Queen Wilhelmina State Park — Queen Wihelmina State Park

The views of this campground are amazing, however, the campground left much to be desired. The bath house and spots are fine for RV's but when we tent camp it gets crowded at this site and lacks privacy. The campground for the most part is one single road with many camp spots on each side. The Ozark Highland Trail does pass close by and the Lover's Leap trail is pleasant with some amazing views.

Limited Camping Spots

The campground is small with limited pads. Each site is close to the next and are generally occupied with RVs or camper trailers. I would suggest that this campground is most appropriate for the camper who prefers a more modern feel. There is ample cell phone service, WiFi is nearby, facilities are clean and modern. It is approximately a 15 minute drive into Mena, AR where you can find significant shopping. The campground is also near a large hotel. There are many hiking and mountain bike trails available in the area. A few miles down the road you can find an old fire tower which is interesting and can be accessed if you are daring. This area is dog friendly, dogs can access the trails as well. There are also some very neat driving trails, the bypass is a popular destination for motorcyclists which can offer some noise during the day. The park is also approximately a mile from the Oklahoma state line. This is a nice area for the avid cyclist, hiker, and motorcyslist.

Small

The views are beautiful. The campsites are very well maintained and very level. Limited activities for younger children, but we enjoyed the hiking trails. We also went on to Mena for a day and rented UTVs at Wolf Pen Gap. 

Beautiful 

Beautiful vistas everywhere. Visited during summer of 2020 COVID lockdown. Small compact campground next to lodge. Pretty far from anything just a beautiful spot to sit back and enjoy.

Cool Summer Breeze

I some other reviews that described it as more like a small RV park. That’s unfair in my opinion.

I’ve been stuck using a couple of RV parks out west and they packed us in tight.

These spots aren’t super roomy, but you aren’t bumper to bumper either. 

The spots are paved and all seemed pretty level. Spots 1-35 back up to the forest. Higher numbers back up to an open field.

Restrooms and showers were spectacular. Everything was clean and well kept. 

The lodge is a pretty short walk up hill. It has a restaurant and small gift shop. It also has a lookout, and two trailheads. The lobby is spacious with a great view.

One of the trails connects to Ouachita trail. The drive in from Oklahoma is stunning and the drive to Mena, AR is only about 20 minutes. Several shops and restaurants and a Walmart.

There is a mini golf course, ice cream shop and train ride - but they said it’s only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day and they haven’t gotten word of it will open for 2021.

Also has a playground and an Old Steam Train to explore.





Wilderness Adjacent

Driving through this part of Arkansas you can quickly get taken aback by the winding roads the ample beauty, but until you visit the campground and park you will only have a portion of the beauty of the region. High atop the mountain, with a near perfect view, you can see for miles and miles. 

  

I visited this park arriving late in the evening, in perfect timing for a sunset which painted the sky with colors that filtered down onto the mountainside below. A dense fog began to roll in and it seemed magical. 

  

Typically I am not as taken aback as I was by this park but its views and shaded campsites complimented each other so well it made for the perfect evening. 

  

Not needing for electricity I opted for one of the tent sites, which includes a large tent pad, large parking space and standard amenities such as picnic table, lantern hook, fire ring and grill. However unlike many primitive sites, this site did also include water. Site pricing was about $20. 

  

Bear warnings abound, but there are no bear boxes, and upon checking in the desk attendant mentioned that they don’t often see them but to proceed with caution in regards to food. She also noted that in her lifetime she had never encountered a bear on the trails and would instead be aware of snakes. 

  

The campground is only one of the many features with others including a lodge with a restaurant open each evening until 9 p.m. A narrow gauge train, large enough for the entire family to ride on the 2 mile track and mini golf are available seasonally. Plenty of hiking is available both in park, where there are 3 trails, and just outside where you can find the much larger trail system which runs for some 200 miles through Oklahoma and Arkansas. 

  

Cell Signal With AT&amp;T- 1 Bar at campsites but 2 bars in lobby area if you are in need of making a call in case of an emergency. 

  

All in all I would put this campground on the top of my Arkansas list for the beauty of drive and sunset location, however the sites themselves despite being very nice were average for a state park in the region.

Beautiful vistas and some unique additional recreation features

We just stayed 3 nights in space 23.  Level asphalt lots but spaced kinda wonky.  Shady.  I wish it had sewer.  We also looked for a nearby lake to fish or kayak but nothing unless you go to Iron Fork Lake which is down the mountain.  

The lodge and restaurant were nice.  We hiked the Lover’s Leap trail which was one mile and moderate with a nice lookout.  

Overall it is beautiful and had a nice breeze but just had a lot to do on top of the mountain.  

Beautiful Views   Clean Park

At the top of the mountain and has about 20 rv sites. The sites are crowded, like living I'm a big city, and mostly it seems like a good stop on a retirement trip. Has bathrooms, showers, a diner, and a mini train for the kids.

Like an RV park

First, Arkansas State Parks have an easy to use online reservation system.  All campsites are reservable. 

We spent 2 nights at tent site 32 and enjoyed our stay. But the site layout was strange. The fire pit/grill is just a couple of feet from the tent pad. Because of the wind during our stay, we opted for no fire. But I wonder how many nice tents have burn holes from this setup. Yes, it's that close. Also, the tent pad and fire pit are on on side of the parking pad while the table and lantern post are on the other side. Perhaps this layout was to put the table in the shade but it was awkward.

Incredible night sky was a huge plus. Trails are relatively short unless you use the Ouachita Trail that passes through here.

Folks at the lodge doing the campground check in we a bit grumpy but the staff in the restaurant were great.

Yeah, almost forgot about the miniature train that runs around the park. Kinda neat.

And, the views along the nearby scenic drive will try to convince you that you are in a different part of the country. 

Nice but a little wonky 

Really pretty area up in hills/mountains.  Park has a lodge, restaurant, mini golf, ice cream shop and a train.  Would be a great place for families with kids. Trails are short but have nice views.  Forest trail is overgrown once you leave the state park and go into the national forest.

Only downside is the sites are right next to each other and have odd configurations.  Our site has a picnic table and grill behind the site and the fire pit in a separate area on the drivers side of the camper.  Our next door neighbors fire pit is also right there but closer to our propane tanks (yikes).

Those with dogs should be aware that we found quite a few ticks on our dog, us and in the camper.

Nice park for a night or two

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.