Fairview-Riverside State Park

The Tchefuncte River anchored Madisonville's wooden-boat-building tradition for two centuries — feeding fresh water into Lake Pontchartrain, the 630-square-mile estuary that made the North Shore what it is. Fairview-Riverside State Park sits on the Tchefuncte now, established in 1967 on ground that still holds the Jay House, a 19th-century structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house is also called the Otis House. Guided pontoon tours depart seasonally from the park, tracing the same water that once carried timber and hulls. The riverside picnic pavilions are the best midday stop for a Tchefuncte paddle — shade, river access, and the reason wooden boats got built here in the first place rolling past at twelve feet deep.