Fireside RV Resort in Ponchatoula, Louisiana is the rare park where cabins, full-hookup RV sites, and a lazy river sit on one property. We have 10 cabins, 165 RV sites, two pools, and a swim-up bar, one mile off I-12 at Exit 47 and about an hour from New Orleans.
Fall 2026 update: our $35 Sunday through Wednesday special is running again for September, November, and December, with standard sites at $35 a night and premium sites at $45, holidays excluded. Cabins hold steady at $165 a night year-round. Every Saturday in October (the 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, and 31st) we throw the Halloween Spooktacular, with hay rides, trick or treat, a costume contest, pumpkin carving, and a jambalaya cook-off. The whole lineup is on our event calendar, and monthly snowbird sites open back up November 1.
Booking a Louisiana camping trip where part of the group wants a cabin and part wants to bring their own rig usually means picking two different parks. Lazy river, swim-up bar, lake views: those tend to come from a third place entirely. Here, all three sit on the same property.
TL;DR
- 10 cabins (sleep 6) and 165 RV sites at one resort in Ponchatoula, LA.
- Lazy river plus a family pool and an adults-only pool with a seasonal swim-up bar.
- Cabin rate: $165/night year-round, plus a one-time $18 cleaning fee.
- Fall special: $35/night standard sites, $45/night premium sites, Sunday through Wednesday in September, November, and December.
- No resort fee, no site lock fee, no reservation service fee.
- One hour to the French Quarter, ten minutes to Hammond.
Which Louisiana RV parks have cabins AND a lazy river?
Very few. We built Fireside around exactly that combination. The property in Ponchatoula has 10 cabins for guests who want walls and a real bed, and 165 RV sites for travelers bringing their own rig. Both groups share the same lazy river and pools, including the adults-only pool with its swim-up bar.
That matters because most camping trips end up being a compromise. Grandma wants a cabin. Your nephew wants to bring the trailer he just bought. The kids want a pool. With everything on one property, nobody loses. Park the rig on a pull-thru, book a cabin a few sites over, and meet at the lazy river at noon.
What is a Fireside cabin like inside?
Each cabin is 532 square feet with a private bedroom, a full kitchen, and a 40-inch smart TV. The private bedroom has a queen bed plus two twin bunk beds, and there’s a full-size pull-out couch in the living room, which is how 6 people can sleep in a space that doesn’t feel cramped. There’s a real range and oven, a real refrigerator, a microwave, a coffee maker, and the dishes, pots, and pans you’d expect. You can cook breakfast for the whole group without leaving the cabin.
Turns out a lot of people are camping this way now. Glamping accounted for 29% of all camping experiences in 2025, and 31% of new campers picked that kind of lodging for their first trip, according to KOA’s 2026 Camping and Outdoor Hospitality Report. A cabin is simply how a lot of families get outdoors without buying a rig first.
A few practical notes that catch people off guard. Bring your own linens: sheets, pillows, blankets, towels. Cabins don’t come with them, and that’s how we keep the rate where it is. Pets are not allowed in the cabins. At least one guest in each cabin needs to be 21 or older. One of the 10 cabins is handicap-accessible, sleeps 4, and has an enlarged bathroom and no bunk beds.
For the full feature list, the virtual tour, and the booking link, the cabin rentals page has the details.
How long is the lazy river, and when is it open?
The lazy river is open year-round, but it isn’t heated. From late fall through early spring, most guests leave the tubes alone and stick to the cabin porch. April through October is when the river gets daily use. It circles through the heart of the resort and overlooks the pond, so you’re never far from shade, a lounge chair, or the swim-up bar (the bar is seasonal). Bring your own tube or grab one of ours, and you can spend the afternoon doing very little.
One detail trip-planners ask about: the lazy river is a perk for overnight guests, not a public day-use facility. There are no day passes. You stay at the resort, you use the river. It keeps things relaxed for the folks who paid for the night.
What are Fireside RV Resort prices for cabins and RV sites?
A cabin is $165 per night year-round, plus a one-time $18 cleaning fee. RV sites are seasonal: $65 standard and $75 premium from April through October, then $55 standard and $65 premium from November through March. Every rate covers up to four guests.
Adding a fifth or sixth guest costs $10/night for ages 4 to 13 and $20/night for 13 and up. Kids 3 and under stay free and don’t count toward capacity. Stay six nights on an RV site and the seventh is free. Cabins don’t qualify for the weekly or monthly rates.
Right now we’re running the Sunday through Wednesday special: standard sites at $35/night and premium sites at $45/night in September, November, and December, holidays excluded. If you have any flexibility on dates, that’s the easiest way to cut your trip cost close to in half.
And what you will not see on our checkout page: a resort fee, a site lock fee, or a reservation service fee. The number you book is the number you pay, plus tax. Full seasonal tables are on the rates and pricing page.
Is there a Fireside RV Resort map of the sites?
Yes. Our resort map page has the full site layout for 42053 Hwy 445 in Ponchatoula, and you can click the map to download a PDF version. It’s worth a look before you book, since site size and proximity to the pool and lazy river vary by site number.
Standard sites are 20 feet by 50 feet. Premium sites include 20 by 65 pull-throughs and 20 by 60 back-ins, and some are premium simply because they sit right next to the pool, the lazy river, or the pond. Sites 31 through 37 and site 120 are pull-in sites built only for Class A or Class C motor homes, so measure your rig before you pick. Every site has 30- and 50-amp electric, water, sewer, and a fire ring that doubles as a BBQ pit. More detail lives on the full-hookup RV sites page.
What else is there to do near Ponchatoula?
Plenty, and most of it within a 30-minute drive. Ponchatoula calls itself America’s Antique City, and a Saturday morning walking the downtown blocks is a low-key day. Hammond is the closer hub, about ten minutes up the road, and the Hammond Farmers and Artisans Market runs every Saturday from 8 AM to noon at the downtown pavilion. The Global Wildlife Center in Folsom is about a half-hour drive north, where a canopy-covered wagon rolls out among the giraffes and you can feed them from your seat.
The French Quarter is just under an hour by car if you want a day in the city before heading back to your cabin. You won’t have it to yourself: New Orleans drew 19.46 million visitors in 2025, who spent $10.8 billion, according to New Orleans & Company, the city’s official tourism organization. Sleeping an hour north of all that, with a fire ring and a pine-shaded site, is a very different way to do a New Orleans trip.
The full list of what we recommend, with drive times, lives on our things to do page. The contact and directions page has the office hours if you’re checking in late.
What to know before you book
A few small things make the trip smoother. Check-in is 3 PM and check-out is 11 AM. Quiet hours run 10 PM to 8 AM, which families with small kids tend to appreciate. Golf carts top out at 5 mph on the property, and you can bring your own for a $10 per day permit or rent one from us. And if you come back, the Fireside Rewards Card gets you a free two-night standard-site stay after your fifth overnight visit.
Planning further out? Monthly snowbird sites run $650 with electricity and Wi-Fi included, available November 1 through March 31 by phone only. We broke down what a winter down here actually runs in our guide to the cost of snowbirding in an RV.
Fireside sits one mile off I-12 at Exit 47, roughly ten minutes from Hammond and just under an hour from the French Quarter. Book the cabin and the RV site for the same weekend if you’ve got the crew for it, and check your dates before the fall weekends fill. The tubes will be in the river.
Frequently asked questions
No. Pets are not allowed inside Fireside cabins. RV-site guests can bring dogs, kept on a 6 foot leash or in a contained area. Guests found with a pet inside a cabin forfeit the remainder of their stay and a $150 cleaning charge.
Yes. Cabins don’t come with sheets, pillows, blankets, or towels. Bring what you’d bring to a friend’s beach house.
The lazy river is technically open year-round, but it isn’t heated. Most guests skip it from late fall through early spring. The April-through-October stretch is when it gets daily use.
A cabin sleeps 6 comfortably: queen bed in the private bedroom, twin bunk and a full pull-out couch in the living area.
Roughly an hour to the Superdome, depending on traffic on I-12 and I-55. Hammond is a ten-minute drive; the French Quarter is a few minutes under an hour.
