Blanchard Springs Campgrounds

We have spent years biking , fishing and hiking this area . Beautiful in the early spring early summer and fall and winter . Summer can be a little warm and you may find a tick or 2 . Clean campgrounds , 1 fault is they do allow generators ..Amazing scenery to be found when you leave the campground . The cavern tour is a must see it’s one of the best around . Visited end of March

it’s certainly a family campground with more tents than RV’s. Not really big rig friendly although there was a bus in site 16, probably the best site in the campground. there is a connecting trail behind site 24 that leads to the main trail. it’s a fairly easy hike with some elevation changes. Bathrooms and showers are clean and functional, all sites are dry camping

This is an incredibly nice campground. There were quite a few people camping here when I visited, but I managed to roll in without a reservation and get the best campsite. It was up on the hill with a paved pull-through driveway and stone steps leading up to a flat terrace area. Plenty of room to spread out.

There are many attractions nearby. At the bottom of the hill, there is a lazy river with a nice swimming hole. Deep enough to dive in from the rocks on the other side of the river, or just do some actual swimming. There's another swimming spot down the road, but the one at the campground is better.

Then there's Blanchard Springs itself. This is a picturesque spot where water rushes out of a lower exit to Blanchard Springs Caverns (closed when I visited but open for tours soon). Adjacent to the springs, there is a disused road that leads up into the forest, past a derelict picnic shelter, and ultimately to AR-14 N, where it is blocked off. There is also a sort of natural stair that goes on a good ways, carved by the water (and apparently improved by the Civilian Conservation Corps) in years gone by. These are both worth a hike. I explored them hoping to find an alternate entrance to the caverns. No dice.

For amenities, the campground has a single bathroom with flushing toilets and running water. It was nice but fairly busy when I visited. There is another bathroom at a picnic shelter down the road. This one was just as nice if not nicer, and totally empty. Water at the campground was very good to drink, but only available from a single spigot at the base of the hill.