Searching for the best camping near Gillham, AR? Gillham is an adventure-filled destination for those who love the outdoorsy camper lifestyle. But it's also great for those who prefer to spend time near the city, exploring and sightseeing. Discover great camping spots near Gillham, reviewed by campers like you.
Located about 120 miles southeast of McAlester, Beaver Bend State Park is an outdoor recreation mecca on the southern end of Broken Bow Lake. Named for the big bend on the Mountain Fork River, which runs through the park, Beavers Bend camping visitors can observe some of the area’s interesting rock formations—part of the Ouachita Mountains—that expose the area’s unique geologic origins. The main attraction at Beaver Bend however, is the extensive opportunities to play outdoors—from hiking, horseback riding and fishing to golfing, scuba diving and ziplining. Or, you don’t have to play at all. You can just kick back by the river and watch the clouds drift by. Visitors to Beaver Bend have a variety of lodging and camping options to choose from, including rustic and modern cabins, tent and RV campgrounds, and the nearby Lakeview Lodge. For campers, there nearly 450 campsites, in eight different areas, available for parking an RV or pitching a tent. RV camps have water and electrical hookups, with showers and dump stations nearby. Services within the park include a nature center, restaurant, fly shop, kid’s day camps, boat rentals, craft classes, and campfire programs. Campsite rates range from $12–$25/night. Once you’re settled, spend your days on the river with a kayak or paddleboat, or just kick back and soak up some sun at the swim beach. If you’d rather cast a line or swing your clubs, go for one of the many fishing holes on the river, or head over to the nearby Cedar Creek Golf Course. Hikers will want to pack their boots to wander among Beaver Bend’s 12 miles of hiking trails, ranging from easy nature walks to challenging loop hikes. Stop by the Forest Heritage Center to learn more about the area, and pick up a trail map to help you navigate the shady pine and hardwood forest. If you’re visiting in the fall, don’t miss the Folk Festival & Craft Show, which features a variety of craft exhibits, music performances and tasty foods.
This recreation area is part of Greeson Lake
$15 - $50 / night
$23 / night
Welcome Home! Iron Mountain is a beautiful facility nestled in the Ouachita Mountains in West Central Arkansas. On Iron Mountain we have four beautiful cabins, two deluxe cabins and two camping cabins. We also offer over 70 full service RV sites, and hundreds of cultivated camping sites. Iron Mountain is also a great place to hold an event in a Christian atmosphere. We have three unique meeting areas available, including a 40,000 square foot Pavilion, where you can host a variety of different events. With its beautiful rustic mountain scenery, yet easy highway accessibility, Iron Mountain is a perfect place to stay or to host an event. Contact us for a one of a kind experience.
$12 - $105 / night
Mama Gaia’s Zen Garden and Yogic Camping Retreat Center is offering our 4 seasons yurt located in a private 3-acre forest. Only 6 miles from the Cossatot River and Falls where you can enjoy hiking, swimming, and relaxing in nature. Staying at our Zen Garden, you will have access to our Teahouse, options to book a private therapeutic Yoga session with our on-site Yoga Teacher currently studying to become a Clinical Yoga Therapist and Clinical Herbalist, and enjoy the beautiful scenery of nature. You can also enjoy the evening fireside in the Zen Garden area. There are on-site restroom facilities in the camping area.
$111 / night
Cedar Lake is located in southeast Oklahoma, in the pine and hardwood-forested mountains of the Ouachita National Forest. The campground is situated on the shores of the scenic lake, a popular destination for boating, fishing, horseback riding and hiking.
The campground is a popular starting point for the Winding Stair Mountain Equestrian Trails, a system of over 70 miles of marked horseback riding trails. Hiking, swimming, boating and fishing on Cedar Lake are popular activities. A swimming area, boat ramp and fishing piers are available within the recreation area. A hiking trail traverses around the the perimeter of Cedar Lake offering varied views of the lake and its tributaries. The Talimena Scenic Byway is located within 10 miles of the campground, offering mountain top views of the valleys around Cedar Lake and historic sites along the way. The Talihina State Park, the western terminus of the Ouachita National Recreation Trail (OT), is located 21 miles from the Cedar Lake Campground. The OT extends across the Forest for 192 miles, the longest continuous trail system on the Forest. Kelly Branch Rifle Range is located 10 miles from the recreation area. Cedar Lake Campground offers a wide variety of camping opportunities, from campsites with electric and water at the campsites, basic campsites with no electric or water at the campsites and tent sites. Cedar Lake Equestrian Camp is one of the largest equestrian campgrounds in the Southern Region with amenities such as electrical/water connections and corrals at the campsites.
Cedar Lake covers 86 acres and is situated at an elevation of 900 feet. Fall foliage season usually occurs from the last two weeks in October to the first two weeks in November. The Ouachita National Forest covers 1.8 million acres in central Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. The forest encompasses 700 miles of trails, 43 vistas, six wilderness areas and the highest elevations between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Rockies.
Talimena National Scenic Byway is located 10 miles from the campground. Ouachita National Recreation Trail (OT), western terminus trailhead is located at the Talihina State Park, 21 miles from the campground. Heavener, Oklahoma, Heavener Runestone Park is located 14 miles from the campground.
Refunds may be requested for the following: Death Medical emergency Storm event Mechanical
$25 / night
$30 / night
Ranger
They have a lot of campgrounds but most are very close. Not a bad thing for those social butterflies but a little tighter than I like. Their bathrooms and showers are really nice. Clean and spacious.
It's definitely worth a visit but make sure to book well in advance. They sell out quick.
LegendI never start a review like this, but this park had the cleanest bath house/restrooms I've ever experienced! 2 stalls in the shower in this loop and they each had a clean shower curtain, a bench, hooks to hang stuff. Immaculate. Better than some hotels!
Stayed in site 104 in the loop by the boat ramp. Nice shade and long parking pad. Sense of privacy. The sites that back to the cove had terraced areas, so if stairs aren't good for you then skip, but the arrangement made for a large area to spread out relax. This site had an additional parking pad next to it that was right next to the tent pad. Handy for ent campers to unload or boaters for boat, plus there were extra parking spots in the cul-de-sac leading down to the boat ramp.
The lake is sometimes smooth as glass. Kayaks for rent and this is a must do. Visitor center was being remodeled at the time of visit. 2 short hiking trails. Great state park!
Traveler
I keep coming back here to dig for diamonds. There are cheaper campgrounds in the area, but the State Park grounds are top notch. Very level camper pads, stable power and water and everything is well maintained. There are multiple bath “houses” — single shower room style privacy, not a large room with curtains. A playground in the sites for kids to play on also.
The only downsides that come to mind are the iffy WiFi (the reservation system is pretty accurate on which sites have “good” WiFi and which do not) that is decent for casual web browsing but not likely to be streaming possible. And then a mixed pro/com is that satellite connections (direct or Starlink) is going to be rough due to the wooded aspect of the sites — although the trees do help keep the camper cooler. 🤷🏻♂️
TravelerThis is a quiet campground with plenty of shaded and nearly perfectly level pull ins. Power is consistent. Water pressure fluctuates from good to high — regulator necessary. Wifi is spotty, but the reservation center is pretty accurate on strength of WiFi at various sites. The site we are in right now, WiFi is sketchy.
In cool weather, a walk to the diamond field would be fine. In hot weather, no way.
GuideThis was on my wifes bucket list, didnt find any diamonds, got dirty but had fun and got dirty. Sites and bath house were nice , full hook ups
Legend
Beautiful and lush and QUIET. I love it. Asphalt and gravel sites. Clean bathrooms. Water and electric only. Gorgeous 3 mile hike around the lake. I hear it’s a fishing lake but we don’t fish. Enjoyed the scenery and peace. Would come again and again. Don’t forget the ice, there’s nothing close. Site 33 looks to be my fav.
GuideThis camp is ideally located in the Crater of Diamonds State Park with easy access to the Visitors Center by foot or car. The campsites are well maintained and adequately situated to afford some privacy. There are 6 individual bathrooms with toilet, sink and shower, in the bathouse nearest to us that are modern and clean. The shower was "almost" hot.
The only negative is that the adjacent site's fire ring is too close to our back window and the smoke from a fire could enter our window.
This is our second stay at this park and we would definitely return.
TravelerWe stayed in Daisy for the Eclipse weekend and expected this place to be crawling with people, so we were so happy to see it was still amazingly clean and quiet. We stayed in walk-in site #67, which was at the very end of the paved path from the parking lot. The site had a very level and massive gravel tent pad, as well as firepit, picnic table and lantern post. The hill in/out is quite steep, but the pavement makes it easy to haul with wagon, and I've rarely seen multiple water spigots in a walk-in area like that. Our neighbors were a little closer than we're used to for walk-ins, but we had glorious views of the lake and very little traffic walking past our site, which is a blessing when you have two somewhat barky dogs. The camp store sold firewood, ice and souvenirs and they were super-friendly, and one of the rangers even helped load the firewood in the car for me. My only complaint is that there's only one hiking trail in the park, and it's just a very short nature trail and doesn't really give you a good view of the lake or anything. However, there were many beautiful trails to be had within a 30-40 minute drive of the park.
Ranger
The River front sites are the best with FHU's. Taking advantage of the river is the most popular thing to do. There is a golf course nearby too. On site museum at the park visitor's center. I enjoyed the Beaver Creek hike. My biggest complaint would be they put the campsites directly on the river, so if you want to walk along the river, you feel like your in someone's site.
Scout
As of 2023 this campground is under new management.
GuideWe loved this park. It was beautiful, but the signs were a bit confusing and we came in the dark so we parked where we thought our spot was. Well, it wasn’t our spot and we had to move at 8:30 at night. There’s also no service (at least for T-Mobile). Loved the trails and the restaurant.
Guide
This park is awesome for multiple reasons. The lodge is fantastic, great food and great views with a friendly welcoming staff. The views (worthy of mention again) are top notch, with some incredible sunsets. The mini train and mini golf were closed for the season but it looked like a great time. The bath house was clean, warm (it was cold AF outside), and had great water pressure. The town of Mena was a short scenic drive away, with a brewery and a couple restaurants worth checking out.
Now, the reason for the downgrade to 4 stars. The campsite layout is…weird. It’s like most of the sites were designed for a motorcoach to drive into, not for a travel trailer to back into. For example most of the camp amenities are on the utility side of the trailer when backed in, as opposed to the party side. Some of the sites are reeeeeally close together, as others have mentioned. I might even go so far as to say that if we would have kept our original site it might have garnered a 3 star review. The back rows have the amenities on the rear of the rv, which I actually kinda liked. Yes there is no sewer…but it’s a state park that’s expected.
Legend
Jake from the Dyrt here! Mama Gaia's Zen Garden & Yogic Retreat is a quiet place to relax and connect with nature in this great region of Arkansas! Check them out and leave a review about your stay on the Dyrt!
ScoutWe camped at Fern Circle. It was a lot people going to the bathrooms. Too touristy they also need to be educated about copperheads in the area . Watched a lot of people walk there in the dark without lights with their kids. Found a copperhead near campsite 12 A lady almost stepped on it and didn’t know what that it was poisonous or a copperhead. Other than that we had fun!
TravelerI really enjoyed the location, quite, glassy lake, clean showers, kayaking rentals $20, the marina close by rented the Pontoons, and the lake was clean to swim in. If you have a boat, jet ski, kayaks it’s a great spot. Plenty of shade and the camp host are 100% wonderful such a pleasure to meet them. You will love your experience here.
TravelerSpacious sites, and lots of privacy. We came through after a storm and they were without power. Crews we’re working to clean park and electricity was restored pretty quickly. Park was well maintained. We really enjoyed our stay.
Scout
This campground has 4 camp sites which accommodate tent, or rooftop tent. There are no hookups. Very quiet little campground, however you are just off the highway and will have road noise. The Big Brushy Creek is right beside the campground and has several walking trails down to the creek. This creek floods quickly and there are signs located through the park indicating it is a flash flood area, so be aware.
LegendWe stayed in the Acorn campground right by the river. Clean and well stocked bathrooms, level campsites, and fantastic views. The trees make you think you’re in Colorado. Only thing you need to know is the flood sirens do go off sometimes and are VERY loud.
TravelerIt was and amazing site, very clean and quite. I could throw a stone to the river. Great attractions around the town.
ScoutBeautiful river side half of OK State Park. Beautiful tall trees that whisper when the wind blows. Good hiking. Not busy but only because winter. Fills up fast.
Traveler
Site 14. Clean park, clean bathrooms, level pad, a little narrow, picnic table, bbq pit, and a large hook to hang stuff
ScoutWe love visiting! Campgrounds are clean and well maintained. Sites are roomy with full hook-up. Beautiful wooded views, hiking trails, and pet friendly.
Guide
20.00 a night for two people in tent camping. I’m in van and they allowed me to van camp. Tent sites have electric. So bought an extension cord and took full advantage for a small heater. It’s by the road. So some road noise then the cows moo.. other then having to pay. This is a great spot 2miles max from crater of diamonds state park. That place was packed on top of each other. Much prefer here!
RangerWe didn’t end up staying here, but it looked like a decent spot with cabins and plenty of parking. Not too much to do around this campsite but it would work for a night or two
Ranger
The campsite is closer to the river/bridge construction than the map says, and was currently blocked by construction vehicles, but it looked like a nice spot with hookups. Pretty noisy with the bridge work going on
Traveler
Camped here in a tent off my motorcycle. Site was awesome. Bathrooms and showers are spotless. The staff is extremely kind and helpful.
TravelerSpent the night at Fern Campground inside Beavers Bend State Park. Amazing Park! The towering canopy takes your breath away. We enjoyed a tasty dinner on the grill. Fly fishing the rapids of Spillway Creek below Broken Bow Lake and above Lower Mountain Fork River with my boys quickly became a memory I will never forget.
Camping near Gillham, Arkansas, offers a mix of beautiful scenery and outdoor activities. Whether you're looking for a peaceful getaway or an adventure-filled trip, there are plenty of campgrounds to choose from.
Camping near Gillham, Arkansas, has something for everyone, from families to RV enthusiasts. Just remember to check the specifics of each campground to ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Gillham, AR?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Gillham, AR is Beavers Bend with a 4.5-star rating from 55 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Gillham, AR?
TheDyrt.com has all 17 glamping camping locations near Gillham, AR, with real photos and reviews from campers.
