Cabins/Lodging

Come see Florida State Parks' newest cabins! Lake Louisa now offers 20 new cabins, overlooking beautiful Lake Dixie. These cabins offer two bedrooms/two baths, full kitchen and dining/livingroom area. All cabins comfortably sleep 6. Each cabin is fully equiped with dishes, pots & pans, silverware, linens, towels, picnic tables and rockers on the porch. All you need is food and your personal items. ADA cabins are also available. Unfortunately, due to limited parking, oversize RVs will not be allowed in the cabin area. Pets will not be allowed in the cabins. To conserve energy, the fireplaces are out of service from May 1st to September 30th.

In an effort to reduce costs and to keep user fees as affordable as possible, Florida state parks will begin a new initiative for cabin guests on July 1, 2009. Overnight guests will no longer be supplied with bedroom, bathroom or kitchen linens including sheets; blankets; pillowcases; mattress pads; bed covers; towels (bath towels, hand towels, face towels, or dish towels); or bathmats. When making online reservations, available beds and bed sizes are provided on each park Site Specific webpage. Thank you for your lodging in Florida State Parks!

Canoeing & Kayaking

The park offers a canoe and kayak launch at Dixie Lake just off of the fishing pier. Lake Louisa offers canoe and kayak accessibility also but does not have a designated launch area. Canoe and kayakers would have to launch off of the Lake Louisa beach, which is accessible via Lake Nellie Road or our main entrance off of Hwy. 27. Both lakes provide canoers and kayakers an excellent opportunity to see an assortment of wildlife or to just find serenity in the calm waters.

Facilities

Lake Louisa's campgrounds offer bathouses, with hot water, that are ADA compliant. The Lake Louisa Beach bathhouse offers toilets,with cold water only(non-potable water). Each of our 20 cabins have 2 complete bathrooms, of which two of the cabins are ADA accessible. We have 3 clevis multrum composting toilets,(no water) at Dixie Lake day-use, Lake Nellie day-use and our equestrian area.

Fishing

Lake Louisa State Park has fishing access at four of our six lakes. Lake Louisa is our largest lake, which offers fishing access off of the lake's shoreline. Dixie Lake is our second largest lake and is only accessible by our main entrance off of Hwy. 27. This lake is a beautiful lake that offers fishermen not only a chance to catch fish but also a chance to see some of the park's abundant wildlife. Dixie Lake is located approximately half a mile inside the park and has a fishing pier, canoe/kayak launch, bathroom, and a sheltered pavilion. The park also has Smokehouse Lake which does not have any amenities and is accessible to four-wheel drive only. You must register at the Ranger Station and give 24 hours advance notice to access Smokehouse Lake. The park prohibits gas-powered motorboats and boat trailers, (hand launch only), into the lakes. Only boats powered by trolling motors or manually powered are allowed. All Florida freshwater fishing laws and bag limits are enforced. Please check with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for current fishing license requirements.
Do you need a Fishing License?

Dixie Lake and Hammond Lake fishing piers are ADA compliant.

Full Facility Camping

Lake Louisa has 60 full-facility campsites nestled between Dixie and Hammond Lake. Sites are $21.00 per night plus tax and includes all hookups. Each site has 30 and 50 amp hookups and a dump station is located between Dixie Loop and Sandhill Loop. In the campground there are two bathhouses, two fishing piers, a pavilion and an amphitheatre where ranger programs are held annually from October to April. To make reservations please contact Reserve America.

Note: This campground is a newly developed area that has only been open since July of 2003. Because it is a new campground trees, shrubs, and other native vegetation was planted to restore the area to a natural landscape. The park would like guests to keep this in mind when reserving a site. At this time there isn't any shade provided from the trees since they are in the early growing stages. The sites do however provide beautiful lake views and the open vistas offer easy wildlife viewing.

Horse Trails

Lake Louisa State Park offers 16 miles of marked trails for equestrian users. Riders can access the park's trails one of two ways. Our back entrance horse trail parking lot is accessible via C.R. 561 to Lake Nellie Road. The horse lot will be on the left hand side where the paved road turns to clay. The parking lot has drinking water for horses, hitching posts, and a kiosk with information regarding the horse trails. The fee is $2.00 per vehicle daily. Please follow payment instructions at the honor fee station at the trailhead. Riders can also enter the park through the main entrance off of Hwy. 27. The fee for the horse day use permit when entering our main entrance is $6.00 per day per horse. Lake Louisa also has a primitive equestrian campground open to riders. To make arrangements to camp at our equestrian campground you can call the Ranger Station at 352-394-3969. The camp fee is $4.00 per person and $6.00 per horse per night. The campground has a 4-horse paddock, water hookups, self-composting toilet, pavilion, fire ring and grill. Please be sure to have with you proof of negative coggins for your horses.

Nature Trails

Hiking is permitted on the horse trails and an abundance of wildlife may be seen. Birding is a favorite activity with sightings dependent on the seasons. A .5 mile nature trail is located at the Lake Louisa parking lot. The trail winds through three of the parks eleven natural communities with interpretive trail signs provided for visitors to read about the parks flora and fauna.

Pet Camping

Pet camping is available at Lake Louisa State Park. Pets must be confined, leashed (not to exceed six feet in length) or otherwise under the physical control of a person at all times. Tethered pets must not be left unattended for more than 30 minutes. Quiet hours must be observed from 11:00 p.m.--8:00 a.m. Pet owners must pick up after their pets and properly dispose of all pet droppings in trash receptacles. Florida law requires that pets be vaccinated against rabies. Any pet that is noisy, dangerous, intimidating or destructive will not be allowed to remain in the park. Non-furbearing pets, such as reptiles, birds, or fish must be confined or under the physical control of the owner. Some animals may be prohibited on park property. Failure to abide by these rules may result in the camper being asked to board the pet outside the park or to leave the campground.

Pets are not allowed in the cabins or in the cabin area.

Pets

Pets on restraints are allowed in the campground area. Pets are not allowed in the cabins.

Primitive Camping

Lake Louisa has an equestrian primitive camp that includes a 4 horse paddocks, fire rings, water hookups, picnic tables, pavilion, grills, and self-compositing toilet. Reservations for the paddocks can not be made at this time. They are available to equestrian users on a first come first serve basis only. This is a beautiful area to camp with sites being under the shade of a longleaf pine canopy and there is plenty of lush pasture land for your horses to graze on at the site. The park recommends that equestrian users bring other means of portable horse corals or tie downs in case the paddocks are in use. Four large posts with hookups for tie downs have been provided at each side of the camp facility also. Reservations can be made by calling the park's Ranger Station at (352)394-3969. The fee is $4.00 per person per night and $6.00 per horse per night plus tax. Payment is made at the time of your arrival. Campers must arrive at the park one hour before sunset to register for their site.

Primitive Camping

Lake Louisa currently has two primitive campsites, Wilderness Point and Pine Point. Both are tucked away in some of the most pristine and beautiful areas of the park. Pine Point is located next to Big Creek. The park recommends bringing bottled water with you when camping. The sites do not have any water or electric, only a fire ring and picnic table. Each site can hold a maximum of 6 people. These sites are located off of our hiking trails so vehicles are not permitted to the sites. You must backpack in and backpack out. To make reservations please contact the park's ranger station at (352) 394-3969. The fee is $4.00 per person per night plus tax. Payment is collected at the time of your arrival. Campers must arrive at the park one hour before sunset to register for your site.

Swimming

Lake Louisa has swimming and lifeguards from Memorial Day through Labor Day. By order of the State Health Department, the swimming area is closed when the lifeguard is off duty. Lake Louisa is designated as one of seven outstanding waterways in Florida. Due to tannic acid which is leached into the water from surrounding cypress trees, the water has a tea-colored appearance. This dark coloration causes poor visibility within the water for swimmers. The tannic acid is a natural occurrence and will not harm humans; however because of the poor visibility this creates a safety hazard for swimmers.

To ensure your safety and the safety of others we ask that you read and adhere to posted guidelines.

Wildlife Viewing

Lake Louisa has many types of wilddlife at the park, including butterflys and birds. Take a moment to print our butterfly and birding checklist to see how many you can find. Butterflys, or Birding Checklist.

Youth Camping

Lake Louisa has three primitive youth campsites and each site can hold a maximum of 20 people. All three sites are located south of the park's equestrian primitive camp. The sites do not have water or electric, only a fire ring and picnic table. The closest water source is non-potable and located at the equestrian primitive camp so the park recommends that individuals bring bottled drinking water with them to the site. Parking for the youth camp is located at the sites trailhead but parking on the site is prohibited in efforts to minimize impact to the native vegetation found within the area. Reservations can be made by calling the Ranger Station at (352)394-3969. The fee is $1.00 per youth and $2.00 per adult/chaperon per night plus tax and payment is made at the time of your arrival. Six to 10 juveniles require one chaperon. Eleven to, and including, 20 juveniles require two leaders, and so on. Chaperons must remain with the juveniles while they are in the park. Groups must arrive at the park one hour before sunset to register for their site. These campsites are for youth organizations only and to qualify the group must have a minimum of six youths per site.