Best Glamping near Gamaliel, AR

Average space between sites. Level paved sites with gravel picnic area including picnic table, fire ring, lantern hanger. Some sites had covered picnic area. Limited shade, most sites don’t have trees. Good access to sites. Clean and private bathrooms. Each room had its own lockable bathroom with toilet, sink and shower. Garbage cans were outside of bathrooms, as well as dumpsters near the registration building. Friendly staff upon check in. Campground was patrolled regularly. No laundry or recycling. Nearby road with little road noise. Verizon cell signal was excellent. There is a dump station and potable fill station. No store or food for purchase on site. No hiking in campground, but multiple trails nearby. Boat ramp at campground and lots of wading fly fishing in river. Fish hatchery across from campground.

The camp is directly off of the river.  For those how love to kayak, swim, fish, of just be in nature this is the place to be.  There are a few tent locations that are located away from the main area if you what to be away from it all.  There are cabins as well.  The camp offers a plethora of boat options to enjoy the river, and they also provide shuttle services for the 8 and 5 mile floats. If you love to hike, there are some amazing hiking trails with gorges views, water crossings, and even waterfalls.  They also have an amazing bathroom area complete with showers for after your day of adventure.  The cleanliness rivals most home bathrooms.  They also have a stocked store on site with nearly anything you would want or need.  The best part of this place are the owners.  They truly care for the campers/floaters.

This is probably an excellent site in spring or fall. However summertime is hot at the site because of the lack of shade trees. Site 15 is by the water and has a large area for dogs or family. There is a staircase down to the water next to site 8. The fishing is good. It’s a pet friendly site however if your dogs bark neighbors will complain. The manager is friendly. They do not have trash pick up service; you just take your trash to a dumpster at the end of the camp, which is not a big deal. No grill available but has picnic tables and fire ring. WI-FI aid very good.

We have stayed here 2 times, once in a RV a couple years ago and had a nice experience. The second just this week. Since we stayed here last the prices have increased per night and it has come under new ownership. We stayed in the “wren” cabin. Which is over looking campsites below and sylamore creek. Not horrible, but honestly if I’m paying for water views I want to see the water not campers. Overall fairly clean, other than the debris pictured in the shower. No problem, sometimes mistakes happen. Could have even fell from the ceiling when the door closed or something after it was cleaned. My biggest issue, we were here for 3 nights. Typically I like to shower a couple times a day as does my wife when it is hot out. We had a total of 2 bath towels and 2 wash cloths upon arrival. Rather than new ones being brought daily, you are required to take the used ones to the camp store and exchange them yourself. I’m on vacation, I don’t personally feel it should be my responsibility to secure my own towels on MY time. I mean, I’m here for 3 days, give me 6 towels and wash cloths and count them when I leave if your that worried about towel theft. I’ve travelled half way around the world and never had this issue before. But if I’m paying $140 a night for a room worth about $90 (at best) I’d at least like enough towels to get me through my stay or maybe send someone by with new ones. One more thing, note the front door pic needs painted at a minimum, I mean, it’s not just one thing, it’s attention to detail and upkeep. The bathroom door also rubbed the floor and the floor was uneven overall. I get around pretty good, but I can see this being a trip hazard for someone elderly. Point being, I did not get a good value for the stay I purchased. I did confront the towel issue and the response was “we’ve always done it that way”. Doesn’t sound like it will change soon, which means I won’t be back and wouldn’t encourage anyone else to stay here either. On a positive, it’s not a bad location. I will also mention the bed, it wasn’t bad, but could have lived without the sandpaper sheets.

We love this campground. We love having direct access to creek. It is kayak, family, pet friendly. The only thing it is lacking is internet connection, which for us is a plus for disconnecting. All sites are reasonably level. Site F is the premium and most secluded full hook up site. They have all levels of sites: primitive, water and electric, or full. Their small store has firewood and many other convenient items for sale. We take our own kayaks, but they do have rentals. They have public showers and restrooms, but the restrooms are currently closed due to renovations. It’s really one of our favorite local sites to camp.