Lake Ouachita State Park Campground

Lots of Space, Shade, and access to mountain bike trails and downtown hot springs

The Hot Springs NP campground was closed for the season so we stayed at Lake Ouachita SP Campground for 3 nights. We are tent camper and this was the best it gets! The tent sites are well separated from the RVs and generators. The sit right on the lake so they can get windy but are peaceful and beautiful. Each tent site has a level pad for tents, picnics tables, and fire-ring. A small down-side, you have to park and walk your gear to your site but it's not terribly far or a big deal. The lake is beautiful and all tent sites have access to the water. It's a bit of a walk to the bathrooms but they are wonderfully clean (and heated). The camp store had decent wood for sale. The only thing to beware of is the crows. They are relentless and even took a bag of sealed, in it's original container, tortilla chips and tried carrying them away and pecking the bag open. So don't leave anything unsupervised (even in closed container or bags).

We visited the walk-in tent sites for 5 days in late June and had a wonderful time. These sites are out on a peninsula and although the weather brought us 104° for a few days in a row, with the breeze on the peninsula and the lake water, it was manageable and even pleasant. All of the sites are beautiful and there is a cart provided to transport your gear from vehicle to your reserved spot. All sites appeared to gave direct lake access, some with a little steeper hill, but all manageable. The lake is a rock bottom entry so I'd highly advise to bring water shoes. Entering the area, on the right, the sites are on the no wake zone but I felt comfortable with the kids swimming on either side safely. The marina has kayak rentals and also canoes, boat rides, pedal boats, etc. Restrooms/bathhouse is a short walk with the parking lot in between the campsites and building. Each were clean and individual with a toilet, shower, sink combo in each. The camp hosts were so nice and friendly and the rangers were super helpful. The water was clear and you could see small fish swimming below. Firewood, ice, snacks, and bait could all be purchased from the check-in or marina. Hot Spring is a short maybe 15 min drive. Definitely check out Bathhouse Row, the national hot spring park and if you are into Star Wars, get tickets for a VIP tour of Galaxy Connections. Back at Lake Ouachita is the Three Sisters Springs which is a super cool little quick visit and you can fill up your own water bottles or jugs straight from the cold springs. We loved every minute at Lake Ouachita and were so sad to leave.

Gorgeous lake front sites! This place is really popular in gluten summer time, so expect to book a year in advance. There are a couple of coves with waterfront sites that also have full hook ups. It was worth the year long wait!

The water is crystal clear and we could swim right from our campsites! We also took a Ranger led sunset cruise on the water. Excellent $10 excursion! We normally like the hike the trails, but it was too hot for hiking during our visit.

The also have cute camper cabins, an awesome walk in tent site area and clean bathrooms.

This is an absolutely beautiful state park 30 minutes Northwest of Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is massive with a Marina, multiple swimming beaches, RV and tent camping plus cabin rentals.

We stayed in campground Area A, on a concrete pad with tons of space around the camper. Many RV sites overlook Lake Ouachita, though ours didn’t.

If you are there over a weekend, I highly recommend taking the sunset tour by the park service at the marina. It is two hours, $10 per adult and stunning. With the recent heat wave it was also much cooler then the afternoon cruises.

We stayed here for a long weekend while visiting Hot Springs.  This campground is AMAZING!!!

First, almost all sites were within water distance.  We had a site that was 3 sites up from the water, but right next to some of the campground/state park hiking trails.

Second, this was only ~20 minutes to Hot Springs, but it felt like it was 5 hours away once you got there.  This was such a nice surprise! Talk about escaping the crowd!

Will definitely come back here!

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Lake Ouachita State Park! We stayed in space 55 and had a great view of the lake and the beautiful sunsets. Our friends stayed in space 1. It was more shady but didn’t have a view of the lake. The cell service was minimal (1 bar) but a cell booster gave us full service. Very clean park!

Beautiful campground with spacious sites and easy walk to gorgeous waterfront views. Lots of trails. Very clean facilities and amazing staff. Loved this park.

Amazing place for all you kayakers if you enjoy your calm beautiful 40,000 acre lake with over 200 I’ll islands to explore the water is a good place to escape a lot of the mosquitoes here in the islands are nice and remote highly recommend spending some time here

We stayed here for the entire feast of Sukkot and LOVED EVERY MINUTE!! Great hiking, water views, kayaking, and more!! Will definitely return!

The tent camping is so beautiful right on the lake! Very calm and peaceful. Beautiful scenery and the lake is super nice

Definitely my favorite park in Arkansas so far. It’s a really big park at the lake with lots to do. I was there in the fall so I didn’t do any lake stuff but still had a great time tent camping. There’s a nice hiking trail to explore. Also, the bathrooms were the cleanest I’ve ever seen at a state park. All the tent sites have a gravel pad, grill, picnic table and fire ring. There are also walk in tent sites on the peninsula which are nice and quiet. If you get one at the end I’d say it’s probably 200 meters to the parking lot and bathrooms. I peeked into one of the cabins and they look really nice. They also have camper cabins that have heat/air but no bathroom. In all there are 93 RV/tent sites, 8 cabins and 4 camper cabins. The park is also near Hot Springs so there is lots to do.

This park is beautiful and has the kindest hosts. We were here in offseason (January 27-February 1st) but the entire park was well tended to and everyone was so nice. The kids sifted for quartz and crystals in the lake (there is a crystal mine nearby), beautiful sunsets, extraordinarily clean campgrounds and bathhouses were some of the best we have encountered on our journeys. I’m sure this is a VERY busy park during season but most certainly worth a trip any time of year.

This is one of the nicest parks. RV camping with all hook ups avaliable and right on the lake with very scenic hiking. The entire park was very clean. The only con is the camping spots are very close together, but We had the whole camp ground to ourselves. Would be awesome summer hot spot

The only reason I didn't give this park 5 stars was because we didn't camp overnight here, we only did a day hike, so I can't rate the park on EVERYTHING they have to offer. However, everything we did have the chance to explore was GREAT.

From the visitor center, where everyone was very polite and eager to help to the hiking trails that were well maintained and clean. This park was beautiful. Plus, they didn't charge a day fee which was amazing since everywhere I usually visit has a fee to enter the park. That was great since we only wanted to do a short hike.

I did notice they also had a nice playground for the kids, as well as, a boat dock and pier. I definitely want to go back again sometime and actually stay a few days.

We stayed here during the week and almost had the entire park to ourselves. The water is beautiful. The park is clean, has lots of large trees and many sites that overlook the gorgeous lake.

There is SO for you to do here. There is all your usual lake activities with added snorkeling, bird watching cruises, and star gazing cruises. We stayed in the tent only area. Loved it.

We stayed in A35 which is a triple A site with level site with all the trimmings! Wooded campsite with adequate shade, picnic table, fire pit and raised grilling station. It was very clean and well kept. We stayed on an inner site but several back up to Ouachita Lake. Great stay. We’ll go back!

The lake was gorgeous! I wish we had more time to walk trails, but we were just stopping for the night. My only complaint is that the campground was crowded and the spots were all very close together.

We stayed in Area A wjich was nice. We have a tiny RV compared to the giants in our area. The signage states the bathtooms would be closed from 10pm to 9am because of covid. That made me have a mini panic attack. I need avcess to a good bathroom. Turns out the host said that was not true. There is not a lot of privacy so if that is a requirement most Arkansas state park camping site are probably not for you. If you want to be on the swimming beach reserve areas B or C. The swim areas ate kind of small. They have plenty of tent camping as well. Its a beautiful site. If you are a boater, kiyak, jet ski or any other water device fan...this campsite is a must

I've reviewed this state park before but this time we stayed at the walk in tent sites and it was even better. The campsite was perfect. Steps from the water and shaded. The bath houses were nice and clean.

This state park sits on one of the prettiest and clearest lakes in the state of Arkansas. The area that I will be focusing on is the primitive tent sites. There is a loop on a peninsula that are reserved for walking in your gear to a tent site. These sites have GREAT views of the lake. A few of the sites even have access to the water for swimming, fishing, or putting in your kayak. 

The sites are pretty close together and not very level. The more level sites are in the loop nearest the parking area. There are two shared water spigots. One near the parking area and one near the end of the peninsula. There is no electricity at these sites. The two best sites, in my opinion, are sites 7, 8, and 9. They have great access to the water and wonderful views of the lake. If you decide to camp here be warned that the sites are not very large. We typically bring a canopy for our outdoor kitchen, these sites are not large enough for a big canopy. Also, this lake tends to be very windy. There are trees around the sites, but the fire pits on sites 7-9 are very exposed. This poses are problem when trying to build a fire. 

There are plenty of activities to do while visiting this SP. Some of the activities may still be suspended due to Covid 19. In July they have a boat tour that costs $10 per person. They take you out to "Bird Island" to see the purple martins. It's a neat tour. There are also plenty of hiking trails, swimming, fishing, and other typical state park activities. You can't go wrong with the views here, but there are some things to consider.

Cabins were awesome, hiking was beautiful and kayaking the lake was fantastic! By far the best part of the trip was the events hosted by the Park... almost my whole family participated in eating mill worms at the edible bug workshop!

The cabins are beyond wonderful to stay in and well worth the price. Beautiful scenery and tons of activities for the whole family to enjoy. The rangers were great and offered a variety of informational classes and hikes. We will be back!

We visited for Easter and even with the chill it was a good trip. We were on the hill top, the view was limited but the night sky awesome. It was busy with many families but we had more then enough space to set up and plenty of privacy. The facilities were older but in good shape and well maintained. Plenty of activities to do around the park and on the water. Excellent family get away. Hot Springs is within easy driving distance.

Lake Ouachita is the state’s largest lake.  This campground has lots of sites that have water views, but not all have easy access to the lake.  Swim beach is very nice but crowded in summertime (not surprising!) 

Nice bathhouse, boat launch and gorgeous water. 

Close access to shopping for those last- minute needs.

Bird watching.

We had a great time camping at lake oauchita state park. The water water wad beautiful and clear, the bath house was clean and the campgrounds were well maintained. We've already reserved a site for this summer.

This was our first trip here - brought our 23 Ft camper and stayed in Loop C. The well-Manicured and large sites under the tall trees and pines were Top-Notch! Many sites were on an incline, so there was a lot of terracing w great use of railroad timbers and crushed rock. Most sites were FULL HookUps. All had crushed rock pad for tent.  Loop A which was NOT waterfront was heavily tree’d and huge sites as well.  Restrooms were always clean and well stocked w TP and hand soap. 

Kayak rental was cheap (and didn’t charge extra for staying out longer!)

We were BLOWN AWAY and can’t wait to make the long drive from Austin Tx again :-)

One of the best lakes/ parks I’ve visited. I went to Arkansas to visit the Hot Springs National Park, and left wishing I had stayed longer in Ouachita rather than visit Hot Springs. Great camping site, enough space for two tents. Beautiful trails to hike and bike. The fishing was equally as good.