Lake Pontchartrain

About Lake Pontchartrain

Lake Pontchartrain (pronounced /ˈpɒntʃətreɪn/ in English; Lac Pontchartrain, IPA [lak pɔ̃ʃaʀtʀɛ̃] (help·info) in French) is a brackish lake located in southeastern Louisiana. It is the second-largest saltwater lake in the United States, after the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the largest lake in Louisiana. It covers an area of 630 square miles (1630 square km) with an average depth of 12 to 14 feet (about 4 meters). Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about 40 miles (64 km) wide and 24 miles (39 km) from south to north.

The south shore forms the northern boundary of the city of New Orleans, and its two largest suburbs Metairie and Kenner. On the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain is an area called the North Shore or Northshore or the Northlake area. It is composed of cities such as Mandeville, Covington, Madisonville, Slidell; in Saint Tammany Parish; Ponchatoula, Hammond, and Amite in Tangipahoa Parish; and Franklinton and Bogalusa in Washington Parish. These Northshore parishes form the eastern Florida Parishes.

Lake Pontchartrain is named for Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain, the French Minister of the Marine, chancellor of France and minister of finance during the reign of France's "Sun King," Louis XIV, for whom Louisiana is named.