Camping near Lake Dardanelle

Camped here on May 1, 2025. This is one of my favorite state parks in the USA. Lots to do here. Fantastic hiking trails - rated from easy to difficult. Since I live only 45 minutes from this park, I normally come here for the day for hiking. This time, I got around to trying out the park's campground. This popular campround is divided into 4 areas - A through D. There are a total of 125 campsites, including 26 pull-through sites. Thirty-five of the sites are Class AAA sites which have 50 amp electrical, water, and sewer hookups. There are 90 Class B sites offering 30 amp electrical and water hookups. All sites are reservable. Tent and hammock camping is possible depending on the sites. I camped at site 103 in Area D. The staff at the office helped me pick this site for my campervan. The site had water and 30amp service. The restroom/shower house was clean and well maintained. The campsite itself was dated but clean. The site was large and had trees around it offering a little bit of privacy. The pull-thru drieway was close to the campground road. The site included a picnic table, tent pad, lantern pole, metal fire ring, and grill. Solar charging and Starlink connectivity may not be possible at this site; Area C has an open sky above it. There was some road noise from vehicles driving on Petit Jean Mountain Road which is behind the site. Received good AT&T 5G cell service, but little to no T-Mobile 2G service.  Areas C and D are in the woods. Most of the sites in these areas are on the small size but should easily accomodate a truck camper and smaller. Not all sites are level. Areas A and B can accomodate large rigs and towables.

100% of Wildlife Management Areas in the state of Arkansas require a Hunting license or WMA camping permit purchased though Arkansas Game and Fish.

WMA Regulations are very easy to find on the AGFC website. Know the seasons and be courteous. There is pretty much at least one open hunting season from September each year through the following May.

There is only a handful of sites spread throughout the WMA and you can only camp in those designated by the game and fish. This isn’t the national forest, you can’t just pull off and camp anywhere you please.

Coordinates: 34.87057,-92.89844. Camped here on April 20, 2025. Located along Brown Creek Road (Forest Road 805), appoximately 1/2 mile west of the Brown Creek Cascade dispersed site and trail head (see separate listing). Large, level site with a dirt surface. Should easily accomadate 2 or 3 rigs and tents. Recommend campervan and smaller rigs. Due to the trees on the site, a truck camper will have a difficult time pulling all the way into the site (although it can park on the access driveway). Easy access from the forest road. The site is clearly visable from the forest road; no privacy, and dust may be an issue during the dry season. Only 6 vehicles passed by during my stay (which was on a Monday evening). There is a large, nicely constructed rock fire ring on the site; other than this, there are no amenities at the site. A small creek is down the hill behind the site; the creek is dry during the dry season. A beautiful wall of trees is across the creek. The site is shaded; solar charging and Starlink connectivity may be difficult. Hammock camping is possible. No T-Mobile cell service. No access to hiking trails at the site; trailheads for Brown Creek Cascade and the Ouachita National Recreation Trail are a short drive away. Loved this site. Peaceful at night. The only sounds came from the birds, the breeze and the creek. Note that due to recent severe Spring storms, portions of Brown Creek Road have some erosion. The rocky surface is moderately rough in places, although a 2WD passenger car can make it if driven carefully through the rough spots. No issues for high clearance 4x4 vehicles.

A downed tree blocks part of the view, but still has a beautiful panoramic view of the surrounding mountains. The disbursed sight is large, but only part of it is level enough to camp on in my opinion. Spy Rock overlook is down the road and the view is spectacular. There are also nearby waterfalls to hike to.. The road was well maintained upon our arrival, but the frequent off-road vehicle traffic of the four wheelers and side-by-side that go by constantly have combined with the recent rains to degrade it over the past couple of days. Even with the traffic, we did find some time to listen to the birds and sit in silence under the dark skies. T-Mobile has anywhere from one bar LTE to three bars of 5G extended to 2 bars 5G here. I was able to stream video on my phone before bedtime each night and use my phone to plan for the following day. There are too many trees to use Starlink so this was very helpful.