Fairview-Riverside State Park

About this park

Fairview-Riverside State Park sits two miles east of Madisonville in St. Tammany Parish, along the banks of the Tchefuncte River, and is often described as a smaller, quieter sibling to the much larger Fontainebleau State Park down the road. Moss-draped live oaks shade the grounds, giving the park an especially picturesque, classically Louisiana atmosphere. The park's centerpiece is the Otis House, a home built in 1885 for sawmill owner William Theodore Jay and later purchased and renovated in the 1930s by Frank Otis, who used it as a summer residence until his death, when he bequeathed both the house and 99 acres of land to the state on the condition that it become a public recreation site bearing the Fairview-Riverside name. Guided tours of the house explore the region's history from early European exploration through the steamboat era and the Civil War. Fishing and crabbing from the riverside pier, a boat launch onto the Tchefuncte River, a quarter-mile nature trail, and a boardwalk through the surrounding swamp round out the park's day-use offerings, while 81 RV and tent campsites accommodate overnight visitors. Its position along the Louisiana Scenic Bayou Byway makes it a natural stop for visitors touring the broader Northshore region north of Lake Pontchartrain.