From the northwest, LA 26 begins at a junction with the concurrent US 171/US 190 approximately two miles (3.2 km) southeast of the DeRidder city limits.

It then zigzags south onto North 5th Street and east again into the business district on 6th Avenue, a divided two-lane thoroughfare with continuous parking bays.

four miles (6.4 km) later, the highway curves due south and will keep this trajectory for the remainder of its journey, its directional banners changing accordingly from east–west to north–south.

[2][4][5] About seven miles (11 km) later, LA 26 enters Jefferson Davis Parish and almost immediately crosses US 190 just east of Elton.

At the northern city limits, LA 26 widens to a divided four-lane highway as it passes through a diamond interchange with I-10 at exit 64, connecting with Lake Charles to the west and Lafayette to the east.

The roadway narrows slightly as the median disappears, and LA 26 continues south on Elton Road, serving as a corridor for newer commercial development.

The local name changes to Lake Arthur Avenue, and LA 26 proceeds through a residential neighborhood, passing a few blocks west of the city's traditional downtown area.

[2][4][6] LA 26 proceeds a short distance further and gains a center turning lane just prior to entering the small town of Lake Arthur, which is situated on a body of water by the same name.

From this junction, LA 14 heads west on 3rd Street into the downtown area and also straight ahead on Calcasieu Avenue towards a bridge spanning the Mermentau River.

[14] Additionally, the stretch between DeRidder and Elton served briefly as part of US 190 when that highway was extended westward from Baton Rouge in 1935.

With the 1955 renumbering, the state highway department initially categorized all routes into three classes: "A" (primary), "B" (secondary), and "C" (farm-to-market).

At the time of the renumbering, a project was underway to improve the last remaining unpaved stretches of the roadway, mostly in Allen Parish.

[13][21] The final unpaved section, a roadway alternating between dirt and gravel between the Oberlin line and LA 104, was paved around 1959.