des Cajuns live radio show, a community event that has broadcast since 1987 and represents one of the most authentic expressions of Cajun music and cultural heritage accessible to visitors.
Opelousas, the St. Landry Parish seat about twenty minutes south, is one of the oldest cities in Louisiana and the self-proclaimed Zydeco Music Capital of the World, with a historic downtown reflecting the French colonial and antebellum plantation heritage of the Teche Country. Lafayette, the economic and cultural capital of Acadiana, is about fifty minutes south and provides the full range of Louisiana cultural tourism—the Vermilionville living history museum, the Acadiana Center for the Arts, the region's restaurant scene, and access to the Atchafalaya Basin boat tours that explore North America's largest river swamp. The Creole Nature Trail All-American Road southwest of Lake Charles, about two hours west, provides access to the Gulf Coast and the most bird-rich coastal marshes in the country.
Lakeview Park and Beach is open and active from February through November, with the Saturday barn dances anchoring a campground calendar that goes well beyond the typical pool-and-playground family camp formula. Peak summer demand from Memorial Day through Labor Day fills the pull-through sites fastest, and the Saturday night fais-do-do draws regional campers who plan their stays specifically around the music. The combination of lake fishing, beach swimming, Cajun cultural programming, and genuine regional cooking nearby makes this one of the more distinctive campground experiences in the Deep South.
from $35/night