Best Tent Camping near Hot Springs National Park, AR

Tent Camping Reviews near Hot Springs National Park, AR

1024 Reviews of 34 Hot Springs National Park Campgrounds

• 

  Fred S.

  Legend

  Jun. 15, 2024

  Fourche Mountain Campground

  Free Overnight Stay in the Ouachita National Forest

  Stayed here on June 11, 2024. Small 5-site primitive campground. No water. No electric. Clean vault toilets with tp, and a trash barrel. Clean campground & campsites. Sites are small with reasonable separation, but no privacy. Sites have clean picnic tables, fire ring/grill. Some have lantern plies. Gravel drive. Sites nearly level. No tent pads, but tents can be set up. Sites may be able to accommodate a truck camper & smaller. Lots of highway noise from nearby Hwy 27, but not too bad overnight. There was logging activity elsewhere in the national forest, so log haulers were driving by during the day. Campground is located at eastbound turnoff onto Forest Road 83W - a well maintained gravel road. Pine & oak trees in the campground. Probably a beautiful view of distant mountains during the winter. This campground is good for an overnight stay when exploring the national forest or passing by on Highway 27. There is no recreation in this recreation area; no water access, no hiking trails. Good T-Mobile cell service. Despite some of the road noise from nearby Highway 27, I really liked this campground.

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• 

  Chloe T.

  Guide

  Jun. 25, 2024

  Hickory Nut Mountain

  Amazing camp site

  plenty of spots & a bathroom! Not too far from Hot Springs National Park!

• 

  Napunani

  Legend

  Jun. 26, 2022

  Lake Catherine State Park Campground

  Fabulous Water-Edge Campsite

  PROS 

  Senior discount 

  Reserved on-line 365 days prior to arriving 

  Site #68 allowed parking RV 12 feet from water edge which was fabulous 

  Totally level site 

  Asphalt campsite pad 

  Pea gravel and grass around asphalt 

  Good night sky viewing 

  Squirrels ate from our hand 

  Saw ranger patrolling campground frequently 

  Waste containers every other campsite 

  Metal picnic table on concrete slab 

  One hook lantern pole 

  Metal fire pit with cooking grate 

  Pedestal BBQ grill 

  Clean restroom/shower and adequate TP and hand soap. Women had 2 showers, 2 sinks, 3 toilets 

  Weekend campground nearly filled to capacity 

  4 bars Verizon LTE 

  Hike to waterfall a bit tricky, but worth the effort 

  Hot Springs National Park 15 miles from campground; nice to watch the crowds from Superior Bathouse Brewery 

  Free water from the springs next to the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center- must have your own containers to fill 

  Enjoyed Red Oak Fillin’ Station so much we dined there twice 

  Diamond Head 19th Hole Restaurant, open to the public and very close to park entrance 

  CONS 

  Damn Canadian geese crap everywhere 

  Fire pit was filled with oversized logs and once removed there was unburned charcoal and lots of ash 

  Unable to move picnic table 

  Site#68 no shade what so ever 

  No privacy from other sites 

  Lots of speed boat and jet ski noise, even after sunset 

  Morning train noise 

  Power plant lights and humming noise 

  No security gate closure overnight 

  No WIFI

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• T

  Thad O.

  Traveler

  Jul. 29, 2018

  Lake Catherine State Park Campground

  Small free for all tent sites

  Small open Campground with no specific sites (Tent Only Area). There is a small lot nearby to park then you must walk everything in. This can be anything from right next to your car to a few hundred feet away depending on where you want to set up. Picnic tables, fire rings and campground grills located throughout but again nothing is marketed as far as site numbers. The area allows for up to six camp permits per night. Could be good for smaller groups. It’s up away from the lake unlike the rest of the campgrounds in the park. There are restrooms nearby with flushing toilets and sinks. Also a playground is located close to the campsite. Overall it was clean but felt cramped among other campers and parking away from the tent made for multiple trips back and forth.

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• 

  Brian V.

  Ranger

  May. 5, 2017

  Lake Ouachita State Park Campground

  A Nice Hideaway

  We used this State Park as our base camp for visits to Hot Springs National Park and Garvan Woodland Gardens

  We stayed in the walk-in section of the park. It was not a far walk from the parking lot and easy to transport gear. There was also a bathroom with-in close walking distance.

  The campsites themselves had a tent pad, a table, and fire ring. There were two communal water spouts along the path that were shared by the 12 sites.

  The sites aren't too close to each other, which allows you to have some privacy.

  Each site can have a maximum of 8 people on each one.

  The walk-in sites are on a peninsula, which makes for great views, but the wind can be an issue.

  The Park itself also has a play ground, a marina, a beach, a spring, cabins, and geocaching.

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• 

  Fred S.

  Legend

  May. 31, 2024

  Spring Lake Recreation Area

  Beautiful Family Campground

  Camped here mid-week on May 28, 2024, just after Memorial Day weedend. The Spring Lake Receation Area is open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. The recreation area is gated between 10pm and 6am. It has a day use area, and a campground which is a long walk or short drive away from the day use area. The day use area has picnic tables, grills, beach and a central restroom/shower facility. Day use fee is $4. The small campgound is situated in the woods along Spring Lake across from the day use area. Camping fee is $15 ($7.50 for federal pass holders). Sounds from folks enjoying the day use area can be heard in the campground during the day, but it's very quiet during the night when the day use is closed. The campground has 13 sites. All of the sites can accomodate tent camping. Each site is unpaved and has a level tent pad, table, metal fire ring and lantern pole. Most of the sites are small with little privacy between sites. The sites are in the woods and have a view of the lake, with some actually on the lake shore. Our site, #8, has a short walking path to the shoreline - good for bank fishing. The campground has two single unit vault toilets which were reasonably clean. For showers and flush toilets, campers will have to use the central restroom/shower facilites in the day use area. The campgound has two water spigots, and trash reeceptacles. There is also a playground with swings and a group pavilion in the campground. There are no hookups at the campsites. I don't recommend this campground for RV camping; Cove Lake Recreation Area is a better choice. Because of the campsite sizes, levelness and ability to access, I believe sites 1, 5, 7 and 8 can accomodate van, RTT or SUV camping, and possibly small towables such as a pop-up or tear drop campers. In my opinion, all of the other sites are too small with tight access and not level enough for anything other than tent camping. Our site, #8, had a level pad which accomodated our camper van, plus a smaller seperate tent pad. The camp host was very friendly and provided good information. There is an iron ranger with payment envelopes at the campground entrance; cash and checks are accepted. There was no AT&T and T-Mobile reception, although cell reception may be possible at other locations around the lake. I came across three possible disperse camping spots around the lake (see separate listings). Overall, this is a beautiful campground. It was quiet and peaceful during the night. I would stay here again, especially in the Fall.

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• 

  Bailey W.

  Traveler

  May. 14, 2022

  Toad Suck

  A good little campground

  Toad Suck is a great campground- with some caveats. All of the sites are reservable and have concrete pads. This makes it impossible to stake down a tent but also provides a great level spot. There's no foragable wood at the sites, but there's a quick stop type gas station very nearby that sells it cheap and locally sourced. The bathrooms can be a trek from your site or right next door, depending on where you're staying, but theyre immaculately clean. They service them twice daily. It's right next to the lock and dam at Toad Suck on the Arkansas River so there's a constant roar of water and the sound of barges throughout the night and day. I don't mind it but keep that in mind if you don't like those sounds. The campsite is peaceful otherwise. Dogs are allowed! ABSOLUTELY NO ALCOHOL.

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• 

  Richard

  Ranger

  Apr. 12, 2021

  Lake Ouachita State Park Campground

  One of the best in Arkansas

  Definitely my favorite park in Arkansas so far. It’s a really big park at the lake with lots to do. I was there in the fall so I didn’t do any lake stuff but still had a great time tent camping. There’s a nice hiking trail to explore. Also, the bathrooms were the cleanest I’ve ever seen at a state park. All the tent sites have a gravel pad, grill, picnic table and fire ring. There are also walk in tent sites on the peninsula which are nice and quiet. If you get one at the end I’d say it’s probably 200 meters to the parking lot and bathrooms. I peeked into one of the cabins and they look really nice. They also have camper cabins that have heat/air but no bathroom. In all there are 93 RV/tent sites, 8 cabins and 4 camper cabins. The park is also near Hot Springs so there is lots to do.

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• C

  Cat R.

  Traveler

  Jul. 14, 2020

  Big Fir Primitive Camping

  Free and beautiful

  Pit toilets, no water. Only about 6 sites. Fire rings, picnic tables, lantern poles, and standing BBQS. Not many flat sights for tents, but doable. Road in is part gravel and some paved. Only 4 stars because people leave trash on the ground even though there are bins. Trees are plentiful and shady. Many paths down to the river/lake. Boat motor noise, but not too bad.