Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Ponchatoula, LA

Beautifully kept resort with nice full hook up camspots, fences in dog park, pools for adults and kids, camp store, bar, grill, lake and hot tub. Also have nice facilities for showers and laundry that takes credit cards ( yay, no need for quarters). The only downside for me is they played music so loud at the outdoor bar that my ears hurt and could carry on a conversation. Our site next to dog park which was cute but a lot of excited dog barking from sun up to sun down.

We have stayed here for 4 consecutive years for the Louisiana Marathon weekend in January and couldn’t ask for a better home base for one of our favorite race weekends.

They offer regular pull thru spots with both 30 and 50 amp full hook ups and deluxe with a fire ring and patio space. The campground and bath house are kept clean and there is even a dog park for your furry camping friends.

We planned on hanging out here for around a week but ended up leaving after a couple of hours. There were a bunch of signs posted saying no pets and some other campers told us that they are pretty strict about it. That was enough for us to find somewhere else cause we can’t relax looking over our shoulder worrying about having our dog out. I don’t want to talk down on this place because we didn’t stay there but I will say I wasn’t a huge fan of the vibe in general either. It didn’t feel like a place I could relax but I will say I could have seen myself staying a night or two if I had to.

This park typifies “RV Resort” with multiple swimming pools(with swim up bars), café, lazy river, pool cabanas, putt putt golf, pickelball/basketball courts, a fitness center, game room, club house, amphitheater(with live entertainment), playground, off-leash dog park, gift shop, water craft rental, golf cart rental, and a water-based obstacle course(think Ninja Warrior type course). Be aware, some of these amenities have costs associated with them. For example, a cabana by the pool costs $85/day and water attractions are $25/day! We stayed the month of March and the park was about half full during the week with seasonal campers but filled to capacity over the weekends. 

All sites are 30/50 amp, full hook-up, with wifi and cable. There are pull-thru and back-in sites. Sites, roads, and patios are paved and level and come with a picnic table and fire pit. There are two and three-rig “buddy sites” which are great for camping with friends. Roads are wide and sites are angled for easy in and out. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit. There are two site types - “standard” and“premium” with the difference being the length of the patio and a $10/night higher price tag. Weekly, monthly, and seasonal rates are available and heavily discounted and there are discounts for Good Sam, senior citizen, and military. Our monthly rate reduced the nightly cost from $60 to $22. 

Reunion Lake has very easy and quick access to I-12 between Baton Rouge and Covington. New Orleans is about an hour’s drive away but the smaller towns of Ponchatoula and Hammond are ten minutes away. There is a Sonic and Exxon just outside the gate with walking distance and a grocery store is about three miles away. 

Although this is a nice park with lots of amenities this was not really a good fit for us and is crazy with kids on the weekends. We were a little miffed that we were assigned a campsite that management knew did not have working cable. As I was fiddling with the cable(for a couple of hours) other campers came by to tell us that cable had not worked in that site for a long time and management knew that. We were glad the manager agreed to move(and upgrade us to a premium site) but it two days after we checked in and were all set up. Our fire pit(and many others in the park) had trash in it. We never saw anyone clean out fire pits the entire month we were there. The weekend campers near us turned out to be pretty obnoxious with loud karaoke and radios playing all day even when they were not outside. On their behalf, they did turn the music down by quiet hours but it was so loud during the day that we didn’t want to sit outside. There were pieces of trash scattered throughout the park that never got picked up even as we watched staff drive by them every day. Small children were left unsupervised in the lazy river and did not abide by the parks rule to remain in tubes. Children were unsupervised on the basketball/pickleball courts and used the golf putter to hit rocks in the horseshoe pits. One bathhouse we went in was in need of some serious cleaning. 

This park has a lot of great amenities if that is what you are looking for. It fills up with weekend campers with lots of kids and barking dogs on weekends so there is not much peace and quiet. While it was a decent place to stay during the week, it got pretty crazy on the weekends.

Nice place to spend some time. Lots of room in the campsite. Quiet, pet friendly. Clean bathrooms and showers. Playgrounds at each of the restroom buildings. Laundry is also available $1.75 each for wash and dry. Very humid- but it is New Orleans, after all. A few trails to hike. Can also launch a boat to fish. Pool was closed while we were there (July 2022). But seemed like it would be fun.

This is my first stay at Paradise Ranch. I had pretty high expectations based upon their website and feedback from friends. Note: Apple Maps and RV Life GPS will route you to the old park entrance which is closed. The new entrance is about 200 yards further east along Hwy 48. The sign at the entrance is off the road and you could miss it if you dont pay attention.

Checking in, the lady gave me poor directions to my site. It was unclear where to turn after entering the gate and she routed me where Id have to back-in to my pull-through site.

A very hard rain storm came through as we were setting up. Had to go in the RV and wait out the rain. Afterwards, I noticed a number of the campsites and roads were flooded with a few inches of water. Some of my neighbors RVs were surrounded by water for a little while until it could drain away. Fortunately, my site did not flood.

The entrance road is concrete, but all of the roads within the park are gravel or dirt. Some sites have concrete pads, especially near the Lagoon. We stayed in pull-through campsite #P85 which was not shady and not very level. It was a gravel site with grass on either side. There was enough parking for my 34 ft TT and truck. Neighbors are close. The site included: picnic table on grass and fire bowl. Utilities: 20/30/50A electric in the middle. Water in the middle, good pressure. Sewer towards the front with 4 screw-on fitting. I know they area I camped in is newly expanded and only opened up a few months ago. Im sure it will improve over time.

Bass Lake (onsite) is beautiful. The BL campsites are shady. I would probably stay along the lake if I came here again. There is an area near the lake where you can see (and pet) the red stag deer. There are also some hogs wandering around the lake that you can pet.

The Lagoon area has a lot of shade, except for the pool, of course. The pool is large and also incudes a kiddy pool. We were disappointed to find the zip line that is mentioned on their website was not there. There was a good live band on the stage Saturday night. They also had a number of activities for the kids throughout the day. We enjoyed the water gun wars. Some of the camp staff also participate. If you stay in a Lagoon campsite, Id recommend one on the west side as they are a few feet higher in elevation than those on the east side. There was standing water around the sites on the east side after the heavy rain.

AT&T had 4 bars of LTE and Verizon 1 bar of LTE service. AT&T Speedtest: 298 Mbps down, 28 Mbps up. No WiFi.

Stayed 3 nights in July. Would probably stay here again, especially if a group of friends wanted to go. But, there are nicer RV parks closer to my home. (Paradise Ranch is about 107 miles from home.)

Went for a few nights solo camping (with my dog) in late January, so we had the tent area to ourselves until Friday afternoon. Really impressed with the cleanliness of the grounds, but some of the fire pits and grills could use some work. Great variety of campsite layouts, as well as a couple of wheelchair friendly ones. Facilities were clean and plentiful. Several miles of trails showcasing the beauty of southern Louisiana. Will definitely be going back.

This is a great campsite for swimming, BBQ, dogs, and kids alike

Really nice park very well maintained. Exceptionally maintained. All concrete sites and a beautiful lake. Covered play area for kids and a nice dog walk area.

City park and Couturie forest are great outdoors spots. Camping inside either is technically prohibited. But car camping in the parking spots along the park roads are common. A great spot for fishing, nature trails, dog walking, and enjoying nature.

The park is very well maintained! We visited three weeks after Hurricane Ida and there were virtually no signs of damage left outside of down trees in the tree lines. Beautiful trees, the park is huge, everyone was kind! Dogs are allowed. They do have wifi, but we could not connect. However, cell service was great in the park so we used our hotspot. Will be back!

Right next to the road on the rougher side of town. But! Gated. Well kept. There is a shuttle to town available $10 each way or the bus stop is right across the stress. The pool and hot tub are lovely. Quite a small park. No real area to walk or explore. The dog area is small but nice. Very kind owners.

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.

I went camping for New Years. My campsite was right next to the bathrooms which was super convenient and surprisingly not noticeably busy. Thought I would have access to the water but didn’t. The hiking trail connects just across the road so easy access but kind of hard to find the trailhead. Enjoyed hiking the trail and had plenty of spots with water along the way for my dog. We hiked on the beach as well and it was quite peaceful we were basically the only ones.

The front desk staff were knowledgeable and helpful with recommendations, maps and literature. I do also suggest taking the ferry into New Orleans. The price for a site was half price for folks 62 and older. The sites were spaced out well and there was plenty of level ground for setting up. There were a few playground areas that seemed to be enjoyed by families and walking the dog on the pathways and road was pleasant. I would recommend this park to friends.

We showed up to a swampy site (it’s a bayou after all) full of mosquitos. As soon as the sun went down, the termites flooded every light source. By the next day things seemed to drY up a bit and we were able to enjoy the wildlife and some great fishing. Our site was large with H2O and electricity. Our neighbors put a real damper on our stay with their 6 dogs, loud TV in the tent and fighting at all hours of the night - but that’s circumstantial.