Fireside RV Resort in Ponchatoula stays open year-round, and every winter it offers seasonal RV park stays in Louisiana for snowbirds. Fireside’s Snowbird Special puts you on a standard full-hookup RV site from November 1 to March 31 for $650 a month, with electricity and Wi-Fi included. New Orleans is about sixty minutes down the interstate, and the I-12 exit is about a mile away, so getting here is the easy part.
When the snow flies up north, Fireside’s long-stay season is just getting started. Our long-stay months are the cool ones, when the pines stay green and the campfire comes out most evenings.
Seasonal stays at Fireside, at a glance:
- Where: 42053 Hwy 445, Ponchatoula, Louisiana, just off I-12
- Sites: big, shaded, full-hookup RV sites among tall pines
- Booking: monthly stays are requested by phone or contact form, not online
- Fees: Fireside skips resort fees and site lock fees, plus any “community impact fee”
What is a seasonal RV park?
A seasonal RV park rents you one site for a long stretch, so you park once and stay put instead of hopping from campground to campground. Wisconsin’s campground rules spell it out nicely: a seasonal campsite is “a campsite in which the operator allows a camper to park a privately owned camping unit for 30 or more consecutive days,” according to Wisconsin Administrative Code ATCP 79.03.
Unlike many northern parks, Fireside RV Resort stays open all winter long, and that’s when Fireside’s snowbird season gets going. The seasonal crowd at Fireside shows up when the weather turns cold back home.
Plenty of RVers are thinking the same way. In a November 4, 2025 release titled “28 Million Americans Plan to Go RVing this Winter,” the RV Industry Association said 28 million Americans were choosing RVing for holiday travel, a 33% increase from the year before. “In a season when travel can feel unpredictable and overwhelming, RVing puts travelers back in the driver’s seat,” RVIA spokesperson Monika Geraci said in that release.
When does seasonal camping season run in south Louisiana?
At Fireside RV Resort, seasonal camping happens in winter, and Fireside’s monthly stays run from November 1 through March 31. A January day near Ponchatoula usually starts out chilly and warms up nicely by afternoon. Climate normals from NOAA covering 1991 through 2020 at the Hammond 5 E weather station put the average January high at 61.5°F and the average January low at 38.3°F.
Fireside’s snowbird guests roll in from places like Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio and Canada. Trust us, a crisp morning under the pines beats scraping ice off a windshield!
How much does a seasonal RV site cost at Fireside?
The simplest way to spend a winter at Fireside is the monthly Snowbird Special, which folds electricity and Wi-Fi into one flat rate. Fireside’s RV park rates page lists the other ways to stay, too.
Thirty nights on a Fireside standard site at the $55 winter nightly rate would come to $1,650, about $1,000 more than a month on Fireside’s Snowbird Special. And Fireside won’t pile extra resort, site lock or “community impact” charges onto your bill. In our book, a good seasonal RV park starts with a flat monthly price, and Fireside’s monthly rate already includes the electricity.
What comes with a seasonal RV site at Fireside?
Every RV site at Fireside has water, sewer and electric hookups, and every one of them is wired for both 30-amp and 50-amp rigs. Each site also gets its own picnic table, and the fire ring works as a grill, too. A standard Fireside site gives you a 20-by-50-foot footprint, and the Snowbird Special applies to those standard sites. Here’s what makes a months-long stay comfortable:
- Free Wi-Fi throughout the resort, handy for video calls with the grandkids
- On-site laundry and spotless bath houses
- A camp store for the essentials you forgot to pack
- A lakeside fishing dock (bring your own gear; swimming in the pond isn’t allowed)
- Golf-cart-friendly roads, with a $10 daily permit if you bring your own cart
- Concrete roads and crushed limestone pads under shady pines
On a long stay, a few of Fireside’s house rules come up a lot. Fireside allows one camping unit per site, period. Fireside keeps quiet hours between 10 at night and 8 in the morning, so evenings stay peaceful. Dogs are fine at the RV sites, though Fireside’s rules cap leashes at 6 feet.
Is there a seasonal RV park near me in south Louisiana?
If you’re searching “seasonal RV park near me” from anywhere along the I-12 corridor, Fireside’s address is 42053 Hwy 445, Ponchatoula, close to Exit 47 on Interstate 12. Snowbirds coming down from Chicago can ride Interstate 55 almost the whole way, then hop east on I-12 at Hammond. From Fireside, here’s roughly how long it takes to get around:
- Hammond: about 10 minutes
- Covington and Mandeville: about 30 minutes
- Baton Rouge: about 45 minutes
- New Orleans: roughly an hour, about 50 miles out
That keeps grocery runs and doctor visits close by in Hammond, while New Orleans and Baton Rouge stay an easy day trip.
What is there to do during a Louisiana winter season?
Fireside’s own calendar fills the cool months with themed weekends, and several well-known south Louisiana winter events are within a day trip. Check the Fireside events calendar for each weekend’s lineup.
Between the big dates, the Hammond Farmers & Artisans Market runs in Downtown Hammond every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon, according to Tangipahoa Parish tourism. Golfers can tee it up at Carter Plantation in Springfield, an 18-hole David Toms signature course. And if you stay through March, you’ll catch the start of peak crawfish season, since the Louisiana Crawfish Promotion and Research Board says March, April and May are the peak months for Louisiana crawfish.
Planning a few days in the city? Our breakdown of when to visit New Orleans covers the crowds and weather month by month.
How do you book a seasonal RV site at Fireside?
You book a seasonal stay at Fireside by phone or through the contact form, because the monthly rate can’t be reserved online.
- Decide which winter months you’d like to stay.
- Call the Fireside front desk at (985) 277-1059, or send a request through the form on Fireside’s snowbird RV park page.
- Ask for the monthly winter rate on a standard RV site.
Fireside’s homepage notes that popular holidays and events fill up early, especially cabins, so it’s smart to lock in your dates early.
Frequently asked questions about seasonal RV stays
No. Fireside’s monthly winter rate has to be requested by phone or through the contact form on the snowbird page. Regular nightly stays at Fireside can still be booked online.
Yes. Fireside bundles electricity and Wi-Fi into its monthly winter stays on standard RV sites.
Pets are allowed at Fireside’s RV sites, on a leash. Fireside’s rules ask owners to clean up after their pets, and the cabins are pet-free.
Fireside’s monthly rate is a winter offer only. From April through October, Fireside’s standard RV sites run $65 a night, and the weekly deal still knocks one night off every seven.
If family comes to visit, Fireside has 10 cabins they can book. Each standard Fireside cabin sleeps 6, with a full kitchen plus heating and AC, at $165 a night year-round. Pack your own sheets and towels for the cabin, and expect a one-time $18 cleaning fee from Fireside.
Fireside RV Resort stays open year-round and never shuts down for the season.
Book your winter season near New Orleans
From Fireside’s spot off I-12 in Ponchatoula, Hammond is about 10 minutes away, and you can reach New Orleans in roughly an hour. Call (985) 277-1059 to claim a winter site on the Snowbird Special, or check open dates on the Fireside booking calendar for a shorter getaway. We’ll keep the campfire going.
