Rutherford Beach

The beach is about an hour drive from the main road. It’s a 2 lane road along the wetlands with a ditch on either side so I wouldn’t recommend driving it at night. Along the route there are no gas stations or stores, but there are devastated houses from past storms. It seems like a great region for birdwatching but I didn’t have binoculars.

The beach is large and mostly empty. During the day a few trucks would drive out up to the shoreline and at night there were only one or two groups staying overnight on the whole beach. I stayed right off the access road as I didn’t want to risk getting stuck closer to the shore.

The mosquitoes weren’t a problem at all the first night, but the second night they made me uncomfortable.

Overall I’d say it was an enjoyable stay since I had a good idea of what to expect. I couldn’t find the porta potties other reviews mention.

I’m sure it was beautiful before hurricane delta took it out. The roads are washed out such that you cannot get to the beach and all the builds and pavilions are scraped to the ground. We stayed off to the side of the main road coming in as it was getting dark when we arrived. Mosquitoes were thick as I’ve ever seen. Sunset was pretty though :)

Shooooo wee! This area is wrecked from hurricane damage. After getting off the highway, the 40 miles to the site is scary to come through at night. There are many down power lines and the mosquitos are no joke. But waking up at the beach is beautiful and the wind keeps the mosquitos away for the most part. I wouldn’t stay again only because the road back to the I-10 is long and there a ditch on either side of the road. No lights, no gas stations. It was nice to come for the day bc there weren’t any other spots around but the water is contaminated so there’s that. Also, do not park near any type of structures. It’s someone’s property and you’ll get a visit from the sheriff. T mobile has absolute no service, att has full service. A lot of people in the surrounding neighborhoods live in RVs bc their houses are gone.

Rutherford Beach is a small quiet, unimproved beach in SW Louisiana. There aren't any amenities except for in the parking lot area where there are porta-potties, 2 picnic tables under a roof, and an outdoor shower nozzle by the tables to rinse off with. There was a fair number of day-use visitors but almost no one camping overnight.

This was our 2nd time to camp there. The first time we were too chicken to go out along the beach "road" but this time we were brave and drove our small RV out where we could camp with our door opening on to the beach. Had it not been for the over-abundance of mosquitoes, our trip would have been great. But we weren't prepared for the swarm. And it was hot for June. Fortunately we have a fan and a battery so we made it thru the night. But we elected to go home the next day. If you don't mind the heat, bugs and Gulf of Mexico water advisories, you'll really enjoy Rutherford, but we really think it's a better choice for cooler weather.

The real highlight of visiting Rutherford Beach is the drive from I-10 thru the Cameron Prairie Nat'l Wildlife Refuge. It's great for birding. When we went in the late spring, we saw tons of birds - ibis, great herons, brown and white pelicans, ducks... and gators. Check out the Visitor Center. There's a boardwalk into the marsh that lets you see much more than you can from the road. On the June trip we didn't see a whole lot of birds but the native water lilies were in full bloom in the open water areas and they were incredible.

Forgot to mention that if you're into surf fishing, there was a lot of it going on in June. The guy next to us caught a juvenile bull shark and a saltwater gar among other assorted fish.

You'll arrive to a paved+gravel lot with a dumpster and portapotties. Some people who don't want to risk the sand just park and camp there. There's a little strip of packed sand between that and the beach where you'll drive in to park. It goes maybe a quarter mile. Don't try to be slick and drive through the grass (like I did) for an easier angle and view. It looks and feels solid (I walked it before attempting), but if you find a soft spot, you're digging in. Fortunately, a couple local guys are used to seeing it happen, and one of them pulled up next to me and offered to help before I could finish cursing my steering wheel. The next night, I watched a Class A get stuck just backing up too far off the packed road.

Plenty of 4x4 trucks drove right onto the beach, but it would be risky for rigs.

Beach goes for miles so plenty of room to spread out. Dogs loved tearing up the beach and jumping into waves.

The biggest negative here are the mosquitos. Swarms are ever-present near the grassy areas, so bring along all the repellent you got and leave your lights when you're going in and out at night. When my entry light was on, each time I stepped outside and back in, quickly closing the door behind me, I'd have at least 20 mosquitos to swat. Might as well draw your shades too or you'll be staring at them through the glass all night.

After driving down western LA to Lake Charles, had lunch and found this. Got there around dusk and set up along with others behind the protected dune area. We have an expedition tent on top of the RX300 so the breeze and sound were idyllic. Blows my mind that it is free, a million dollar view and friendly people with their own stories from all over the world nearby. Perfect retreat from driving and of course from Wisconsin winter. (to the 1 star dude: there is another area accessible if you drive back out a few hundred feet and take a left on the road. It takes you past the private beach houses and seemed to be wonderful. As there was a newly married young couple camping there, we went back to the area near the gravel lot. There were also driver/campers on the beach to the left of the gravel area.)

Great spot to camp beachside! Easy to find and awesome view. The area gets a lot of fishermen each day! Definitely alligators and cows nearby in the marshes and behind the beach to the east of the main area. A 4x4 van can head east on the beach for more secluded camping. All the RVs seem to use the main gravel pull out or the road behind the short dunes heading west from the main gravel area!