Best Cabin Camping near Johnson, AR

No pets in yurts. Yes to Cats ❣️. My cats travel campgrounds and usually are outdoors but here I kept them in cabin because they would not like it outdoors. Cabins had AC but smelled like dust polish. Gorgeous forest views in the shower house. HOT water when shower is on Cold setting. Cold at hot. Cool affordable camp store. Nice people. Too much cinnamon spray in all indoor areas but not cabins. 24 hour rec room w AC and a wall of movies and games and books and cozy couch. Hurricane machine and fresh yummy donuts are not to be missed. My son is Big and found the camp cabin too crowded small and didn't like the leather beds even with our bedding on them. I found it cozy except the polish but couldn't open it up because we wanted the cats indoors here. Great porch swing, nice condition. Microwave and fridge. Friendly staff.

Follow route alerts by taking AR170 at West Fork from Interstate 49! 

Do not go to Visitor Center to check in while towing. Go to campsite, unhitch, and then go to Visitor Center. 

Fayetteville for Walmart, Target and other box stores + Braun's Ice Cream

Jakes in West Fork Harps grocery store & fuel 

PROS 

Senior discount 

No fee to make my own on-line reservation

Dark sky friendly 

Quiet during weekday stay

Campground E has lots of trees 

Campsite asphalt parking pad level 

Metal picnic table (on concrete pad), pedestal BBQ grill, metal fire ring with cooking grate that consumed half of the ring and metal lantern hook 

Good space between most campsites 

Campground E trash bin at every other campsite 

Clean toilet/shower facility 

Ample TP, hand soap and an electric hand dryer in toilet facility Campground E

Climate controlled toilet/shower facility. Felt great on a 38 degree morning! 

Park ranger drive thru campground during daylight hours 

Good signage throughout park concerning burn ban 

Good assistant park superintendent presentation at the park amphitheater regarding the CCC constructing DDSP 

Nice hiking trails 

Squirrels will eat from your hand
 in Campground E

CONS 

No cell service. Pay phone at campground toilet/shower facility 

Only free WiFi is at camp store by the pool. We purchased WiFi from park vendor Viasat $20 unlimited for 3 days for one device 

Cannot see or hear creek from site 89 

Sewer connection at rear of site pad 

No privacy from any other campsite in Campground E 

Cannot move site picnic table 

No camp host

I don’t normally leave reviews, but my experience at the facility needs to be shared.

I called the number provided and was able to find out info on cabin rentals .  I asked what I would need to bring and a young girl explained just cooking pot and pans.  I asked about a fire pit  since I wanted to have a fire for hot dogs and marshmallows.   Yes there are large pits  was the answer.    Thank goodness I camp on the regular, I’ll explain soon.   She did warn me there are chickens near the cabin I wanted.  Well good, I thought, I wouldn’t miss my  own flock so bad.

Upon arrival, before noon, the office was closed.  I walked back to my truck to get the phone number and saw a truck with a camp logo on it driving by, leaving….   Same young girl answers and says she is heading back to check me in.  I get the key and drive over , get parked, and see the chicken coop, it’s pretty close to the cabin.   The next thing I see is a big fire pit; full of trash!  Flies everywhere!  Well that can be cleaned up, right?   There was chicken poo all over the steps and deck.  That can be cleaned up , right?  So I opened the door, flies and a dank smell hit me hard.  . Nice.    It appeared that the inside had not been cleaned either, sticky stuff on the stove, sink and fridge.  The shower was a joke. There were extension cords running through a sliding window which left a half inch gap just open to the outside…. I plugged that with paper towels I had brought.  There was a king size bed , but the pillows and sheets were stained.   I found dead flies in the fridge as well.          Before I brought anything in, I wiped down all of the surfaces. I spread my sleeping bag out on top of the provided bedding and covered up with a couple of blankets.   I always bring towels as well, I’m glad I did, those are not provided either.    I had also brought T - paper as a precaution,  so glad I did…..       

 I really just wanted to make the best of this and I know it’s hard to keep these river cabins clean so I decided to tough it out.  The next morning, I paid for my float and asked if I could have bags to clean out the fire pit… but then asked if THEY could clean it while I floated, the young girl handed me three trash bags and said “some one was supposed to get that”. I laid the trash bags on a log near the pit so they could be used.     

My float went well and was great fun.  Upon my return to the cabin, the fire pit trash had been burned and a plastic bag was still smoldering!  There were still tin cans and other debris in there, and it stunk!   So , I could not / would not use it for cooking or just lounging around!  Later, I was hungry and decided to use the oven.  When I opened it, there was a skillet with old moldy food in it!   It smelled horrible and I gagged!   I took a pic of the offending skillet and showed it to the other office worker; a lady and her little girl.

She said that she usually is the one that cleans , but she didn’t do this cabin this time.  

She closed the office, called the owner, and removed the offending skillet.  She stated there would be something done….  There was never an offer of compensation of any kind.   My recommendation is don’t stay in the cabins.

The campground as a whole was just worn down and trashy.  The staff were nice but didn’t really seem to want to be there.

called on June 27th to reserve a cabin for 6, Saturday the 2nd- 4th, At first was told they had no cabins available about 15 min after I made the call John the owner calls me back to tell me they had a cabin that was a 2 room available for theses dates and it was 100 per night and would sleep 6. I said we would like to reserve it. After hanging up called to inform my husband that we got a cabin then remember that I forgot to see if dogs were allowed, so I had to call back to make sure cause I can’t leave my fur babies. When I called it was a young girl that answered and said yes dogs were allowed and proceeded to talk about her 2 little puppies that were in the office with her. When packing and getting everything we needed together on Friday the day before we left we called to make sure the cabin had bedding and towels etc.. the young girl said yes. We get to sparrow resort on Saturday afternoon 2 young girls checked us in gave me a key pointed us in the direction of the cabin we pulled up to a cabin unloading all our stuff and unpacked was at this 2 bedroom cabin for approximately 2hours when John the owner came to this cabin told us we was at the wrong cabin I told them the key unlocked it. They said this was not cabin 2 and the people that reserved it would be up later so we gathered our things and moved to the cabin they said was ours that was next door. OH MY WAS WE LET DOWN. Mind you we have 2adult children myself and husband and 2 teenagers and 4 dogs they put us in a concrete prison that had missing curtains holes around the air conditioning window unit It was dirty holes in the walls. One king size bed a chair and a futon couch one room box. Bedding on bed only with a dirty comforter. For$100 a night not including the float trip. We were let down but determined to make the best of this we went to the store and bought bedding and towels and cleaning wipes. The next morning get up and noticed no one was in the 1st cabin still. So my daughter and I go to the office to get out float paid for and ask if we could get the bigger cabin since no one was in it told them I would pay more for it the little brown haired girl said yes then the other girl with a nose piercing said no it was booked and we should have had to pay a pet deposit of 15 a dog and we needed to pay this fee and was nasty with me. I said I wanted to by one raft and 2 tube rentals she keep saying and 60 pet deposit the brown haired girl rung up the float while the nasty teenager kept repeating and pet deposit the other girl stated stop worrying about the deposit and she kept saying it! The sign read tube float for 4 hours was only$20 and the raft was 25 per person for 4hours she charged us 30 x 6 people to float the 4 mile I said the 20 tube for 4 hours she nasty teen says that for just playing in the water😡 really the sign clearly says 4hour float only$20 and 25 for rafting over 4 people. I ask again about the other cabin the nasty girl said Chelsea and her 2 daughters were staying in it. Really because Chelsea and John the owner were the ones that came to the cabin the day before and Chelsea said she was the cleaning lady and John was the owner. Always we paid our pet deposit and float trip and tried to make the best of this regardless i a grown woman not to be argumentative with a child. This morning comes and we can’t wait to leave we cleaned the crap out of our concrete box prison and went to to office to return our key and get my 60 dollar pet deposit back and the nasty little teen was by herself while we started recording the whole encounter since day prior I ask for my pet deposit she said it don’t work like that I said excuse me you say deposit that means I get my deposit back if no damage was done. John came in and said what do we want he said you want your deposit here thank for staying and goodbye🤯wow what service. The best part the large cabin stayed vacant the entire time. The teenager that was running John’s business will be his downfall she don’t know how to treat people VERY DISRESPECTFUL!!!  Will never be back!!

Lots of river-side campsites, choice between wooded or open areas, pit latrines or flushies, and standard or electric sites. There are groop camping and cabins. Heated bathroom is available. On-site showers and laundry, RV Dump stations, and a store that offers fishing and camping gear, souveniers and a small selection of food. During the summer, swimming pool is open. Roaring River State Park is home to a Trout hatchery and the river is stocked each evening with trout for fishing the next morning. Sites have fire pits and picnic tables. Handicapped campers will find an accessible site with a large, flat concrete pad, accessible restrooms, and an accessible fishing area.

This state park is challenging to locate, especially at night. Familiarize yourself with the directions and try to arrive before dark.

There are many campsites available in many different areas of the park. Most of the sites are very private, have nearby facilities with showers, fire pits, tables, and trash bins. The sites all have access to trails and are close to water activities. The trails that are available are challenging, offer spectacular views and some history. There is back country hiking available, the park prefers that you register for a permit 24 hours in advance to accessing the back country trails. Some trails available are appropriate for mountain biking, however depending on the popularity of the trail is the level of maintenance that the trail receives. This state park is excellent for families because there are plenty of activities available that interest young kids.

General: Located in the Boston Mountains of northwest Arkansas, you can enjoy time off the grid (we had limited cell service when we were at the summit of the Yellow Rock Trail but none in the campground). Limited rainfall resulted in less dramatic (or non-existent) waterfalls that are otherwise boasted of during other times of the year but the scenery was still beautiful, especially in the fall. 

Sites/Facilities: Many different camping options (some loops have full hookups while others do not have hookups and there is a dump station near Loop E), a hike-in campground, a group campground, and an equestrian campground. There are also 17 rustic cabins (1-3 bedrooms with kitchens and a/c and heating plus nearby bathrooms). We camped in Loop E and there was reasonable separation between the sites. The pads were paved. Each site had a metal picnic table, lantern hook, and fire grate. Many of the sites provided shade from the many trees. 

Bathhouse: Like some other Arkansas state parks, there are two bathhouses in some loops, and they were open on alternating days so that the other one may be cleaned and sanitized (Covid related policy). While the open one in Loop E was clean, the several soap dispensers were empty which does not make sense to me when hand washing is recommended. You also need to bring your own towel, which I have been doing regardless. There are showers but I did not use them so I cannot comment on how good they are. 

Activities/Amenities: Hiking! I highly recommend the Yellow Rock Trail and the Devils Den Trail plus there are several others. During the summer, you can rent paddle boats and canoes. There are several areas with picnic tables throughout the park. There is also a swimming pool, although I did not see it when we were there in October(it would only be open in the summer). Firewood is available for sale.

The campground is very convenient, off the Passion Play Road in Eureka Springs. We got a deluxe camping spot with its own deck, picnic table and smokeless fire pit. We were careful to get there by check-in time, as you are required to pull to the side of the entrance & hook up there until morning if you arrive late. Seeing some of these campsites, we can understand that policy, as many of them, including ours, has a steep drop off at the back of the parking area and it is really dark after sunset! The hosts were very nice, they have a great laundry/shower house. Hookups worked well, had good WiFi so we could watch our streaming tv at night. Will definitely come back to this park!