This sparsely populated area in the southwestern part of the state contains a string of small settlements and communities located along natural ridges in the vast marshland, known locally as cheniers.

LA 82 and the communities along its path have survived despite their vulnerability to storm surge, which caused extensive damage most recently by Hurricanes Rita and Ike.

Besides the coastal marshes, LA 82 traverses inland prairies, rural farmland, and the longest stretch of sandy beach in the state.

The area's distinctive abundance of wildlife is reflected in the highway's designation through Cameron Parish as part of the Creole Nature Trail, an All-American Road in the National Scenic Byways Program.

The highway then curves to the east and heads through the desolate marshes of Cameron Parish initially along an artificial embankment flanked by drainage canals.

As the highway begins to approach the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico, however, it transitions onto the Blue Buck Ridge, a narrow strip of natural dry land.

[2][3][4] Passing through the small community of Johnson Bayou, located about 14 miles (23 km) from the Sabine Lake bridge, LA 82 becomes known as the Gulf Beach Highway.

This leg of LA 27 heads north to Sulphur outside the larger city of Lake Charles and provides one of only two inland connections from the Cameron Parish gulf coast.

[2][4][5] About 8.5 miles (13.7 km) later, the highway reaches Creole, a four-way junction where LA 27 turns back to the north, providing the second and last connection to the Lake Charles area.

After 2 miles (3.2 km), LA 82 turns east again at Oak Grove, the location of the region's high school as well as the Catfish Point Control Structure, a saltwater intrusion barrier.

6 miles (9.7 km) east of Oak Grove, LA 82 crosses a swing bridge over the Mermentau River into Grand Chenier.

The highway travels along a grassy ridge ("chenier") through the community, which consists of a string of homes on the north side of the road that are interspersed with large oak trees.

After 5 miles (8.0 km), the highway curves to the north and merges with LA 3147, a gravel route connecting to a remote location on the coastline known as Freshwater City.

LA 82 turns east at this intersection and proceeds for about 7.5 miles (12.1 km) through an area of farmland mixed with light residential development.

LA 82 follows Elm Street through the three block-long community of Perry then crosses the Vermilion River by way of a vertical lift bridge.

After 8 miles (13 km), the highway reaches a T-intersection with Lulu Road where a swing bridge signed as LA 1246 crosses the river immediately to the west.

The route turns east and proceeds for another 2 miles (3.2 km) to the Lafayette Parish line where state maintenance and the LA 82 designation officially end.

Local roads carry traffic for the short distance between there and LA 339, which connects to Youngsville and other areas of urban sprawl south of nearby Lafayette.

[2] The entirety of LA 82 within Cameron Parish is part of the Creole Nature Trail, which is designated as a National Scenic Byway All-American Road.

26 and 43 at or near the Intracoastal Canal, and from the joint terminus extending the highway southward to the Gulf of Mexico, and from that point westward through Pecan Island, Grand Chenier and Leesburg, thence in a westerly direction through Johnson Bayou Settlement to the Texas line at a point on Sabine Lake to intersect the proposed causeway from Port Arthur, Texas, over said Sabine Lake.

[14][15] The addition of Route 292, projected to follow the gulf coast through the entire southwestern portion of the state, would open up much of Cameron Parish to automobile travel.

[16] These narrow linear islands in the marsh would have to be connected by long stretches of man-made roadway embankment to create a continuous route through the area.

[21] By the following year, the gravel road had been extended east from Cameron to Creole and then southeast through Grand Chenier to the end of the ridge near Tiger Island.

[26][27] The dirt embankment for the remainder of the distance west of Johnson Bayou existed by this time,[27] but it was not surfaced until the mid-1950s when the planned bridge across the Sabine Lake at the Texas state line was finally placed under construction.

This was a small settlement located on a ridge that jutted in from the beach and contained a popular health resort prior to World War II.

[30] The northern leg would traverse the marsh midway between White Lake and Vermilion Bay to connect with Routes 26 and 43, the main highways to Kaplan and Abbeville, respectively.

Shortly after the 1955 renumbering, the LA 82 designation was extended north from Abbeville along a former local road on the east bank of the Vermilion River to the Lafayette Parish line.

[48][49] The last ferry service on the Vermilion Parish portion of the highway was discontinued when a bridge was completed across the Schooner Bayou Canal (or Old Intracoastal Waterway) in 1965.

[44] La DOTD is currently engaged in a program that aims to transfer about 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of state-owned roadways to local governments over the next several years.

[54] Under this plan of "right-sizing" the state highway system, the portion of LA 82 north of Abbeville is proposed for elimination as it does not meet a significant interurban travel function.