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Nature
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Water
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Facilities
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Camping

Established Camping

Willow Beach

Willow Beach, near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, is a scenic campground that offers a peaceful escape right by the river. With spacious sites and well-maintained grounds, it’s a solid choice for both tent campers and RV enthusiasts looking to unwind in nature.

Visitors rave about the cleanliness of the facilities, describing them as "military clean." The campground is pet-friendly and features drinking water, electric hookups, and a sanitary dump station, making it convenient for all types of campers. One happy camper noted, “We had a great stay, very easy to find, great water view.”

If you’re up for some exploration, you’re just a short drive from Little Rock, where you can enjoy local attractions and dining. The area is also known for its beautiful sunsets over the water, which many campers have enjoyed while relaxing at their sites.

While some campers mentioned the lack of on-site staff, the peaceful surroundings and spacious layouts make it a great spot for a quick getaway or a longer stay. Whether you’re fishing, enjoying the scenery, or just soaking in the tranquility, Willow Beach has a lot to offer.

Description

US Army Corps of Engineers

Arkansas River - Terry Lock and Dam

Overview

Willow Beach Campground is located near the David D.Terry Lock and Dam of the Arkansas River. The wealth of recreational opportunities in the Arkansas River Valley provides visitors with endless fun for the whole family. Outdoor activities such as camping, picnicking, boating and sightseeing are favorite pastimes.

Recreation

Willow Beach has a boat ramp and offers excellent fishing, especially in the old river cutoffs and the tail-waters of the dam and Murry Lock and Dam upstream. Anglers often catch bass, crappie and bream in the Arkansas River. Hunting is available in nearby forests, and there is duck hunting on the waterways. On shore, families enjoy picnicking and using the playground.

Natural Features

The park is in a forested area along the riverfront, close to the rolling fields of cotton farms. It is 193 feet above sea level; winters are generally mild and summer temperatures reach the upper 90s with high humidity. Red fox are frequently seen in the park, along with deer and armadillo, and numerous species of waterfowl live in the water and along the shores.

Nearby Attractions

Little Rock, the state capital and largest city of Arkansas, is just minutes away, offering groceries, gas, restaurants and tourist attractions.

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Location

Willow Beach is located in Arkansas

Detail location of campground

Directions

From Little Rock, Arkansas, take U.S. Highway 165 east for 2.5 miles. Turn right on Colonel Manard Road and continue for three miles. Turn right again onto Blue Heron Parkway and follow signs to Willow Beach Park.

Address

PO BOX 7835
Pine bluff, AR 71611-7835

Coordinates

34.6991667 N
92.1372222 W

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Access

  • Drive-In
    Park next to your site
  • Boat-In
    Sites accessible by watercraft.

Stay Connected

  • WiFi
    Available
  • Verizon
    Good
  • AT&T
    Fair
  • T-Mobile
    Fair

Site Types

  • Tent Sites
  • RV Sites
  • Standard (Tent/RV)
  • Group

Features

For Campers

  • Trash
  • Phone Service
  • Reservable
  • Drinking Water
  • Electric Hookups
  • Toilets
  • Alcohol
  • Pets

For Vehicles

  • Sanitary Dump
  • Water Hookups
  • Big Rig Friendly

Contact

General Info

Reservations

Drive Time


Reviews

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4.5

out of 5

24 Reviews

Reviewed Oct. 18, 2024

Nice

The site we had was level with a view to the river. The bathrooms and grounds were"military" clean and maintained. Area Code My only issue was the lack of staff. The place runs itself, apparently. There was no staff on site, not even the camp hosts.

Month of VisitJuly
Reviewed Jun. 1, 2024

Great Stop to see Little Rock

Willow beach is a very pleasant campground on the river. Though close to Little Rock, it felt remote. The site we had was level with a view to the river. The bathrooms and grounds were "military" clean and maintained. My only issue was the lack of staff. The place runs itself, apparently. There was no staff on site, not even the camp hosts. A bad storm rolled through and was upsetting enough that we left a day early with the potential for even worse the next day. Otherwise, it was a great campground.

Month of VisitMay
Reviewed Nov. 27, 2023

Great place with a water view all around.

We had a great stay very easy to find, great water view. All the amenities were nice and very clean. The sites were nicely spaced out. Would recommend staying here whether camping, RV or camper all would be great.

SiteF-06
Month of VisitNovember
Reviewed Sep. 10, 2023

Beautiful and peaceful

Really pretty site with lake in the back yard, which made sunsets so enjoyable. Locals warned us (a day late) to beware of mosquitoes as sunset). We ventured into Little Rock for fun, which was about a 20 min drive. It is also a little over an hour to Hot Springs Village. The site is mostly level, a little close to neighbors but they are not right on top of you. There are shade trees. The showers were ok. Hot water, a little run down in my opinion but hubby thought they were fine. The only thing that would have made this better is sewer at the sites. There is a dump station so that’s good.

SiteF04
Month of VisitSeptember
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Sarah J., September 10, 2023
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Sarah J., September 10, 2023
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Sarah J., September 10, 2023
  • (6) View All
Reviewed Aug. 29, 2023

Peaceful

Stopped for one night while traveling mid week. Very peaceful surroundings. Ample space between sites.

Site19
Month of VisitAugust
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Jenny W., August 29, 2023
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Jenny W., August 29, 2023
Reviewed Apr. 29, 2023

River madness.

Easy in and out. Great views all around. The corps score. Some very large camp sites.

Site17
Month of VisitApril
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by John R., April 29, 2023
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by John R., April 29, 2023
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by John R., April 29, 2023
  • (7) View All
Reviewed Oct. 15, 2022

Great overnight spot

Great for a quick nights stay! Beautiful surroundings right on the water and well maintained. Reserved online $19/night for a 66’ space, with w/e. Thanks to those who cancelled at the last minute! It was very kind of you to cancel the reservation to allow others a spot for the night! Very considerate given they probably didn’t get a refund.

SiteF06
Month of VisitOctober
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Jennifer  K., October 15, 2022
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Jennifer  K., October 15, 2022
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Jennifer  K., October 15, 2022
Reviewed Sep. 15, 2022

Major Improvemts to Maint

Over the past few years this park has become extremely nice due to extra maintenance such as mowing and weed eating. It’s a perfect place to stop when going through Little Rock or spend a couple weeks. 

Sitef-02
Month of VisitSeptember
Reviewed Jun. 29, 2022

Amazing scenery and peaceful space

This was by far the most maintained campground I’ve ever visited. The grass is cut almost every day leaving beautiful spaces for thatch. Also fishing access is right behind the sights. Very happy I booked this campground at such a low cost. It actually made my visit to Little Rock pleasant. I could not imagine staying anywhere else.

Site08
Month of VisitJune
Reviewed Feb. 19, 2022

Quiet Beauty

We are four season campers and we love this park. Level paved pads. Clean and quiet! Gracious hosts. This is a gem to keep in your favorites.

SiteF09
Month of VisitFebruary
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Teresa S., February 19, 2022
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Teresa S., February 19, 2022
Reviewed Aug. 25, 2021

Beautiful River Views

Beautiful campsite along the Arkansas River. The sites are all very spacious with very long back in driveways. Some of the sites had covered picnic tables, which was great. It is near water so there are a lot of mosquitos, so come prepared. The only downside is the bathroom/shower rooms. There are four individual ones and they all feel like the heat is on in them when it is 100° here today. The toilet paper is out or almost out in all of them and there is no soap in any of the dispensers. Other than that they all appeared clean. Again, as long as you are prepared for that, this is a great campground.

SiteF21
Month of VisitAugust
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Kelly E., August 25, 2021
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Kelly E., August 25, 2021
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Kelly E., August 25, 2021
  • (5) View All
Reviewed Jun. 29, 2021

Peaceful

This was our first or second trip with our new camper and it was great. We ventured to the local market, Me and McGee, for some fresh veggies and sides for dinner on the grill. Our site had a covered picnic table that was really handy.

Site15
Month of VisitNovember
Reviewed Jun. 1, 2021

Lovely weekend

This was a nice facility, not for RVs than tent camping. Great play ground but quite a walk for bathroom facilities if tent camping.

SiteF-10
Month of VisitOctober
Reviewed Apr. 4, 2021

Nice spot on the water!

We loved the view! Looked like a great place for kayaking/boats and fishing. There were water views on both sides of the campsites. More people than I expected to see on a Monday, but the campsites were a decent distance apart.

  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Hope R., April 4, 2021
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Hope R., April 4, 2021
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Hope R., April 4, 2021
Reviewed Mar. 31, 2021

Nice spot along the river

This is a small and quiet campground during the week -- the day-use area next door may make the whole park busier on weekends 

We were in Site F4 and it was a good spot for being not too far from the bathroom building but far enough away that it wasn't lit up at night by the building's obnoxiously bright outside lights. (The first few sites on that end get a lot of light pollution from the bathroom.) 

All of the sites here are paved with asphalt or concrete and relatively level although a couple have a slope to them that may impact you more depending on the length of your rig. There is plenty of room here for rigs of all sizes. 

The river is peaceful since it's more of a branch of the Arkansas River now than the main navigable area. The locals seem to love this spot for fishing -- that's not our thing so we can't confirm that. There is a boat ramp in the day-use area. 

Note that the entire campground is a good hike to the dumpster and dump station, so keep that in mind for access to those. There is 20-, 30- and 50-amp service available in what appear to be newer, lighted power pedestals. There also is water on site and each one has a fire pit with cooking grate and a grill, as well as a stone picnic table. A few of the sites have pavilions over the tables, but most do not. 

The bathroom building was constructed in 2019 and is well laid out. There are four individual units with toilet, sink, shower and baby changing station inside. The only real complaint we had was maintenance on the bathrooms. They are not always maintained well by the volunteer staff and we frequently found some of units were without toilet paper and none of them had any soap. 

The whole park is pretty loosely run from what we could tell, which is nice if it's quiet. If you had any issues with neighbors or day-use folks causing an issue, we're not sure how you would have it addressed. There is a camp host, but they are parked up by the gate, which locked from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Again, we weren't here on the weekend, so this review is for weekday camping only, but we found it quite peaceful. Also, some reviews have mentioned a lot of bugs, but we didn't find any that were bothersome, perhaps because we were here when it was still a bit chilly. 

The river is a nice view and you can see it from almost every campsite. We'd recommend a site on the river side if you can get one though. 

Phone service was decent for Verizon and T-Mobile with reasonable speeds even though the signal jumped around 2-3 bars most of the time. 

One bonus: if you like watching Air Force planes, you might catch the C-130 pilots training overhead as they come and go from the Little Rock AFB.

SiteF4
Month of VisitMarch
  • A walk around site F4
    Play button icon
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Ari A., March 31, 2021
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Ari A., March 31, 2021
Reviewed Feb. 26, 2021

Nice quiet and clean

Stayed here in February so no bugs like the other mentioned. Nice large mostly level spots, which most spots are right on river, great covered picnic table, extra large fire pits and a grill for each site. About 15 mins from downtown, which has a ton to do.

Reviewed Dec. 5, 2020

Nice waterfront sites

Nice campgrounds. Clean bathrooms. Expect bugs, I had a Thermacell for mosquitos that worked great for them. The water hyacinths were in full bloom on the ponds driving in and along the backside of the camp.

  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Cheryl M., December 5, 2020
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Cheryl M., December 5, 2020
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Cheryl M., December 5, 2020
  • (7) View All
Reviewed Oct. 26, 2020

Willow Beach Life

PROs: Campground located on the river with beautiful scenic views. Covered picnic table and tall fire ring. Spacious camps. Flat pad. CONs: No clean space to get down a fish from the bank. Lots of bugs due to being near the river.

  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Shiloh M., October 26, 2020
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Shiloh M., October 26, 2020
Reviewed Aug. 4, 2020

Nice little hideaway

Willow Beach is small, remote, and quiet. Situated between the Arkansas River and Willow Lake, every site is waterfront. Showers and bathrooms were clean and in good condition. Sites were close but in good repair. Playgrounds were present but closed thanks to Covid. Mosquitos are very bad. Overall a really nice spot.

  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Jeff R., August 4, 2020
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Jeff R., August 4, 2020
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Jeff R., August 4, 2020
Reviewed May. 27, 2020

Nice views but very snake-y.

Our first time staying at this campground left us on the fence. We enjoyed the openness  and campsites are spacious. Nice bathroom facilities. Nice playground but it was taped off during our stay due to covid. We encountered lots of snakes. I shooed a few off the road and they disappeared as soon as they slithered into the grass, so to me it’s pretty risky walking around or letting kids play in the grass because you can’t really see snakes if they are hiding under the grass. They lock a gate every night at the entrance to the campground, however they do give you the code to the padlock.

SiteF-9
Month of VisitMay
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Jennifer C., May 27, 2020
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Jennifer C., May 27, 2020
Reviewed May. 27, 2017

Wet and Windy

On my cross country road trip I arrived later in the afternoon, I think it was around 4pm... I asked the lady at the front if they had any sites and if rain was in the forecast. She responded with, "Your guess is as good as mine, but if it does rain, the only campsite I have will flood." It did rain. It did flood my campsite. But luckily I had my SylvanSport GO and it was high and dry all through the night. It was also very windy, mainly due to the storm.

The campground was completely full, mostly of pull behind and in bed campers. If I'm not mistaken all sites have water and electricity, and for $19 a night, it's hard to beat. There's a playground at the entrance to the camping spots which was used by the families with smaller children. The only issue I can see, is there is only one shower at the campground, and it is at the end of the campsites.

If you want to see more of the SylvanSport GO, check out their website at: https://www.sylvansport.com/

SiteF-01
Month of VisitMay
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Austin R., May 27, 2017
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Austin R., May 27, 2017
  • Review photo of Willow Beach by Austin R., May 27, 2017
  • (5) View All

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How much does it cost to camp at Willow Beach?

    Camping at Willow Beach can cost between $26.00 and $75.00 depending on the site.

  • Does Willow Beach have RV hookups?

    According to TheDyrt.com, Willow Beach has water hookups.

  • What is the max vehicle length at Willow Beach?

    Willow Beach allows vehicles up to 84 feet.

  • Does Willow Beach have wifi?

    No, according to campers on TheDyrt.com, Willow Beach does not have wifi.

  • Is there cell phone reception at Willow Beach?

    According to campers on TheDyrt.com, Verizon signal is good, AT&T is fair, and T-Mobile is fair.

  • How hard is it to get a campsite at Willow Beach?

    Some campers book as far as 6 months in advance, so on high-demand weekends it can be very difficult to get a campsite at Willow Beach. If you want to get a last-minute campsite at Willow Beach, try setting up a text message Alert atTheDyrt.com/alerts

  • Why is it so hard to get a campsite at Willow Beach?

    There are 24 campsites at Willow Beach and over 80 million Americans who camp! Try snagging a cancellation by setting up a text message Alert atTheDyrt.com/alerts