Best Glamping near Jonesboro, AR

I must make a comment regarding two other reviews. A lake is generally deeper than a pond. You weigh the depth and surface to judge if a body of water is one or the other. In Arkansas you will find a pond on a ranch or a farm. Now in some areas of the United States there are lakes that cover masses of acres and I had to laugh at the fact that Lake Charles was being called a pond. In the south we consider Lake Charles a lake even if it is only 645 acres.  Please don't take offense, I meant none, we just look at things a bit different, we are also very proud of Arkansas and the fact that it is considered "The Natural State."

Folks if you travel to very many state parks or Corp of Engineer COE parks in Arkansas you will encounter another southern foible.  Narrow roads.  Most of Arkansas is rural and you will find that most roads are older, narrow and farm equipment or ranching equipment uses the roads.  That also leads toward the "charm" of Arkansas.  If you stay in the larger towns you will manage to get by fairly well but venture towards the campgrounds and we hope you enjoy the state.  Take your time.

Lake Charles State Park is 1/2 more or less hour from Jonesboro on a quiet country road.  It has a 645 acre lake with bass, crappie, bream and catfish.  This park operates year round.  From March to October to will be able to purchase bait and tackle at the Visitor Center.  There are Class AAA sites to tent sites with many on the lake.  There are yurts available.  From November to February a 3-D Archery range is open.  You will find 4 hiking trails and there are several programs offered by the rangers.  Check on the programs offered through the Arkansas State Parks, find the park you want, and plan your stay.  It will be a learning experience for young and old.  So map out everything you want to do and learn.

Fish, kayak, hike, ranger talks, camping, picnicking, what more can you ask for.  Lake Charles was established in 1963 and was dedicated on May 28, 1967.

Picnic tables, grills, lantern hooks and paved pads are at each campsite.  Restrooms and bathhouses are modern and "air conditioned" which come in handy when you are dealing with Arkansas heat and humidity.  There is a dump stationed and trash area shortly after coming into the park.  All sites may be reserved.  Beautiful shades trees, level sites with some a bit tight.  No waterskiing or tubing is allowed.

Four walking trails with the Cedar Trail being paved.  The Butterflies and Blooms Trail is a short gravel trail and the Native Plant Trail uses plants that will attract butterflies and local wildlife.

Swimming area is free of charge and is located in a day use area.  You will not find life guards so please watch over all.  Alcohol, glass bottles and pets are not allowed.  You will find a gently sloping sandy beach.  

A short distance away from the park is Davidsonville Historic State Park and Powhatan Courthouse State Park.  There is plenty to keep you busy and we hope you enjoy a laid back southern vacation.

Word of warning.  Even a native Arkansan quakes when it come summer time and the dreaded flies and mosquitoes come out to play.  Research, find all kinds of options for keeping them at bay, screens on your doors, campfire smoke, anything just don't let them stop you from enjoying.

Have Fun - Stay Safe   Leave No Trace Better Than You Found It

Lake Frierson State Park is a nice stop off on the way to Jonesboro Arkansas.

Nice trails, water recreation and quiet. The campground is small. 7 sites near one of the boat ramps. Your on the road next to the public access so not much privacy at all! There is also a primitive camping area. I guess one plus is it’s not very crowded and if you have enough relatives you can book the whole site for yourself.

Great facilities. First time at an Arkansas state park and impressed.

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 was a pretty, uncrowded state park in Arkansas. Nice small pond with a good walking trail around it.  The park was hard to get to, narrow/windy roads. I enjoyed my stay there and its great if its on your way from point A to point B.

Like Charles is definitely a fishing destinations but offers many other activities of camping. There are trails for hiking or bike riding all three campground areas have access to the lake for fishing or bring your own boat and explore the lake. The bath houses have just been renovated and the facility is maintained very well. He there is a playground and swimming area, I boat ramp, haste door in the office, and the staff are very friendly and helpful . It’s in Arkansas so don’t forget your mosquito spray after dark.

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.

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

Kayaking and fishing was great! Beautiful place to stay!

This is a great fishing hole with a small campground! The sites are nice and have great views of the lake. For those of you with RV’s beware that there is no sewer dump station here. You have to drive to Crowleys Ridge State Park to use their dump station. (10 minute drive).

The drawback for me is that this campground only has vault toilets and no showers.

The campground was empty when we visited and the office was closed, so we didn’t get to go inside and learn more about the area.

Pulled in after hours and they had left our space number written on the door of the office. No issues at all at the park. The dump station was easy to use. The park has nice trails along the campsites. Our spot was #30 and was pretty level, paved, and was equipped with a picnic table and a fire pit.

Great fishing, swimming, grilling, and playgrounds! Also enjoyed kayaking around on the lake!

This is a pretty park with a man-made pond and surrounded by pretty natural setting. The roads into this area are narrow, winding and have no shoulder. Not the best for an old Class A, but worth the trip.

We were generally disappointed by the Rangers. The showers in two of the three site loops were closed because they did not have enough staff even though the campground was completely full. The Ranger said the Nature Center was also closed, but they plan on tearing it down anyway. The swim area and the kayak and canoe rentals were closed (again because they did not have enough staff sitting around doing nothing).

It hopefully will be a great park to visit in 2021.

this is a nice park, with clean restrooms/bath houses. sites are a comfortable distance apart with good hookups, asphalt or concrete parking pads and patios for solid picnic tables as well as well drained gravel under the hookups, pole for lantern or trash, fire pit with grate, and barbecue. The lake is lovely, turning leaves and night sky astounding. the reasons this wasn’t a 5-star review are 1) WAY TOO MANY bees and house flies. Maybe that’s a time of year issue as some of the trees dropped rotting fruit.Flies were not the biting kind, just annoying and bees were, well, bees. i’m Happy to see a healthy army of bees but my dogs were not. 2) The wifi strength was awesome during the day and pitiful after dark. Wifi reception best near the bath houses.

We go here every year and run trout lines and limb lines and fish we always have a great time and in the past few years they have really cleaned up the camp and the water I love it

We loved this little campground. Some sites have water, 50 amp electricity and sewer hook up while the others have 30 camp electricity and water. The sites next to the lake seem to have the best views, but they’re all nice. We stayed during spring break 2023 and the campground was about 3/4 full. The bathhouses were clean and the staff was super friendly. Park rangers drove around the campground a lot and made it very safe.

We stayed here over Veteran's Day weekend and had a pretty good time. We camped in site 54 which the website listed as a 45ft pad, but it was pretty difficult getting our 32ft camper in there. Only complaints would be- it was a small campsite, not alot of room around the firepit, and the only trash dumpster were at the dump station. Besides that, it was a nice park with a swimming area, playground, and walking trails.

Clean area. Good spot for fishing. It is a dry county have to drive 30 or so minutes to get to a decent store for food. Keep that in mind if you stay here, make sure to be prepared or you will be hungry.

This place is awesome everyone and the camp site was nice and keep to them selfs there wasnt people run all around and didnt have to worry about someone getting into our stuff and the was plent of spot to fish off the bank had a great weeke d and will diffently be back

Cons: located near a very tiny town, so bring everything you need with you because a quick trip to the store will take you at least 30 min. Also, the biting flies + mosquitos were ROUGH in the morning. You’ll need your bug spray. Not all of the sites are level, so consider that if you’re in an RV.

Pros: really lovely lake with a great area for swimming. We had kind neighbors and felt very safe. The visitor center (where you need to check in) was really friendly and helpful! (Note: the nice swimming area and the campground are quite a ways away).

It was a good experience

We have been there twice and will be going back there this spring. Nice camping areas and the fishing was good. Also has a nice swimming area. It also has a hiking trail that is paved.

Well maintained state park with a swimming beach, walking/biking trails, playgrounds.  We used this as a stopping point for a longer journey and enjoyed the warm water in the showers and the lake views.  Mosquitoes were a bit of a nuisance in the evening, but that is to be expected for the area.

Camped here during Thanksgiving 2023. Camped in our campervan in Loop A of the camnpground. Backed into site 35; not quite level, but okay. It looks like the sites inside of the loop are more level. The park is in a wooded area, although no privacy between sites. Sites were clean and very well maintained. Table, fire ring & grill included. Water & 30amp electric hookups. Restroom/showers very clean. The park and lake are beautiful. Enjoyed fishing at the fishing pier which was a short walk on a paved path from the campsite.

We stayed here 2 nights on a week-end. Every site was occupied. There was water, electric and sewer hookups in Area C only. Areas A and B had electric and water. All areas are shady and relaxing. Some of the waterfront sites in C area need more shade. We stayed in site 78 which was water view but not waterfront. The only complaints I had was the flies and people walking through our site to go to the lake to fish. I guess it was the only way for them to get to the lake so it's not that big of a deal. We enjoyed ourselves very much! Our site was in the shade the entire day. The ONLY place to dump trash is like a city block away. They do need more trash cans available to the campers. We did not catch any fish and did not see anyone else catch any either. We only saw a ranger ride through once the entire weekend. It was very quite and everyone was very nice.

Lake Charles State Park outside Pocahontas, Ar. is not a well loved Park. The lake is and areas are not taken care of by staff or visitors. To bad , it could be a nice place if someone took the time to care for it.