Hunting for Northshore campgrounds that keep you within an hour of New Orleans but skip the French Quarter price tag? Fireside RV Resort sits in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, a minute from I-12’s Exit 47, and we’ve got 160-plus full-hookup RV sites, ten furnished cabins, and a lazy river winding through the property. It’s real Louisiana camping, the quiet kind, with the interstate right there when you want to roam.
Quick version: the Northshore is the slice of Louisiana sitting north of Lake Pontchartrain, and few places in the state make it this simple to park an RV. Water’s close. The interstates are closer. Two big cities are an easy day trip. And you’re doing all of it under pine and oak shade instead of on a bare concrete lot. That’s the pitch, and it’s an honest one.
What counts as a Northshore campground?
The Northshore covers the land north of the lake, mainly St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes, with towns like Ponchatoula, Hammond, Covington, Mandeville, and Slidell. Any RV park or cabin resort in that band qualifies, and the ones worth booking tend to share four traits: full hookups, quick I-12 or I-55 access, plenty of shade, and a spot that keeps both New Orleans and Baton Rouge in reach.
Fireside hits all four. Our address is 42053 Highway 445, Ponchatoula, a little over a mile from Exit 47. From there the highways carry you anywhere: I-12 runs the full width of the Northshore east to west, and I-55 shoots south toward the coast. Getting home to your site never turns into a traffic headache.
How do you pick a good Northshore campground?
Start with full hookups, straight pricing, and a place that genuinely feels like the outdoors. Too many parks bolt on extra charges that quietly inflate your total. We don’t play that game. There’s no resort fee here, nothing for locking in your site, and nothing for the privilege of reserving. Whatever number you’re quoted is the number you pay, full stop.
That honesty carries more weight lately. Back in 2025 the Federal Trade Commission’s junk-fee rule kicked in, forcing hotels and short-term rentals to post the true all-in price before you book, precisely because tacked-on charges had spiraled out of control. We simply never added them. Call it common sense, and it’s a big reason Fireside doesn’t feel like a corporate chain.
Price aside, weigh the extras that turn an overnight into a real vacation. Fireside floats a lazy river, runs a family pool, and keeps a grown-ups-only pool that adds a swim-up bar once the weather warms, plus sand for volleyball, a playground, and open ground for the kids to burn off energy. All of it lives here, folded into a wooded property that stays peaceful even at capacity.
Do Northshore campgrounds have full-hookup RV sites?
They do, and Fireside is built entirely around them. Our 160-plus sites bring 30- and 50-amp power right to the pad, along with water and sewer hookups, so you can drop anchor for a night, a week, or a whole season without chasing down a dump station. Layouts run from pull-through to double to triple, on crushed-limestone pads along paved roads, and even the biggest rigs settle in without a fuss.
That variety is deliberate. A Class A hauling a car needs something very different from a weekend travel trailer, so we keep both covered. Each site comes with a fire ring and a place for the grill, because an evening down here belongs outside.
Are there cabin rentals at Northshore campgrounds?
You bet, for anyone who doesn’t drag their own home along. Fireside keeps ten furnished cabins on the grounds, each sleeping as many as six, so the whole family or a couple of buddies can come without owning a rig at all. They’re a hit with guests who want the campground rhythm, the pool, the lazy river, the campfires, minus the tow vehicle.
The setup is refreshingly plain: bring your own linens, cover a flat $18 cleaning fee, and that’s the end of the extras. Nothing sneaky waiting at checkout. If you’ve been eyeing RV-resort life but haven’t bought the rig yet, a cabin weekend is the low-stakes way to try it on.
What is there to do near the Northshore campgrounds?
Loads, and most of it sits a short hop from your door. This region overflows with parks, trails, antique shops, and festivals, and Fireside is planted near the heart of it. For the full picture, Visit The Northshore keeps a running calendar, but here’s a snapshot of what’s within comfortable reach of your site.
Tammany Trace, a 31-mile paved rails-to-trails path and the first of its kind in Louisiana, threads from Covington through Abita Springs and Mandeville toward Slidell. Ponchatoula’s downtown, nicknamed America’s Antique City, is stuffed with antique dealers and coffee spots. The Global Wildlife Center up in Folsom rolls you past free-roaming herds in a covered wagon. And the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway at Mandeville is a genuine record-holder: at nearly 24 miles, Guinness World Records lists it as the longest bridge over water anywhere on Earth. Want the whole list? Here are more things to do on the Northshore.
That blend sums up the region. Float the lazy river all morning, wander an antique district after lunch, and still make it to a Saints kickoff or a Quarter dinner by nightfall.
How far is the resort from the big cities?
Reaching New Orleans takes about 60 minutes and 50 miles: you’ll run west on I-12, drop south onto I-55, then cut east on I-10 into town. Baton Rouge is closer to 45 minutes, a straight westbound shot on I-12. Hammond, the nearest hub, sits just 10 minutes and six miles off, and Mandeville and Covington over on the eastern Northshore land near the 30-minute mark heading east on I-12. That middle-of-everything position is the reason this location shines: two major cities, a scatter of small towns, and the lake itself, all inside an easy day’s outing from one shady pad.
Quick answers
We’re at 42053 Highway 445, Ponchatoula, Louisiana, a little over a mile from Exit 47, on the Northshore just above Lake Pontchartrain.
Yes. There are 160-plus full-hookup sites with 30- and 50-amp electric, water, and sewer, in pull-through, double, and triple layouts that welcome big rigs.
Yes. Ten furnished cabins each sleep up to six. You bring the linens, and a flat $18 cleaning fee covers the rest.
Nope, none at all. No resort fee, nothing to lock a site, no booking surcharge tacked on. Your quote is your total.
Right around 60 minutes and 50 miles by interstate, taking I-12 west to I-55 south to I-10 east.
Three, actually: a lazy river to drift along, a pool for families, and an adults-only pool whose swim-up bar opens seasonally.
Ready to book your Northshore campground?
Fireside RV Resort puts New Orleans about an hour out and Baton Rouge around 45 minutes away, with 160-plus full-hookup sites and ten cabins waiting under the trees in Ponchatoula. Check your dates and grab a site at book.firesidervresort.com, and come feel what real Louisiana camping is all about.
