Northshore Beach
Slidell, LA
Northshore Beach sits at the end of Carr Drive on the Slidell side of Lake Pontchartrain, a free public beach run by St. Tammany Parish with the Pontchartrain Conservancy. It has two shaded pavilions, picnic tables, and a parking area. The shoreline has needed sand trucked in after erosion, and it's open daily from 7am to 11pm.
It's free, close to Slidell, and set up for a family afternoon, but water quality regularly fails Swim Guide standards and that keeps a lot of locals out of the water.
How we score beachesCheck the Pontchartrain Conservancy's Swim Guide before getting in. Water quality here swings with rainfall and Bonnet Carre Spillway openings, and the beach has been closed for algae blooms before.
A parking area at the end of Carr Drive serves the beach, with no fee. Gates follow the 7am to 11pm daily hours.
The pavilions and picnic area sit close to the parking area, and the last stretch to the water is sand.
Lake water is warm enough for swimming from late spring into September, and summer afternoons run hot and humid. Hurricane season, June through November, is also when algae advisories and storm closures are most likely.
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