Best Campgrounds near Clinton, AR

Stayed the night in Gene Rush Wildlife Management Area. Spoke with Arkansas Game and Fishing Commission Ranger. No desersal camping but you can camp in the 2 designated campsites. Well designated, my pis is on the further east site from Carver. Must purchase camping license from Game and Fishing Commission. Can be done online at www.agfc.com (Arkansas Game and Fishing Commission) , for $5. The farther east site is high on a bluff top, the west site is more in a valley. Looks like they might be busy during hunting season. Not bad for secluded camping,but not likely remote during hunting seasons.

Stopped there for a night. Not an unpopular area with locals, I spoke to several over the 24hrs I stayed here. Good pull off area with room for 3-5 "sites. A few established "dispersal" spots to use. Was able to comfortably pull my 4runner in and car camp comfortably for a night right next to the Buffalo river and between 2 fresh water streams feeding into it. Well worth the stop. Beautiful area!

This privately on campground has tons of history in the bluegrass and country music areas, many famous visitors campground in the past and present.

This couple who used to bring their kids here when they were younger now at retirement age decided to purchase the campground after it had become rundown, and the owners had passed away. They have rehab that amazingly and are still I’m sure a work in progress because they’re always working on new plans, but enjoying the present as well. They have festivals, And all sorts of activities. A true family owned very good vibes kindred spirit campground. I stayed there in 2022 and was blown away at how much progress they had made in just two years in 2024. They seemed like they were certainly not close to done yet, but always enjoying the present as well. This campground is outside of Conway, Arkansas about 15 or 20 minutes in Otto,AR, more easily found under Vallonia. When you pull up Leicester Flats Road windy as it is, you are rewarded by an outdoor chapel overlooking the lake and then when you come over the hill, you can see the full lake in the beginning of the campground area. The views are amazing, and the vibes are very good. I cannot recommend this campground enough. I saw they have lots of fun things on the lake for kids and it seemed from the office a full flyer worth of scheduled activities.

Great little campground. Please read description before coming or don't whine when you get here. No electricity, hot showers and water available close. Quiet and close to the river.

Nice, clean, quiet. On the map it is to the West of Russelville on the same side of the lake. Check google where the state park is.

Hands down my favorite site. Will forever love the peace & tranquility here. Just a reminder to please leave the site now you’d hope it would be left for you. The most beautiful spot on the Arkansas river

Coordinates: 35.58695,-93.20723. Camped here Dec 29, 2024. Set well off of Meadows Knob Rd. Expect pinstriping along the access track to this secluded dispersed campsite. FR1802A toward the site has some erosion; low clearance vehicles may high center in one or two spots. The main forest road into this part of the Ozark National Forest is okay. The campsite is in open area, located in an old clear cut area. There is a partial view of the distant mountains. The site is a level, dirt surface. Not a large site; okay for one rig. Tent camping possible. No nearby mature trees for hammock camping. The site is overgrown with grass and weeds; a weed whacker is needed to clear the rock fire ring. There is a spot on the ground where a previous campfire was made. Good AT&T and T-Mobile 5G service. No shade; access to Starlink is possible. No hiking trails, although there is a 2-track for hiking that leads down into Graves Creek Canyon and some unnamed waterfalls. The hike along this trck is nice. This is not a pretty dispersed site, but it is well off of the main forest road; very private. Access to the site may be difficult for some vehicles. High clearance 4x4 vehicles should have no problems.

The campground in nestled in the Buffalo National River Wilderness offering many options on the river or hiking the mountains and bluffs.  There are several river access spots throughout the campground. 

There are floating outfitters in the area that will drive you up river to float back down toward the campground.

The bathrooms are on the smaller side, but the showers were clean.

This state park is one of the hardest to book a camping site for a last-minute camping trip. After we finally secure our spot, it’s easy to see why it’s so hard to secure at a moment's notice.

Please be sure to visit the Petite Jean Coffeehouse which is located before the entrance to the park.

While it was pretty last year (the reason it was my first pick this year) the owner uses Marissa, Jamie and Serena as his own personal shield to avoid taking responsibility for his business, and all of them are rude as all get out. Marissa promised multiple times that the owner would call me, and kept changing when exactly that would be. Two days later, I have NEVER heard from him, despite him being fully aware he needed to contact me. I ended up having the credit card company cancel the charge.

And omg, the shower house. Bring a space heater. It's an open air shed with exposed pvc and no drain. I can't imagine how it operates in the winter.

If you come in October, expect loud screaming, gun shots and chainsaws for THREE HOURS at night from one of their events your probably won't be told about til you arrive. Greg deserves to have this place fail.

We had a great weekend at Petit Jean. The hiking was great and the campsite is beyond beautiful. There is also a nice coffee shop that is conveniently close to the campsites.

Great trip. Beautiful campground. Beautiful scenery

This campground had the potential to be amazing- it's beautiful, is right next to the river with amazing views of the stars, and has several hikes close by. But the camp hosts and rangers don't enforce any sort of quiet time or people capacity rules. So unfortunately my partner and I had a group of probably 20 people camping next to us. They brought in a DJ car(open the trunk and it had huge speakers and running lights) to bump techno music during the day, and at night they set up a movie projector and large screen and watched horror movies late into the night. It's not serene when there are 8 tents, a crowd of people, and horror movie screaming right beside you all day and night. I even went and talked to the camp hosts but nothing was done. So, I don't recommend this place. Usually I camp to unwind and chill, but I left the weekend more frazzled and exhausted than I came.

What a beautiful park, although it’s really spread out and you’ll need you an e-bike or bike to ride around. Lots of bouldering, hiking, overlooks, and tall pine trees! There’s something for everyone. I would recommend loop a for the best views and most spaced out spots. Very friendly hosts, clean bathrooms, visitors center is new and outstanding.

We loved our stay at Blue Heron. We had a riverfront spot and really just came to chill not fish but it’s a fishing location. White river is trout paradise so if you’re an angler this is where it’s at. Campground was SUPER clean. Best level pads and hookups we’ve ever seen. Firewood and ice for sale. Everything was absolutely perfect except the road noise….which in all fairness we knew about. LOTS of noise. It died down after 8pm and before 8am and we couldn’t hear it in our camper so it’s was ok.

The trail was okay, but showing signs that it wasn't being maintained properly anymore. From litter found all along the trail to parts of the trail not being maintained. Even some of the stones placed to make walkways are coming out of place. 

But inside was worse...

The old white lady working the giftshop was absolutely horrible. While we were still shopping, this woman embarrassed us asking loudly çare yall planning to pay for that, while we were looking at the stuffed animals, and making us look like shoplifters. I absolutely recommend against spending a single dollar at that store, and I've previously spent decent amount of money there, but no more. I recommend avoiding the main building entirely, and that will me my recommendation until they fix this problem

This was our second spot on our trip we just needed a quick place to sleep for the night before we left back to Oklahoma and we were very delighted with this one. Clean showers and restrooms on site. Very clean sites and nice flat ground for our tent. We were a little close to a busier road but it didn’t bother us that much and all of the other campers were quiet and respectful. Overall a nice little place but be mindful it’s not secluded or anything as several people were there at the lake with their RVs but it looked like a great spot for families to have fun.