Mississippi River State Park Campground

This park is absolutely fantastic! The ride through the park, on the Crowley's Ridge Parkway is breathtakingly beautiful. There is an abundance of wildlife and nature's beauty. This park travels along the Mississippi River and there are roads that take you right to the river to view. We traveled down to the St. Francis and Mississippi River confluence to see the historic lows. All along the way, the scenery is amazing. We never knew there was such a variety in landscape not only in this area, but the park as well. Everything is very well taken care of and the park overall keeps a smile on your face! The staff at the Visitor's Center is VERY friendly and knowledgeable. Take some time to view the exhibits and learn about the area. They offer quite a bit for nature lovers. Overall, there are 4 campgrounds in this park. While they may offer different amenities, they are all well kept with beautiful scenery. Beech Point Campground is an island you can drive to and camp, located on Bear Creek Lake. We stayed at Storm Creek Campground and loved every minute of it.

MississippiRiver State Park, also called Bear Creek Recreation Area, Arkansas. Only 17 sites, all level with full hook ups. ATT cell worked fair but no Verizon. Shower house had 4 separate rooms, each with shower. Very very clean! # pull thru & the rest backin on concrete pads with room for either a toad, truck or boat to the side. $36 a night, but disabled military, including vets, half off. Not much to do is you don't fish, but a nice quiet place to relax. Swimming beach is nearby.

From the time we arrived to the time we left the staff was great. The park was one of the cleanest park we have ever seen. The kayak tour of Cypress forest was the highlight of the trip.

We could see water from every side of our camper.

We had a wonderful time here, it’s just beautiful, and very clean sites, and campground! Full hookups, most of the amenities, like showers, toilets, trash cans, etc…… We fully plan on more visits here!

This was such a nice relaxing place to stay. We met a park interpreter who was very nice and informative.  We stayed in a small tent camping area beside one of the lakes.  The hiking trail was beautiful and we saw several woodpeckers!

This Arkansas state park is top notch. It offers a very quiet, immaculate campground with only 17 sites for RV hook ups. There are additional camping areas for tents, although one is closed for repairs. The Bear Creek lake surrounds the RV camping area on all three sides. There is fishing, small boats, and swimming in the summer. The RV sites were very spaced apart and completely level. Things to note for planning—1. Visitor Center is pretty far from camping. You would have to drive there. But it is very nice with exhibits, and staff was very helpful. They have bait and fire wood too. 2. Cell service is not great. 3. No playground. But park is quaint enough bike riding and game playing for small kids works great!

Mississippi River State Park is in Marianna, AR and was built in 2008 in the St. Francis National Forest. The park office and convention center are beautiful and have several learning stations and activities for kids and families. There is also a simple paved walking trail with identification points for local trees, birds, wildlife, etc.

The campground has only a few sites. I don’t remember exactly but I believe it’s only 18 but all have lake views. All sites are level with electricity, water, and tent pad. Some sites have tiered tent pads that might not be great for kids or “old knees”. If you bring your own kayak, canoe, or boat, you can launch directly from your camp site without any issue. Our kids just wanted to through rocks 😂. There aren’t many hikes but there is a 1.5 mile trail (video included) which was fun. We saw a few snakes but they were just king snakes.

MS River SP is a short drive from Memphis and is a great quick weekend getaway. There isn’t much for small kids to do when the swim beach and swim area are closed but most families will love the serenity and peace that MS River SP offers.

This was our 2nd time camping here. It’s the nicest campground close to home. All of the sites are large with full hookups. They really did an excellent job with this place. The bathrooms are the best of the best (private, suite style rooms). I like that it is not a large park (only 14 RV sites and 3 tent sites) l, so even when it is full, it does not feel overcrowded. I do wish they had more hiking trails, but the bear creek look is really nice. The park office is excellent with a museum area. Fire wood can be purchased at the office as well. Very popular lake for fishing!

We stayed at Beech Point campground at site #12 on June 20, 2019. This was a huge campsite with lots of room for our two large tents. It was set back on its own point out into the lake, so our tents were surrounded on three sides by water. The campground was not very crowded on a Thursday night so even pulling in late we still could choose from a few great sites. We were right across from the swimming area which had a sandy wade-in. It was hot and humid at night but still reasonable for sleeping. Sites were very spread out so we didn’t hear the hum of nearby RV A/C units.

Bathrooms and showers were organized in banks of 4 private shower/bath combos and were clean and well-maintained. We didn’t see a camp store on-site (just a gift shop with a few scattered camp supplies) but the visitor center had very helpful rangers. The only real lack for facilities in the camp was a dish-washing station. You can get to the main Mississippi River from the park, but it is about 20 mins drive from this campground.

The visitor center offers a drop-off service for SUPs and we woke up the next morning with the boards dropped right next to our van. There is a small boat dock in the campground - only for carry-able boats since there is no ramp and about 5 steps to negotiate. The lake is smallish but filled with coves to explore and abundant wildlife to see.

This place is still relatively new, but they have really done a great job with it! The park office is first class! The Trotting Fox Trail and Bear Creek Loop trail are very nice! The park office has a large room for exhibits. The Rangers also keep a very full schedule of activities to keep locals and campers busy. They rent out kayaks for those looking to explore the lake! The Beech Point Campground is a gorgeous RV/Tent Campground. I highly recommend it to those that love camping! There is also a really nice day use area.

We have been to many states and campgrounds. This is one of our favorites. It only has 14 Full Hookup sites but they are all beautiful. Well kept campgrounds, lake, and facilities. There is also a tent site area and a primitive camping area. The sites stayed booked, so if you want to give it a try, you need to book well in advance of your desired date of travel. We go here at least 4 or 5 times a year. It is only about 40 min drive from Forrest City and a 10 min. drive from Marianna, Arkansas. There is a boat dock where you can put your boat in the water. They also have fishing boats and kayaks for rent.