Best Glamping near Mabelvale, AR
Searching for the best camping near Mabelvale, AR? Enjoy the scenic camping, fun activities, and sights and sounds of Mabelvale. You're sure to find the perfect spot for your Arkansas camping adventure.
Searching for the best camping near Mabelvale, AR? Enjoy the scenic camping, fun activities, and sights and sounds of Mabelvale. You're sure to find the perfect spot for your Arkansas camping adventure.
"Super friendly staff,lots of trees, little store with ice cream. Nice game room with a pool table. Laundry room and a little workout room behind the store. Small fenced in playground and a huge pool."
"Extremely nice staff. Super clean facilities. We arrived late, found our spot and went to bed. Didn’t get to enjoy the area."
$15 - $25 / night
"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"
"Lake Catherine is a popular spot that’s on a first come first serve basis so arrive early. Most campsite have fire pits and grills. Nice space in between campsites."
$25 - $40 / night
"PROS
No reservation transaction fee
Senior discount
Quiet
Moveable metal picnic table on a concrete pad, pedestal BBQ grill, fire ring with cooking grate, and one hook lantern pole
Site 14 partially"
"We stayed in Loop C and I felt a little too secluded. The sites in C & D appeared to be a little smaller. I noticed several sites in B & C were uneven from roots pushing the asphalt up."
"There is a loop on a peninsula that are reserved for walking in your gear to a tent site. These sites have GREAT views of the lake."
"Camping in the state park of lake ouachita in a tent. never. been. better. was on site T04 for tents and basically sites t01-t11(maybe 12) are on a small peninsula with the lake on both sides. you can"
"The park is set on 400 acres with one mile bordering Lake Catherine and about eight or nine miles from downtown Hot Springs. "
"Gorgeous setting on pristine Lake Catherine close to historic Hot Springs. I was in lakefront site 123 for one night but would have liked to stay longer."
"Would like to revisit without our dogs to check out the theme park nearby next time!"
"Had a double bed and bunk bed. Heat /air and cable tv. They advertise WiFi but we didn’t get good reception even though our cabin was very near the office/pool/bathroom. Clean and well kept."
$13 / night
"$12 a night, full hookup potential AND you are walking distance to the mine!!! For $20 you can go spend the day diggin through dirt and finding crystals."
"I don’t think camping at this RV park is about the camping experience; it’s about the proximity to the crystal mines. It is a good campground for the price, but it is not anything fancy."
This state park sits on one of the prettiest and clearest lakes in the state of Arkansas. The area that I will be focusing on is the primitive tent sites. There is a loop on a peninsula that are reserved for walking in your gear to a tent site. These sites have GREAT views of the lake. A few of the sites even have access to the water for swimming, fishing, or putting in your kayak.
The sites are pretty close together and not very level. The more level sites are in the loop nearest the parking area. There are two shared water spigots. One near the parking area and one near the end of the peninsula. There is no electricity at these sites. The two best sites, in my opinion, are sites 7, 8, and 9. They have great access to the water and wonderful views of the lake. If you decide to camp here be warned that the sites are not very large. We typically bring a canopy for our outdoor kitchen, these sites are not large enough for a big canopy. Also, this lake tends to be very windy. There are trees around the sites, but the fire pits on sites 7-9 are very exposed. This poses are problem when trying to build a fire.
There are plenty of activities to do while visiting this SP. Some of the activities may still be suspended due to Covid 19. In July they have a boat tour that costs $10 per person. They take you out to "Bird Island" to see the purple martins. It's a neat tour. There are also plenty of hiking trails, swimming, fishing, and other typical state park activities. You can't go wrong with the views here, but there are some things to consider.
PROS
No reservation transaction fee
Senior discount
Quiet
Moveable metal picnic table on a concrete pad, pedestal BBQ grill, fire ring with cooking grate, and one hook lantern pole
Site 14 partially shady
Good condition asphalt parking pad with gravel and grass surrounding
Good view of lake from Site 14
Sites well spaced
Campground A toilet/shower building clean and sufficiently stocked. Heated but not air conditioned.
Site 14 more than long enough for trailer and tow vehicle
Dark sky friendly as there are no street lights in Campground A
Very nice 6ft wide asphalt bike trail from Campground B to Mather Lodge
(approximately 1.75 miles) CCC Hike and Bike Trail
New Visitor Center built 2021
Beautiful CCC built Mather Lodge
(restaurant added in 2012)
Grass throughout campground mowed
Firewood sold in the yards of residences along State Road 154
CONS
Site 14 extremely unlevel side to side
No privacy from other campsites
No entrance security gate to the park or any campgrounds as State Road 154 cuts thru the park
No park ranger drive thrus
Mather Lodge Restaurant OK. Don't expect much from the menu or service but it has a full bar
3 of our 4 day stay there was a religious group prophetlytizing at the Park Visitor Center WIFI only at Lodge and Visitors Center
NO TMOBILE service
Camping in the state park of lake ouachita in a tent. never. been. better. was on site T04 for tents and basically sites t01-t11(maybe 12) are on a small peninsula with the lake on both sides. you can go swimming in the lake right off the back of your campsite. they have charcoal grills at each site as well as a fire pit that has a grill over itnfor cooking things over the fire. there is a concrete pad with a picnic table as well as a separate pad on compacted dirt for your tent and then plenty of space in your campsite for other things. you can’t beat the views. the bathrooms are the cleanest an moat upsated Ive seen in a camp ground (and I’ve worked in one) and the showers are great. never felt afraid of wild animals roaming the sites while walking to the bathroom in the dark or anything. the staff in the office is friendly. they offer boat rentals for cheap as well as expeditions to partake in. theres also camper and rv sites and cabIns available, a marina to bring your boat, and fun activities for kids! theres a few different trails to hike around the campground. we went on a moderate 4 mile hike and walked to the trailhead from the campsIte. a great hike with awesome views of the lake and you dont have to drive to the trailhead! couldn’t recommend this place enough!
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
$12 a night, full hookup potential AND you are walking distance to the mine!!! For $20 you can go spend the day diggin through dirt and finding crystals. I don’t think everyone has the luck we had but we came after a rain and cleaned up. Hundred bucks in gems. Ok bathrooms and laundry... serves the purpose you’d expect from a $12 a night place. The REAL draw here is the mine and we had a blast! I do recommend. We took the spot up top the hill [upper left corner] and found crystals in our campsite around the fire pit :)))
Easy to find and was a nice community spot. Would like to revisit without our dogs to check out the theme park nearby next time!
This was our first time at Petit Jean and definitely won’t be the last! My 1st suggestion: RESERVE EARLY to get a spot in Loop A or Loop B. We stayed in Loop C and I felt a little too secluded. The sites in C & D appeared to be a little smaller. I noticed several sites in B & C were uneven from roots pushing the asphalt up. Beware! Loop A is full hookup while B-D have electricity & water only. We stayed on Site 64 in a pop up style camper. It was fairly level and there were a couple good places for tents. Everyone around us was tent camping. My main complaint was the bathroom. The showers are not very private other than a nasty mildewed shower curtain, but there is no where to dry off or dress that is private. The showers were nasty on the weekend that we went, but it was also a revolving door of a massive group of 30+ tent campers that was using the showers. They were a lot cleaner on Sunday thankfully. The park itself is absolutely breathtaking! We went to the Cedar Falls Overlook, Palisades Overlook and Stout Point Overlook. We also made the hike down to Cedar Falls. It was absolutely incredible, but you should be somewhat in decent shape for this hike as it was not easy! We also hiked Bear Cave. It was nice with lots of exploring around the cave. We ate dinner at Mather Lodge one night. I had the Catfish Platter and it was excellent. I’m already ready to plan another trip here during the summer so we can utilize the boat house and a few other amenities that are closed during the off season. Well worth a fall visit though!
Lake Catherine is a popular spot that’s on a first come first serve basis so arrive early. Most campsite have fire pits and grills. Nice space in between campsites.
This campground is also home to some very intelligent raccoons who have adapted to campers being around. Be smart, they are not scared!! If you leave your food out they will get it.
There is total shade over the swimming area after 2pm which makes for very enjoyable swimming.
Stayed 2 nights in a basic one room cabin. Had a double bed and bunk bed. Heat /air and cable tv. They advertise WiFi but we didn’t get good reception even though our cabin was very near the office/pool/bathroom. Clean and well kept. Porch swing, fire ring and water at the site. Friendly staff. Clean facilities. Pool is small. Dog play area and kids playground. Good location for exploring hot springs area.
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Mabelvale, AR is Little Rock North KOA with a 3.6-star rating from 21 reviews.
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