Tickfaw State Park, located 7 mi (11 km) west of Springfield, Louisiana, opened in May 1999 and quickly became one of Louisiana's most popular state parks because of its natural setting, recreation opportunities and proximity to the state's two largest metropolitan areas of New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The park contains a nature center, picnic shelters, a large fishing pond, 14 cabins and 50 campsites. Trails and over 1 mi (1.6 km) of boardwalks allow visitors to explore four different ecosystems within the park: cypress-tupelo swamp, bottomland hardwood forest, mixed pine hardwood forest and the Tickfaw River. Much of Tickfaw's 1,200 acres (490 ha) lie within the Tickfaw River floodplain and is thus subject to periodic flooding.