Whether you’re looking for a convenient base for exploring New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, or a waterfront retreat for relaxing in nature, Fontainebleau State Park offers both. Located along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, and named for the Fontainebleau Forest near Paris, France, the area was founded in the early 1800s as a sugar plantation. In fact, the remains of the plantation’s old sugar mill form part of the 2,800-acre state park’s visitor center and museum. The park’s diverse ecosystem—including bayous and mossy woods—serves as an expansive wildlife preserve, hosting more than 400 species of birds and animals—including alligators! The park also boasts one of the largest white sand beaches in the state, a perfect place for sunning, swimming and paddling.   

Fontainebleau State Park offers 116 improved campsites for RV campers, and more than 250 unimproved sites for tent campers. RV sites are equipped with water and electricity hookups, and can accommodate vehicles/trailers up to 70 feet; a few pull-through sites can accommodate rigs up to 120 feet. Tent sites are mostly primitive, with 33 designated sites and a large community area. There are also two group camps. All sites have access to water faucets, flush restrooms, and showers; a dump station is located in the upper camping area. For those traveling without their own accommodations, the park also offers cabins and group lodges. Reservations are recommended for RV sites; most tent sites are first-come-first-served. Dogs are permitted, but must remain leashed. Campsite rates range from $18–$33/night; cabins and lodges are $150–$210/night.

Guests who are interested in relaxing and recreating in the park have access to a variety of onsite amenities, including picnic areas, a water playground, fishing piers, beaches and swimming areas, kayak and SUP rentals, and Wifi service. The park’s two nature trails, including a portion of the Tammany Trace Trail (an old railroad line converted into a multi-use path), are excellent for wildlife watching. Anglers can fish for various freshwater species of bass, bluegill, sunfish and catfish in the park’s ponds and creeks. Outside of the park, visitors can go antiquing in the local villages, enjoy fresh seafood from several nearby eateries, or head for the local brewery for a refreshing pint. New Orleans, and all its history, culture and flavor are just a short drive across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.

Fontainebleau State Park Campground

We stayed here a little over two weeks in mid-February 2019. We really enjoyed this park. It does get very busy on the weekend, but the area we were in was still quiet and peaceful. We were in an area that is deemed long-term and some people around us were staying several months. There is only water and electricity hookups, but there are two dump stations throughout the park. We used our tote to dump grey water while there. We were on spot #138 and were close to the dump and the camp host. Very convenient for using the tote.  This is a bit older park, but we liked it. There are a few walking trails and you can walk along the road as well. There is a long bike trail that takes you into town, but we didn’t do that. There is a cute little beach and pier at Lake Pontchartrain. Would have loved to have a beach day, but the weather did not cooperate. We walked around the park most days and enjoyed the birds and the wonderful trees with Spanish moss. As with most things in Louisiana, the park is low-lying so with rain there are puddles and mud. The campground did not get bad even though it rained several times while we were there. Internet access was good. Strong signal with AT&amp;T and Verizon. The park is close to Mandeville and Covington if you need any essentials. Access to New Orleans is about an hour. We went twice while there. This was our second time staying here and we enjoyed it more this time because we had extra time to explore the park. We saw numerous deer and several wild boars which was fun. We were there during the off-season, so rates were $20/night on the weeknights and $28/night on weekends. We will definitely be back when in the area again.

Lovely state park

This is our families 3rd visit to the park. The park was PACKED! We spent the day out hiking on the trails. These marshy trails are great. There are a few. 1 leads to 3\. I suggest doing all 3\. The alligator boardwalk was our favorite. The boardwalk allows you to get into the marshy areas of the lake and see the wildlife up close and personal. My kids saw snakes and turtles. Great day.

Because the campground was so full, the bath houses and showers were well used. Not too bad, but noticeable. The site was great. Backed up to the woods, next to a path that led to the trails. Across from playground (big mistake). Ninja racoons, wild deer and hogs. Kids loved finding the animal tracks and following them.

Same time, same place, different experience 

My wife and I camped here over the Mother’s Day weekend; we loved how clean and nice everything was. The visitors center is very educational. Out campsite was secluded and shady. Can’t wait to go back!

Very clean, very beautiful

This is a beautiful state park located on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain ( 30 min north of New Orleans). The grounds are immaculate with huge Spanish moss covered Live Oaks throughout the park. There are plenty of campsites that will fit any style of camper from primitive to luxurious. We prefer primitive camping ourselves and found some nice quiet spots tucked into the trees away from all the RVs. There's a beach, splash pad, fishing pier, bike trails, hiking trails, and several playgrounds (one located within the campsites), so there is something for everyone.

  Beautiful Southern Park!

great family park. has a good beach, lots of trails, walking and bike trails. wildlife, and good bike riding. splash pad for IIds In summer.  beautiful place with lots of old oaks and cypress trees. 

one of our favorites 

Beautiful park. Live Oaks and Moss. Wildlife. Great fishing pier. Quiet and very family friendly

Must go

This is a really nice state park and campground. It's located right on Lake Pontchartrain, which is really beautiful and nice for swimming, fishing, canoeing. They have some really nice tent sites, nice bathrooms, pavilions, picnic tables. There are also cabins that you can rent if you want. The beaches are cool, there are some nice hiking and biking trails.

Of course, being right near New Orleans, there is plenty to do. Taking a boat tour through some of the swamps is really cool. Plus, you get to find out a little about the history of the city. Taking a bike tour around the city is really cool as well. I learned so much about the history of New Orleans when I did it! Just a really awesome city full of culture and weirdly awesome stuff.

cool place 

We have a church retreat there every summer.  Spacious area.  Easy access to the park.  Common/mess area.  The sleeping facilities are nice but the mattresses are uncomfortable.  Nice little pond for fishing

Nice area to group camp

Popular! Weekends are very busy. Beautiful park, lots of outdoors things to do. Deer eand other wildlife everywhere.

Popular, but sites are nicely spaced with lots of greenery in between.

Chill, few minutes to a beautiful beach! Camp and bathroom are really clean. We were lucky to be here during the week(no neighbors, nobody on the beach), I feel it can be less nicer during the weekend... 

BEAUTIFUL 

A very nice state park.  Our visit was too short to enjoy much,  but we definitely did enjoy it for the overnight-to-late-morning that we were there! and,  there are playgrounds and a beach!

  

A family of raccoons must have been fed by someone,  though, as they had NO fear nor qualms of coming right up to our table end one evening! 😱

A nice place to camp

We had a great pull-through site with the woods as our back yard.(I don't recall the number). Saw deer every evening and even a wild pig! The sites were a bit soggy because of all the rain. Campground could use a few more trash dumpsters. The beach was beautiful and I'll bet crowded during the summer. Take advantage of the Rails to Trails bike path. We rode to Liz' Where Y'all At Diner and then drove on for a total 20 mile bike ride. Would totally visit this park again.

Beautiful Park even during the soggy season

Seems like a great place for summer with a splash pad and beach available. I’m sure the mosquitoes would be horrendous though. Great place to bike around. Beautiful oak trees, historical site, very helpful park rangers. I arrived late with my daughter and we thoroughly enjoyed our short overnight stay. 

Cool place

Not a lot of full hook up sites (I’m spoiled) but excellent campground, concrete rodes for kids to ride bikes, scootered, etc.  Playgrounds and hiking and biking trails 

Lake pontchatrain

This has got to be the cleanest park that I had visited. The grounds were perfectly maintained as was the beach area. There's a large playground which was beautiful and safety minded. The camping area has beautiful flat RV sites, able to handle up to class A. Electric and water mostly,  a few full hookups available, but they book quickly. Plenty of raccoons and deer to watch also! Tents are welcome. 
Disclaimer,  I was unable to camp on this visit due to Covid 19, but I was able to look around, hike, fish, and check out the gorgeous grounds!

Beautiful and Clean 

We stayed at Fontainebleau State Park when traveling to NOLA for Mardi Gras in late February, wanting a quiet place to retreat after a day of festivities. Fontainebleau did not disappoint in quiet, although the wetlands definitely extended all the way into our campsite. 

  

As tent campers, we chose one of the unimproved sites (94) as we did not need water and electric, and during Mardi Gras most of the campground was full as it was. We arrived after dark and found...a completely flooded site! While in part due to recent rains, one of the rangers told me that the campground was extremely wet most of the year. As it was already dark we elected not to try and carry our tent and sleeping gear over the soggy grounds to the one semi-dry tent pad, and just set up our bed in the car. Most of the sites in this area were equally wet, and another set of campers had rigged a zip-line to get their gear from the car over the flooded grounds to their dry spot. A trade-off for quiet and privacy, and a place of exploration for our kids.  

  

The improved area of the campground was still largely wet with flooded areas, although the main hookup sites had the driest ground, and paved roads throughout for bike riding and walks on dry land.

  

The primitive sites are very open and would work well for church or scouting groups, although due to wide grassy areas and ever so slightly lower elevations, they were very flooded when we were there. The premium sites along the edge of the "new campground" seemed to have the least amount of flooding. They have electric and water hookups and offer a little more privacy than the center sites, but are smaller by comparison to the unimproved sites.

  

Aside from the wet grounds, this is a beautiful park, with a lot of hiking through wetlands, Spanish moss draping gracefully throughout, and a gorgeous view of Lake Pontchartrain. There is a very small beach, multiple playgrounds, and large pavilions, and the campground had some of the cleanest bathrooms I have experienced. We are a homeschool family and really enjoyed the ruins of the sugar mill and the historic markers to include in our teaching curriculum for the weekend. 

  

In addition to being only a 30 minute drive from New Orleans, this would be a wonderful park to come to just for the enjoyment of the scenery--provided you are in a camper or a van. Tent campers should be prepared for wet grounds, or make sure to have hammocks or tree tents available just in case!

NOLA Convenience and Wetlands

We had an incredible time, the campground and facilities were great and the camp hosts were the best!! 

Great state park for camping

We stayed here December 4-6 and the rangers on site were all more than friendly and helpful.
The great: the park is amazingly large and long trails. Upon first parking at our campsite, we were greeted by maybe 15-20 deer and yes, a few will approach you. Maybe bring some corn so the kids can feed the deer. You may also see opossums and plenty of birds!  All day and night, the bellowing croaks of the bullfrogs are to me, relaxing and making it feel more like camping. Going to sleep, we could hear the frogs through the night and I believe it was one of my best nights sleep. 

The not so ugly, but may want to be aware: We had pull through spot 8 and the hookups are not in the best spot in my opinion. We have a 41’ Class A DP and the spot was plenty large, but the hookups (only electric and water) are set where they are opposite side of the bus hookups. This is not a huge issue if you have an extra water hose, but my one water hose did not reach and 2 were required. Driving in, the spot numbers are on post in the center of the pull through spots and you cannot see them until you pass the entry point. Simply facing the campsite number to the incoming traffic would remedy this and not require passing your campsite to see if it’s yours. Most all sites do not have sewage. There is a dump at the exit and upon leaving, there was a line waiting to use. That’s fine, but I did not need to dump sewage and was stuck waiting for others to use it as I could not exit due to exit being blocked. Even with these little issues, I would still be back in a heartbeat due to the amazing beauty of this park! 

Beautiful Park with plentiful wildlife!

In a basic sense the facilities worked and things were organized well but the park is kind of dumpy.. However, sites were  paved pull ins with nothing but low lying grass around them. I was lucky enough to foresee the flooding potential and put my tent on the asphalt pad, because an inch of overnight rain flooded everything around it. That said, the asphalt was lumpy and my sleep uncomfortable.  

Bad for tent campers

We went on a weekend after it had rained all week. There wasn’t a dry spot to be found. The bathrooms were cleaned every morning. Sites were pretty close together, but the campground was clean. I would like to see it in summer when it is drier. They offer a discount for the Access Pass holders, but only if you are a Louisiana resident. They don’t detail that on the website. 

Beautiful but soggy 

Tons of RVs here while I was camped, but I understand why. Community seemed really nice.

Good Verizon cell service.

The park is lovely and goes right up onto the lakes beach. Long hiking trails take you through the woods and marsh land. Saw a couple deer, turtles, and a nutria. Dog loved it.

Bring bug spray or citronella. They will swarm you. Campsites are nice. Laundry, showers and toilets were fine. 

Busy but pretty 

This state park is really pretty, full of lush Spanish moss trees, hiking trails, and historic markers.(although finding out this was a plantation for 150 slaves was unpleasant).

It’s only 45 mins to New Orleans so it’s a great place to stop, drop, and sightsee for the day. 

It had full hook ups available. Free WiFi even. The spots are level and concrete... and nicely spaced. There are picnic tables and grills available for use too.

Careful - when it rains, it floods.

Great stop for NOLA sightseeing 

Have waited six months into our RV life to start reviews for fair comparisons. Stayed 2 nights in 35 foot RV+tow car at$31/night. We really wanted to like this park more than we did as it has great hiking trails, gorgeous natural setting, deer running around everywhere. But there seems to be a chronic flooding issue(not surprising for the location of course). All around our campsite was very flooded. And we saw other sites were the actual site had a few inches of standing water on it. Many of the hiking trails we could not do because of flooding. Even came back days later to try to hike after no rain and some parts were still flooded and very muddy. Staff at gate very friendly and helpful.

Wanted to love it more. Flooding issues

Pulled into this State Park after dark and snagged on open site on a Thursday night. 

Little did I know I snagged a 'premium' site so it was $34. 

The second night I chose a primitive site for a more reasonable $18. 

Nice restroom and shower facilities kept very clean 2x a day. Showers weren't super hot, but they got the job done. 

Surprisingly not too buggy for mid-May. 

Park is very bikeable and the Tamanny Trace is there too, which is a long stretch of bike path for longer rides. 

Beautiful beach area with plenty of kiddos swimming. 

Got out for a morning paddle on day 3 and enjoyed looking for gators on the Alligator Marsh Trail! 

Hike, Bike, Paddle, Swim...What Else Do You Need?

Just completed our first non-tent camping experience with our new camper. Fontainebleau was the perfect spot. Easy to navigate, lots of really good campsites, clean, air-conditioned restrooms. Tons of wildlife and a great splash park for the kids. Nice nature trails. Can’t wait to go back. 

Great campground

Lots of shade Nice big old trees. bathrooms are great air-conditioned, modern with the doors ,clean, plenty of hot water would recommend For RVs and teardrop camping. 40 minute drive to downtown New Orleans across the 31 mile long causeway. Stores, gas stations, restaurants within a few miles of the campsite.  We definitely can’t hear in the future again


Sites and facilities

Had a pull in site. Great view, spacious sites, lots of trees and space.  Horrible deer flies.  Make sure you bring a screen tent to enjoy the outdoor sitting.  Lots of critters…raccoons, squirrels, and deer.  Will definitely be back

Great Getaway

Got in late at night, so was nice of a ranger to call me with the gate combination. Hard to navigate the campground at night, and, when I finally found our reserved site, someone else had taken it. Didn’t look like a reserved sign was posted. The next site over was open—and also without a reserved sign—so we took it. The park probably has a lot to offer, but it was too hot and humid for me and the dogs. We just hung out in the rv, in the a/c. So glad we had good power and water. Overall, campground was fine: sites aren’t that roomy or private, but totally acceptable. Easy and pleasurable drive into NOLA is a big plus!

Okay for overnighter 

The moss trees give this park such a beautiful vibe! The facilities were extra large and clean, huge park, lots to explore. No wifi. Great beach area, trails and views of the lake. We will be back! 

Clean bathrooms and beautiful park 

My understanding is that this campground is currently closed due to the impacts of Hurricane Ida and efforts are being made to get it opened back up soon.

  

We tent camped on an rv site (May 2020) and set up our tent on natural ground beyond the asphalt pad.  The other campers in our area were quiet and kept to their campsites.  We enjoyed a bike ride on the Saint Tammany Trace and then made a short drive to Abita Springs for lunch.  There was high water at the time we went, so the beach area was shut down for recreation.  We did manage to get out to the pier on Sunday for a scenic view of the lake.  

  

We plan to return to the park soon and bring our kayaks.  There seems to be lots of good paddling opportunities around the park.

Great Campground With Many Activities On Site and Surrounding Areas

Visited by day use and still working thru hurricane cleanup 

Busy campground, but lots to do

Great sunsets over the lake well kept and beautiful mature trees. Awesome park. 

Have to return to this one 

Came on a day pass and spent the day. Hiked the trail, which is around 6 miles if you do them all. The visitors center and buildings by the lake are closed but still a beautiful place to visit. Saw a bunch of birds and deer on the hike.

Beautiful park

Campsites all have concrete level pads, easy to negotiate. They are fairly close together but well planned and everything there seems well maintained and clean! Showers &amp; laundry smelled clean ( no damp smell ). We took one of the longer hikes on a hot Saturday and got drenched in a sudden rainstorm but it was actually fun. The trails are well marked and the old sugar mill is interesting. 

Beautiful & Pleasant

We happened into Fountainebleau SP by chance. Having booked a weeklong stay as our first extend stop after moving into our bus conversion full time #ripplebus

We arrived a week early. Doh! 

But the staff and rangers had our backs. Shifting sites and securing us places to stay until our actual reservation date arrived. Brittney was fantastic help. 

And the park?! Hard hit by Hurricane Ida it was in recovery mode but still peaceful, majestic and perfect Deep South. 

We’ll be back. 

Oh, yeah, and the locales that came there for Thanksgiving were amazing. Even though we looked like Yankees—Iowa plates—we were invited to everyone’s grill outs and turkey fry’s. 

Great T-mobile and Verizon—both 5G. 

If your on water and electric assume you’ll have very close neighbors. If you go for the no service sites you’ll feel very alone. 

Be sure to walk the pier and beach in the dead of night. 


Amazing humans in Louisiana. 

Family Reunion type place…yay!!!

It was a great find not far off the road.  It’s an historical oasis.  Right on the water

Beautiful enchanted place

Beautiful, well maintained park. Huge old Live Oaks with Spanish Moss Grace the grounds. Sunset over the lake is spectacular. Hot showers and clean restrooms. 

Gem on the lake

This park is one of the biggest we’ve been to really great sites that are all well-maintained. Beautiful park with beautiful nature trails the beautiful beach! Just absolutely beautiful!  😂 my one complaint is the park staff run that place like it’s for Knox.  One night we had a park ranger searching through a car with a flashlight while we were parked near the beach charging our phones. We confronted him and he got all weird got right in his park truck and left

Beautiful & Spacious 

Primitive group site had plenty of space and good shade. Ground was well packed which was helpful for a wheelchair user in the group. Water spigot on site, fire rings present, short walk to bathhouse and dumpster. Easy one mile walk to lakefront beach area. 

Great for scouting organizations

clean and quiet campground. there’s a beach that’s a drive from the site but not much else as far as entertainment. 

nice and quiet

Beautiful and clean. Perfect campground if you love hiking and to just relax. Wildlife all over. Hiking trails throughout the park. Right on a beach. Play areas for children. And I fishing pond. 

Safe as well. With Wildlife and park ranges there. And gate locked at 9.

Definitely will be back.

Beautiful 

We stayed over Easter weekend 2022 and it was packed. 

We enjoyed riding our bikes around the campground and the trails in the park. We also, took the trace to town and rode along the lake. 

The beach is lovely and the water felt great. There is also a splash pad. 

The bathhouse facilities at the campground were well maintained and cleaned. The facilities at the lake were rough.

The Verizon service was good and there is free WiFi. 

We would stay here again.

Classic well used State Park

This campground has everything a family could possibly need! Spacious sites, spotless (air conditioned) shower house, two playgrounds, a beach, splash pad, hiking paths, and much more. Definitely bring bug spray and sunscreen because you are going to need it! (The cabins were damaged by Hurricane Ida and are currently unusable.)

Beautiful southern campground 

Fountainbleu State Park is very well maintained. The campsite we stayed at we very well shaded. The pull through was nice and fairly level. It was a bit of a walk to the bathrooms but the facilities were clean and nice. I highly recommend staying here and biking on the Tammany Trace. Only downside, is there a very few or no sewer hookups, but the dump station is very well maintained.

Quiet and Well Maintained

Just on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain from NOLA this is a gorgeous park full of giant oaks covered in Spanish moss and a beautiful beach. The campground is well situated a short ways back from the water and each site has lots of space and is set back from the road. There are bathroom facilities as well as firepits at each site. Overall this is an amazing place to stay and has easy access to multiple biking trails and outdoor activities. You can also hop on over to the city for dinner!

Close to NOLA

Level sites make setting up easy! All sites are close to the well maintained bath &amp; laundry houses. Highly recommend this beautiful campsite &amp; state park.

Peaceful & well appointed.

We needed a spot for a couple nights and decided to come here. Many nice spots that are level, an awesome beach, trails, &amp; peace &amp; quiet. Our site was a corner site, sometimes people cut through it,that was the only negative.

Very nice

We spent 4 nights in two different pull through spots. We loved being able to walk, explore, and breathe in nature right from our RV.

The laundry room was nice, the bath rooms were nice, and the trees and forest were lush! Starlink did great here for us although some sites would have heavy obstructions. We looked at the map and satellite ahead of booking for a good north skyline. We would certainly stay here again. We used this area as a basecamp to explore New Orleans with a 50 minute drive away.

Quiet and beautiful spots

Only stayed the night as a layover spot but the campground is very nice. It’s very quite and the spots are spaced well. Bathhouse is very clean and well kept. There is WiFi but not strong enough to stream tv. 

Very nice campground

We loved our trip here! Playground, beach and splash pad were fantastic. Clean bath houses and very nice staff. I would suggest staying in the lower numbered sites, they are newer are larger, great for big rigs! Lots of pull-through sites that aren’t on top of your neighbors. Some of the higher numbered sites you can tell are a bit older and closer together. 

Beach was fantastic

I love this place. It has easy access to the Tammany Trace bike path, hiking trails, a beautiful beach and incredible views of Lake Ponchartrain. I was only going to stay two nights but extended my stay for two additional nights. I really didn’t want to go when I left but I had to ease on back towards home so I could be there in time for Christmas. 

Great place to stay 

Had a lovely time here, nice warm/hot showers, clean bathrooms, very friendly staff and decent pricing!

Would have loved to stay the day and explore the beach and walking trails they have there. Maybe next time😁