The Fontainebleau State Park is a 2,800 acre state park on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain located in South Louisiana.
With a variety of overnight accommodations, bike trails, some hiking, and a small beach, Fontainebleau is a fun day trip for locals and provides enough humidity and towering oak trees dripping with moss for out-of-towners to get a glimpse of Louisiana terrain, including swamp beaches and miles of paved bike trails.
It only costs $3 per person to visit the park for the day.
Hours: 6 a.m. – 10 p.m.
With 4 types of overnight accommodations that range from $18 to $120, Fontainebleau’s theme of variety and low-price fun continues to deliver.
Fontainebleau State Park Camping Options
| Unimproved (Primitive) Campsites | $18 a night, plus tax |
| Primitive Group Campsites | $35 a night, plus tax |
| Glamping | $99 a night, plus tax |
| Improved Campsites | $20-$25 a night, plus tax |
| Premium Campsite | $33-$35 a night, plus tax |
| Deluxe Cabins | $150-175 a night, plus tax |
| Standard Lodges | $155 -$210 a night, plus tax |
*A $6 non-refundable reservation fee for all overnight accommodations is included.*
*Price per night ranges based on day of week and time of year. See State Park site for more details.*
*As of January 2022, cabins are closed due to damage sustained during Hurricane Ida (September 2021). In addition, some of the boardwalk trails may be inaccessible due to ongoing cleanup.
Unimproved (Primitive) Camping
The primitive campsites at Fontainebleau are noted as unimproved campsites on the park website. These campsites don’t have electrical or water hookups.
These sites are equipped with a fire pit, campsite pad, and a nearby temperature controlled bathroom and bath house with showers and toilets.
The group primitive area campsites are reserved for larger tent camping groups, like Boy Scouts. Group areas can be booked for $35 a night compared to $18 a night for the regular unimproved campsite. These prices will also include the $6 reservation fee and tax.
Glamping
There are a total of 10 glamping sites–7 single tent glamping sites and one 3-tent glamping site for groups who want to book and share one campsite together.
Each site comes equipped with a set up canvas tent and queen sized bed, porch, chairs, an outdoor island with a few cabinets underneath, a picnic table, and a firepit.
Organized by the camp designer, Tentrr, the full list of on-site amenities include:
- Canvas Tent
- Dome Tent (I’m assuming for extra sleeping space)
- Queen Bed (with memory foam mattress)
- Camp table
- Camp benches (picnic table)
- Chairs
- Fire pit
- Campfire Grill
- Water Carrier
- Sun Shower
- Trash Can
- Camp Loo (for doing your business)
The photos on the park website don’t show what the sun shower or camp loo set up look like, but reviews about the glamping setup did mention how nice the camp loo was.
The glamping sites offer a nice mixture of private sites tucked away in the woods and glamping sites that can only be reached by kayak.
Price: $99 a night
Improved Campsites
Fontainbleau’s improved campsites include water and electrical hookups for RVs in addition to the cleared campsite, firepit, and picnic table that comes with all other sites.
The RV camp site offers quite a few spots spread out over two different RV camp sections. Each site is also in walking distance to a temperature controlled bathroom and bath house.
Price: $20-$25 a night
Premium Campsite
The Premium campsites include the regular camp pad, fire pit, grill, picnic table amenities of the other sites, and also include sewage hookups in addition to the water and electric hookups.
The RV campsites are also surrounded by light woods and trails that make for easy fire wood hunting.
Price: $33-$35 a night
Deluxe Cabins
Fontainebleau also offers a selection of cabins that sleep a larger group of guests. The 12 Deluxe Cabins on-site sleep up to 9 people and include 1 double bed, 2 bunk beds, and 1 queen sofa sleeper.
These campsites are located near the water and come furnished with basic kitchen utensils, pots, and bed linens and pillows. The park site instructs guests to bring their own towels, soap products, etc.
Price: $150 – $175
Standard Lodges
Fontainebleau State Park also includes a Standard Lodge option that is the most expensive overnight accommodation. Lodges sleep up to 10 people and include 2 double beds and 3 bunk beds.
Similar to the Deluxe Cabins, guests will enjoy a kitchen outfitted with basic kitchen utensils, pots, pans, and bed linens and pillows. Guests are instructed to bring their own towels, soap products, etc.
Price: $155 – $210 a night.
The Story Behind the Name
In 1829, the owner of the area sugar mill, Bernard de Marigny de Mandeville, named the plot of land Fontainebleau after a forest near Paris.
How to Pronounce Fontainebleau
While the French meaning behind the name is “blue fountain” and most people pronounce fontainebleau “fountain blue”, the phonetic spelling of the word is: “fawn-ten-bloh”.
For a pronunciation sound clip, head to howtopronounce.com.
Hiking
The hiking trails in Fontainebleau are not extensive. There are two trails on-site:
- One trail is right under 5 miles
- One trail is a little over a mile long
The boardwalks over the water have also sustained damages during the hurricane and are closed at this time. If you’re looking for some light hiking, you can find it at Fontainebleau, but I’d recommend bringing a bike instead.
Fontainebleau State Park Beach
The little stretch of white-sand beach set against the shallow water of Lake Ponchartraine makes for a nice sunbathing spot. The shallow water also provides an easy swim for children.
There are several cypress tree shrouded picnic spots that can easily host a little hammock time in the breeze or a comfortable picnic on the sand. The Saturday in February we visited, held a nice crowd of strollers, a few brave children swimming in the cold water, and quite a few picnic dates dotted under the cypress tress.
The beach also has a nice long pier that stretches out into the water. It makes for a nice lookout and could make for a beautiful little wedding venue.
Biking
The bike trails at Fontainebleau State Park in Louisiana are mainly paved bike roads. Visitors can also take the hiking trail by bike as well, but as noted earlier, the hiking trails are not very extensive.
A bike highway of sorts runs through the state park and makes for an easy leisurely ride to Lake Pontchartrain.
During my visit, we rode for a little over a mile to the lake. The bike path is wide and well-maintained from the state park all the way to the lake. It’s a mixture of wooded views and neighborhood sites until you reach the lake.
Once at the water, there are more paved trails that run the length of the lake. This trail is dotted with swing sets and benches and hosts a line of nice lakeside homes.
There’s a sail boat launch and a small stretch of sandy white beach near the initial playground. The horizon is dotted with weekend sailers and there are quite a few restaurant and coffee selections along the path as well.
When to Visit
The best time to visit Fontainebleau State Park in Louisiana is February – April.
Visiting during the months that are not so sweltering would be my recommendation. A clear-skied Saturday in February was the time of year during my visit. As a cold-natured person, I could have stood for a bit warmer weather, but overall it was not too hot and not too cold.
