Rutherford Beach

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.)

We’ve done a lot of beach camping so we drove down here to take a look before bringing our rv down and am I glad we did! I don’t know why other reviewers raved about this place because we found no place that you could put an rv on the beach if you could even get it there due to the very deep sand. There’s a very small gravel parking lot that you could probably park at but you’d be very close if others were there and the grass/hard packed sand road is very short and you park right, and I mean right, next to the road. There is also a fence between you and these areas so you would have to walk down to the ocean. There was a small motor home that parked along one of the small spurs going onto beach but that was also far from ocean. Maybe my definition of beach camping is different than others because for me it means right on the beach. We also checked out Holly Beach and found it to have the same conditions. We have a 4x4 truck and we’re not able to access beach as we almost got stuck just going in!

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!

Campsite and beach were clean. Water was shut off. Nice hard-packed areas for camping behind the dunes. Many lightweight vehicles/trailers camped on the beach. Nice covered pavilion area w/4 cement picnic tables on large concrete pad. Two outhouses. Mosquitos were a function of the wind - if coming off the Gulf they were tolerable at night. If coming from land, horrible! After staying here 3 nights we decided the Gulf would look the same from anywhere else in LA. This beach was great! We had a blast, as did our dogs! Being able to run freely on the beach was a special treat for them!!! We will be back!

Camped in a Dodge promaster van. The dirt/sand road is easy to get through. Be careful not to get into the soft sand. We almost got stuck. Try to stay on the grass. The beach itself was pretty littered with trash and washed up debris. The view was beautiful. There are also cows freely roaming the beach so expect a lot of cow patties everywhere.