The park covers over 6,400 acres of rolling hills and water in South Central Louisiana. The cool, clear waters of Lake Chicot have yielded record freshwater catches of largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill and red-ear sunfish. Fishermen will enjoy the convenient boathouse, three boat launches and boat rental facilities.
An extensive hiking/backpacking trail completely encircles Lake Chicot and includes several primitive campsites along the way. The hiking trails allow visitors to experience and enjoy the park's natural landscape, its bottomland hardwood forest and the lake itself. For visitors who enjoy a quicker pace, much of the trail is geared toward mountain bikers, and all cyclists are welcome to ride the roadways throughout the park.
The South Landing includes cabins, a group camp, picnic areas and playground, a water playground, a boat launch, a fishing pier and a dock with rental boats. A scenic road links the South Landing with the North Landing.
The North Landing features campsites, a boat launch, a dock, a 400 ft. fishing pier and a primitive group-camping area. Lodges also are located in this area.
The East Landing is accessible from LA 106. It is less developed than the other two areas. It includes a boat launch, a dock, a meeting room and a barbeque pavilion, which makes this area ideal for day visitors.
The Louisiana State Arboretum, located within Chicot State Park, is home to a magnificent mature beech-magnolia forest and features an outdoor classroom and several miles of nature trails with labeled plant life native to Louisiana.
Chicot State Park located in Louisiana is a beautiful park located in central Louisiana on Lake Chicot and is the largest park in the state. There are two different camping areas here within the park, the north campground and the south campground. The south campground is has the most activities near it. Beside the campground is a splash pad for the kids, a playground and a kids hiking trail. The childrens trail is such a fun little trail for the kids with lights that they leave on twenty four hours a day and many things for them to discover along the way. The splashpad wasn’t open when we were there in March but it looked well maintained with washrooms attached. Looking out over the lake are several cabins for rent with private or semi-private docks, sunpoarches, 2 bedrooms(sleeps 6) with linens, and full kitchens. There is a extensive hiking trail that goes all the way around the lake with primitive campsites along the way. We were told it was good for bikes so we took our ebikes out on it starting near the south entrance. The trail was not good for bikes even with our fat tires as there were many roots and steep hills in this section. We later learned we had tackled the toughest part so tried again entering in the north end. Trail was much better here. It would be a good hiking trail . There are more shorter hiking trails that you hike when checking out the Louisiana State Arboretum. Beautiful beechwood/Magnoia forest and swamps around the arboretum which also has an outdoor classroom The north camping area is close to another fishing pier and boat launch and this end is were the lodges are which accommodate more people than the smaller cabins in the south end. There is also an east side to the park which accessed from 106 or on the lake trail by bike. This area is more remote but has a boat launch and pavilion for day use. Lots of owls hooting in the forest behind our campground at night. Park was quiet while we where there so it was a relaxing peaceful visit.