Best Equestrian Camping near Helena-West Helena, AR

We camped at Village Creek State Park in the Crowley’s Ridge region of Arkansas over Labor Day weekend. We booked two class B RV sites - one for ourselves and one for my husband’s parents - in advance. On our way to camp we got a call informing us that they had accidentally deleted one reservation assuming it was a duplicate (same name), and that there were no longer two sites together in that loop. They offered to re-book us in the only section that still had side-by-side campsites available. Village Creek is a somewhat unique park in that has an Equestrian Camp offering with stables, exercise corrals, water, mounting blocks and the like available for those who would like to travel with their own horses. While it was not what we originally booked, staying in “Horse Camp” was really cool and different - a BIG hit with our kids. The park has over 30 miles of equestrian trails and is a popular destination for horse owners. While all of that made for really cool atmosphere, the sites themselves left a lot to be desired. It almost looks like major erosion has occurred since these sites were first built - at every site in this loop, the picnic table and fire ring are IN the woods, and often partway down a ravine, with lots of brush, branches and vines hanging around them. We tried to use the table and fire ring on our first night and abandoned it for the rest of the trip. Our inlaws’ table was in such a dangerous location that we couldn’t access it at all, and we quickly realized was a cozy home for copperheads. Our water hookup had a wasp nest inside it. All of these details made it hard to relax as we were constantly on our guard with our kids and dog. We checked out the other camping areas and they were in much better shape, recently renovated and with full hookups. The trails at Village Creek were BEAUTIFUL. There is a particularly stunning trail that includes one of the most well-preserved sections of the Trail of Tears. This made for both an lovely hike and a history lesson for our seven year old. The Crowley’s Ridge region of the state is home to unique geological formations, soil and plant life unlike anywhere else in Arkansas. The Big Ben Nature Trail offers a great opportunity to identify these unusual plant species and is a short, easy hike. However, erosion is a big issue on the ridge, and sections were somewhat washed out after recent heavy rains. There are two small lakes that are popular with anglers. A couple of boat ramps are available for fishing boat launch. There is a small swimming area for campers only, but this lake is not great for swimming as it is pretty muddy. Take lots of bug spray in summer, and maybe only consider horse camp if you HAVE a horse. It’s worth a walk through in the morning or late afternoon when riders are tacking up or returning from rides.

There are nearly 100 sites here at Village Creek State Park. They are Spacious, paved and well maintained. The campground is spread out on plenty of land. 2nd largest park in Arkansas in such a tiny town. Many deer walking freely at night. Water and electric hookups, bathrooms and a museum too. They have concerts occasionally here in the big field. Cabins are great too above the rim of the lake. Many hikes to take here and so peaceful. There are stables and horse trails as well as mountain biking. The park is located in Wynne, Arkansas. I have visited here many times camped in RV and stayed in the cabins. The rangers are always friendly and it is close to my relatives in Forrest City.

This huge park and campground area were easy to find. Check in was a breeze and we headed to back-in site 56 with FHUs. Backing in was easy in this premium campsite with stand up bbq, separate fire pit and patio. The sewer is at the back of most of these long pads so you need about 20’ of sewer hose. There are 3 campground areas in the park, A, B, and Equestrian. Area A is situated at the bottom of the hill that leads up to Area B and the Equestrian camping. The 2 loops of A sites are a little closer together than the B area. We definitely preferred the B area up on the hill. Site 56 is one of the best(spacious and private) sites in the park. Another good site is 65, though its near the main campground road, it has privacy the way it backs to the woods. We were here during a mid April weekend and there was not a horrible amount of vehicle traffic moving about. All the campsites in our little cul de sac were spacious. Directly across from us were 2 long and straight pull through sites, 58& 59. There’s also another cul de sac loop where sites 42-49 reside. That loop is where the swim beach and a play ground reside. All sites are pretty nice with 47 having the best lake view over the swimming area. Heads up on site 48 as this back-in has a pretty steep incline with evidence of asphalt scars from longer rigs. I wouldn’t put anything over 35’ in that site. We walked through the equestrian area and the campsites were very nice with horse stables available. We got 1 bar each on Verizon and AT&T. You can pay for WiFi but we did not. We got a fair amount of OTA channels. With all the tree cover satellite could be iffy in a lot of sites. The sites along the road between the two B loops have a pretty good shot to the south sky. We saw deer near our campsite plus evening visits by a raccoon. We would definitely stay here again.

Very nice place to stay. Quiet. Serene. Peaceful. Glad we stopped in for the week. The staff, Vicky, Nina and others, made us feel very welcomed. We had a small issue with our site and they were very accommodating in helping to resolve it. Thank You! There are plenty of places to stay that are very nice, from just water and electric to full hook-up. They even have an equestrian area if you have a horse. The restroom/bathhouse are cleaned daily and well kept. Many campers used it for their morning shower! There is lot's to do, if you wish. You can hike, bike, fish, boat, rent kayaks or just walk around and enjoy the peaceful setting! Heads up.... The Verizon cell service is sparce. We bought the Via-Sat WIFI svc for a few days while here. It's a bit pricey so be prepared. It's has a decent download but a slow upload.

We stayed on a super cool double decker campsite in Loop A. This particular site wasn’t very level for a camper, but we made it work because we wanted this site! It would be super cool for several tent campers to use. We love the privacy of the suite style bathrooms! There is a creek that runs behind sites 1-22. We explored behind the single digit sites to check out the creek. Not sure how much water is in it during the summer, so it could be a mosquito trap!

We took a wonderful guided hike on a portion of the trail of tears. I hear the golf course is amazing, but we didn’t have time to check that out. The park offers several planned activities throughout the day. They also offer tennis courts and 2 different lakes to fish! Boat rentals are available, but we didn't look into any of that. They have wood for sale at the office.The Class AAA campground (loop B) was really nice. Loop C is a Horse Camp. The only draw back was that we had absolutely ZERO cell service (AT&T). Zero. Zilch. Nada. 

We really enjoyed our Fall Camping trip here and love the proximity to Memphis. It was only about an hour drive for us.

PROS 

Senior discount 

No fee assessed to make on-line reservations 

Quiet 

light view of lake from #57 

Site 57 has no site next to it or behind it 

Good distance between campsites 

Dark sky friendly except for sites near toilet/shower facilities where there is an actual street light 

Climate controlled toilet/shower facility in campground B 

Both campground B toilet/shower facilities very clean with ample supply of TP, soap and paper towels 

Wood picnic table (on concrete pad), pedestal BBQ grill, metal fire ring with cooking grate and metal lantern hook 

Wide roadway in campground B 

Small playground 

Access to lake swimming area from campground B 

Trash receptacles at toilet/shower facility 

Lots of deer


Smaller Walmart in Wynne AR 

Pops Grill in Wynne real good

CONS 

County burn ban in place upon arrival but no signage anywhere alerting of ban. We saw the Arkansas burn ban website and inquired upon checkin if it was enforced and park clerk affirmed ban but we saw many campers had a wood fire burning all the time. So without any signage we understand the confusion and noncompliance. Park should at least place burn ban signage at campground entrance. 

Site 57 unlevel side-to-side 

No cell service. 

No public phone in park. 

Parks signage states WiFi at park visitor center could be used to make phone calls. We found this not true with our T-MOBILE service as we purposely went to the visitor center to make a WIFI call. There is WIFI at visitors center but only one bar and too weak to transmit a call. So if there is an emergency after visitor center is closed and you need to make a call, good luck, as there is no public phone nor any camp hosts. We drove approximately 8 miles towards Wynne to get sufficient cell signal to make calls and connect with internet. 

Only free WiFi is at park visitor center. We purchased WiFi from park vendor Viasat $20 unlimited for 3 days for one device. Viasat delivered a good signal within 200 ft of toilet/shower facility so it was useless in our campsite#57. Don’t waste your money! Sewer connection at rear of site pad so bring the looooong stinky slinky! 

Pets not kept on leash 

No security gate closure overnight