COE Lake Ouachita Joplin Campground

The views are great as CG is on narrow peninsula of Lake Ouachita ... but not all sites are created equal.   A few are fantastic.   Some, like 63-D shouldn't be allowed as sites as too small and not remotely level.   Due to bridge weight restrictions, less maintained by COE than other nearby CGs.   We much preferred Tompkins Bend CG which is a couple of miles down the road.

One of our favorite trips ever. We had a beautiful spot on a peninsula. Lake was beautiful. You can rent boats and jet skis there at the marina. You could get right in the lake from our site. Would go back every weekend if it was closer.

Gates locked. No one at kiosk.

So I was super excited about this campground when I read about it online. It seemed perfect! The drive into the campground is very curvy and has lots of blind spots. When we arrived, there was no one on duty, so we just filled out a card and proceeded into the campground, following the map posted on the official website. That's where we ran into our first issue. The map was all wrong. We spent nearly an hour trying to find our spot. Finally, we asked the volunteer on duty. He showed us an updated map and we found out that our campsite wasn't even where we had picked it based off the old map. The tent sites are walk in only. They have electric but the closest water spigot is at the parking lot. The scenery is nice but the boats are loud, as to be expected of a lakeside campground. The bathrooms aren't very well maintained, the showers are gross, and the park goers tend to be obnoxious, revving their engines and hooping and hollering. We actually ended our trip the next day. Overall not a bad site IF you're here in a camper. Not suggested for tent camping.

Hike in electric spot that overlooked the lake. Easy to walk down and swim in the water!

There are showers & restrooms, grill & fire-pit, trash bins, & a beach swimming area.

40 minutes outside of Hot Springs but definitely worth the drive.

Just about every sit is on the water...clearest water in the state. 45,000 acre lake I believe. It is a no brainer to make an effort to stay. Bring or rent boats within a 1/2 mile. Staying in Joplin next to Mountain Harbor Resort.... groceries. By the way... dry county so stock up.

This is a beautiful area, and a great campground. Very Clean and very nice bathrooms. We had campsite 51 on D loop. Its on a hill so be careful but great access to the lake. The area was very crowded but still felt like we were out in no were. I would go back again but at  less busy time.

We enjoyed our 2 nights here on the lake. The campground is literally on a mountain in the lake. Tent sites right on the lake and so are some RV spots. Warning. Stay away from Loop C around sites 35-37. They are literally right on top of each other. We luckily had a friend who was staying over on site 28 and we parked with him. Loved it there! Some sites are off camber due to the mountain side. Bath house where we were staying was the nicer of the ones. Older but clean. Can’t wait to come back in the summer!

Such a dreamy spot on the lake. Facilities were nice and close enough by. Other people weren’t too terribly close. My dogs enjoyed it just as much as I did. We will definitely be back!