First Time Camping in Louisiana – Fontainebleau State Park

Hello there and thanks for stopping by today. I’m making my way around the southwest United States, kicking of a camping adventure in Big Lagoon State Park (recap here) and the next stop is Fontainebleau State Park, across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. A lot went into picking this campground because my original reservation was for Grand Isle State Park (also in Louisiana)… but that one got cancelled because they’re working on restoration after Hurricane Ida. It’s a little weird because I was able to make the reservation months ago but maybe they got behind schedule. It happens! I scrambled a bit to fill in the new 4-day gap caused by the cancellation. The campground amenities I look for are bodies of water, hiking, and good photography locations. There are a few state parks in the general New Orleans area but FSP stood out for it’s access to water (lake/ocean) and photography potential, so I booked it.

I’d love to say I took advantage of everything I could’ve, but I don’t think I did. Careful to stay away from people, I rested (but still rode my bike and walked the dogs… and took photos, of course!) as much as possible because of a second case of COVID. The first time I had COVID is chronicled here. I still had enough energy to bike around, swim in the lake, and take the dogs out to do their business. I didn’t do any running, which I would’ve done if I wasn’t worried about wearing myself down unnecessarily.

Overall, though, I liked the park. I’m not sure I loved it. There were mosquitoes, love bugs (if you’re from the south, you know what these are), and lots of standing water. I guess that’s to be expected in the Louisiana low country. I didn’t even get my kayak off the roof of my truck, either.

On the upside, I found two bucks on the ground. Deer, that is! The male deers were certainly chasing after a doe that was nearby. The doe was on one side of the road, the bucks on the other and when I rode my bike between them, the bucks were probably ticked off that I interrupted the smooth game they had going on with the lady. She didn’t seem to mind me crashing the party though, as she took the opportunity to run away.

I didn’t have my camera for that encounter but here are a few photos of my time in the park…