For those who want to experience Ouachita Lake, but still want the creature comforts of home, consider glamping for your trip. Glamping is not only a fun alternative to traditional tent camping, but also allows you to pack more or less gear as you see fit. You're sure to find glamping for your Ouachita Lake camping adventure.
This peaceful park makes great camping near Little Rock and is located on Lake Catherine, one of five lakes in the beautiful Ouachita Mountain region. The only full-service marina on the lake is here at the park and open in the summertime for bait, snacks/drinks, and fuel. Boat rentals are available year-round. The park also includes a launch ramp, pavilion, picnic sites, playgrounds, and a well-marked trail that leads to a waterfall.
The park has 20 fully equipped cabins, including one two-bedroom cabin with a patio overlooking the water and private access to the lake from its own fishing pier. There are also many native stone and wood buildings on-site. The history of these structures dates back to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. The park offers 70 campsites (47 Class AAA and 23 Class B), six primitive tent sites, one Rent-A-Camp, and one Rent-A-Yurt. Many of these sites are on the lakeshore. Park interpreters offer hikes, lake tours, and programs year-round. Guided horseback rides are offered seasonally.
$15 - $25 / night
This recreation area is part of Ouachita Lake
The campgrounds feature a total of 125 campsites (including 26 pull-through sites). Thirty-five of the sites—the Class AAA sites—have 30 and 50 amp electrical, water, and sewer hookups. The 90 Class B sites offer 30 amp electrical and water hookups. All sites are reservable. Campsites are divided into four campground areas. Each includes a modern bathhouse with hot showers and flush toilets. Area "A" is near Lake Bailey and include sites along the lakeshore. Areas "B," "C," and "D" are located on the south side of Ark. 154 in wooded settings.
Other campsite choices in the main camping area include a 44-unit Rally-style Area with 20 amp electrical service available for camping clubs.
A trailer dump station is centrally located near the Rally-style camping area.
Petit Jean is Arkansas's only state park with its own airport.
$25 - $40 / night
This recreation area is part of Degray Lake
Whether your perfect vacation is action-packed or laid back, you’ll find everything you need at Catherine’s Landing. Conveniently situated on 400 pastoral acres with a mile of frontage on beautiful Lake Catherine just outside historic downtown Hot Springs. Catherine’s Landing offers an ideal natural environment mixed with a range of accommodations and on-site activities that appeal to every form of traveler. Choose from RV sites with modern concrete pads, fully-furnished resort cottages, yurts for a true "Glamping" experience, or raised and bordered tent sites. Add exceptional on-site amenities, a convenient concierge at your service, a beautiful lake right outside your door, Wi-Fi and cable, and you have everything you need for your next getaway.
Brady Mountain Day-Use Area delights visitors with its family-friendly facility, fabulous views and idyllic placement on Arkansas's Lake Ouachita. The lake attracts visitors who come for the crystal clear waters and bountiful fishing opportunities.____ Click here for the Lake Ouachita Virtual Tour.
A unique way to explore the lake is to follow the Geo-Float Trail, coined as the first water-based interpretive trail included in the National Trails System. The self-guided boat tour leads visitors on a 16-mile trip to see incredible geologic features as it stretches from the Spillway Recreation Area to Brady Mountain Recreation Area.______ Hikers enjoy the scenic land-based nature trail accessible from the campground. Boating, fishing and scuba diving among the remains of the flooded mountain valley are also popular here.
The Day-Use Pavilion has electrical hook-ups, picnic tables, and lighting. Other amenities include a bathroom facility, a swim beach, and a boat ramp.
Lake Ouachita sits in the heart of the Ouachita Mountains, just 10 miles west of Hot Springs National Park.______ The lake stems from the Ouachita River and boasts 692 miles of shoreline with 178 islands.
This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (501) 767-2101.
Head to Hot Springs National Park and enjoy a traditional bath or modern spa experience with the natural spring water.
$50 / night
Located just below Blakely Mountain Dam along the shoreline Lake Hamilton is Stephens Park. This small quiet campground has great shoreline fishing access in the Stephens Park and Avery Day-use Area. There is also boat ramp access nearby for Lake Ouachita by using the Spillway Ramp and access to Lake Hamilton using the Avery Ramp. In the area is Wood Duck Slough trail and the east end of the LOViT (Lake Ouachita Vista Trail). The LOViT is a 44 mile long trail system that meanders along the south end of Lake Ouachita. Click here for the Lake Ouachita Virtual Tour.
Water skiers, jet skiers and anglers can all enjoy the crystal clear waters of the lake, while hikers enjoy the campground's location on the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (LOViT), which meanders across the south end of the lake. Wildlife enthusiasts can find everything from bobcats to black bears and deer in the forested mountains surrounding the lake, and Bald eagles are often spotted in winter.
Lake Ouachita is nestled in the Ouachita Mountains just 10 miles west of Hot Springs National Park. The pool is fed by the cool waters of the Ouachita River and extends about 30 miles over 40,000 surface acres.
Head to Hot Springs National Park and discover how it earned the nickname, "The American Spa." Or take a scenic drive through the 1.8 million-acres of Ouachita National Forest.
This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (501) 767-2101.
$50 / night
This recreation area is part of Greeson Lake
Crystal Ridge RV Park has 24 campsites with utilities, multiple primitive campsites and one tiny cabin rental (a second tiny cabin is being prepared). Our bath house and laundry were completely remodeled in 2021. Electric was upgraded to 30/50 amp for every campsite in 2022. Quiet hours are observed from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am every day. Please note: We love pets, however; we strictly enforce pets being leashed, under owner control at all times and picking up your pet's waste. One warning is given. Eviction will result if your pet is loose again. We ask your cooperation in educating your children about this rule so they are diligent about confining/leashing the pet prior to opening the door to your recreational vehicle.
Motor Home, Travel Trailer, Truck With Camper Top, Converted Van and Tent campsites are available for nightly rental. We do not offer permanent/residential rental. We are also known as Coleman RV Park and Ron Coleman Mine Campground
Family activities are just a short walk away, yet, conveniently located on Ron Coleman Crystal Mine property. Dig your own quartz crystals in our 4 acre digging area, zip line 1/4 mile over our commercial mine, take a crystal mine tour and browse quartz crystal points and clusters hand dug at our quartz mine, globally sourced minerals and gifts in the expansive Ron Coleman Gift Shop and on our back porch
$13 / night
Traveler
The experience begins with the climb: the road winds up and around the bends and crooks of the mountain. The entrance and welcome center is grand and very accepting of anything from small vehicles to large diesel pushers. The camping spaces are large and accommodating, most are level and can fit almost anything you travel in. The amenities were clean and - while dated - all in good working conditions. The various trails are well marked and offer several levels of technical expertise. At the top you can camp or stay at The Lodge - which offers a myriad of services from food to catered events.
But the views ARE the reason to experience this park! They are simply delicious!
Scout
I really love this place because it’s so peaceful. This is why I like places with forests and lakes. I work in cities, block blast always so noisy there…
Guide
Lots of Space, Shade, and access to mountain bike trails and downtown hot springs
Ranger
This state park is one of the hardest to book a camping site for a last-minute camping trip. After we finally secure our spot, it’s easy to see why it’s so hard to secure at a moment's notice.
Please be sure to visit the Petite Jean Coffeehouse which is located before the entrance to the park.
Legend
They have a lot of campgrounds but most are very close. Not a bad thing for those social butterflies but a little tighter than I like. Their bathrooms and showers are really nice. Clean and spacious.
It's definitely worth a visit but make sure to book well in advance. They sell out quick.
GuideWe had a great weekend at Petit Jean. The hiking was great and the campsite is beyond beautiful. There is also a nice coffee shop that is conveniently close to the campsites.
LegendWhat a beautiful park, although it’s really spread out and you’ll need you an e-bike or bike to ride around. Lots of bouldering, hiking, overlooks, and tall pine trees! There’s something for everyone. I would recommend loop a for the best views and most spaced out spots. Very friendly hosts, clean bathrooms, visitors center is new and outstanding.
LegendI never start a review like this, but this park had the cleanest bath house/restrooms I've ever experienced! 2 stalls in the shower in this loop and they each had a clean shower curtain, a bench, hooks to hang stuff. Immaculate. Better than some hotels!
Stayed in site 104 in the loop by the boat ramp. Nice shade and long parking pad. Sense of privacy. The sites that back to the cove had terraced areas, so if stairs aren't good for you then skip, but the arrangement made for a large area to spread out relax. This site had an additional parking pad next to it that was right next to the tent pad. Handy for ent campers to unload or boaters for boat, plus there were extra parking spots in the cul-de-sac leading down to the boat ramp.
The lake is sometimes smooth as glass. Kayaks for rent and this is a must do. Visitor center was being remodeled at the time of visit. 2 short hiking trails. Great state park!
Guide
Nice quiet campground with a nice lake, vault toilets, no electricity or water Wildlife in the area. We were able to listen to a Barred Owl before going to sleep, mature pine trees giving a lot of shade
ScoutThe trail was okay, but showing signs that it wasn't being maintained properly anymore. From litter found all along the trail to parts of the trail not being maintained. Even some of the stones placed to make walkways are coming out of place.
But inside was worse...
The old white lady working the giftshop was absolutely horrible. While we were still shopping, this woman embarrassed us asking loudly çare yall planning to pay for that, while we were looking at the stuffed animals, and making us look like shoplifters. I absolutely recommend against spending a single dollar at that store, and I've previously spent decent amount of money there, but no more. I recommend avoiding the main building entirely, and that will me my recommendation until they fix this problem
Guide
The tent site was perfect! With fire pit, power, and water. The bathrooms and showers were nice and clean.
GuideVery beautiful place to stay!! Our site on the lake was very beautiful and every site on the water has a small dock you can fish off. Bugs were not bad at all. Would recommend this place to anyone.
TravelerThis is a fantastic spot with tons of amenities (including a great pool) & many activities. Also, guests and campers were extremely nice! Clean and a well planned resort! Stay if you have a chance.
Legend
We had an overnight here after visiting the hot springs national park. The euro delights food truck was a tasty treat. Loved that the pool was open until 10pm just wish the store was open past 5. Great sites. Full hook ups. Paved roads perfect for scootering.
Traveler
I keep coming back here to dig for diamonds. There are cheaper campgrounds in the area, but the State Park grounds are top notch. Very level camper pads, stable power and water and everything is well maintained. There are multiple bath “houses” — single shower room style privacy, not a large room with curtains. A playground in the sites for kids to play on also.
The only downsides that come to mind are the iffy WiFi (the reservation system is pretty accurate on which sites have “good” WiFi and which do not) that is decent for casual web browsing but not likely to be streaming possible. And then a mixed pro/com is that satellite connections (direct or Starlink) is going to be rough due to the wooded aspect of the sites — although the trees do help keep the camper cooler. 🤷🏻♂️
TravelerNice place to camp. Just no signal. Also a little expensive for me but others may not think so!
GuideFantastic smaller campground minutes from Mount Magazine. It seems to be overshadowed by much larger, better known places like Devils Den, so it's fairly quiet even when it's 'busy.' We also learned that it has new management as of this year (2024), a young family that's extremely hands-on.
We stayed as a group (three families with 7 kiddos total, ranging from 6-15), across two adjacent sites: 1 & 3. You could see the lake from our sites, but they don't sit right over the lake like some do. With so many kids in our group, we actually wanted that. Sites are extremely spacious and well spaced from each other, and would feel even more private later in the season when the trees are full. Bathrooms are simple pit toilets, but clean and well-maintained.
Boat rentals right onsite, concessions, even a small beach area! We will 100% be back. No cell service whatsoever with Verizon.
ScoutBeautiful RV Camp . Checks all the boxes . Serious Problem is Very Poor WiFi .
GuideThere is not a lot to do, and it is pretty far from the city. However, there are big RV sites and amazing sunsets. There is also a lake nearby.
Dog friendly.
There are lots of nature trails, but none very long.
Lots of ticks, tricky to get good starlink connection.
Traveler
The campground is on the small side, but with a nice shower area and coin laundry. The paved areas (including the Rv pads) are a bit rough, but ok. Leveling pads were needed for our site . Lots of crystals just laying around also. Something out of the control of the campground, but the Oakworms were crazy. That’s not rain you hear falling from the trees! lol Stay under the awning.
TravelerThis is a quiet campground with plenty of shaded and nearly perfectly level pull ins. Power is consistent. Water pressure fluctuates from good to high — regulator necessary. Wifi is spotty, but the reservation center is pretty accurate on strength of WiFi at various sites. The site we are in right now, WiFi is sketchy.
In cool weather, a walk to the diamond field would be fine. In hot weather, no way.
Scout
Great place alone or with kids. I keep coming back
GuideBeautiful campground. Site was not level front to back but plenty of space. Even ate at the restaurant which was nice.
GuideThis was on my wifes bucket list, didnt find any diamonds, got dirty but had fun and got dirty. Sites and bath house were nice , full hook ups
GuideThis camp is ideally located in the Crater of Diamonds State Park with easy access to the Visitors Center by foot or car. The campsites are well maintained and adequately situated to afford some privacy. There are 6 individual bathrooms with toilet, sink and shower, in the bathouse nearest to us that are modern and clean. The shower was "almost" hot.
The only negative is that the adjacent site's fire ring is too close to our back window and the smoke from a fire could enter our window.
This is our second stay at this park and we would definitely return.
TravelerWe stayed in Daisy for the Eclipse weekend and expected this place to be crawling with people, so we were so happy to see it was still amazingly clean and quiet. We stayed in walk-in site #67, which was at the very end of the paved path from the parking lot. The site had a very level and massive gravel tent pad, as well as firepit, picnic table and lantern post. The hill in/out is quite steep, but the pavement makes it easy to haul with wagon, and I've rarely seen multiple water spigots in a walk-in area like that. Our neighbors were a little closer than we're used to for walk-ins, but we had glorious views of the lake and very little traffic walking past our site, which is a blessing when you have two somewhat barky dogs. The camp store sold firewood, ice and souvenirs and they were super-friendly, and one of the rangers even helped load the firewood in the car for me. My only complaint is that there's only one hiking trail in the park, and it's just a very short nature trail and doesn't really give you a good view of the lake or anything. However, there were many beautiful trails to be had within a 30-40 minute drive of the park.
Ranger
Fairly cheap for a nicely established campground with really nice bathrooms (with showers)! Water spigot right at our site. Park has 3 different loops and lots of amenities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Ouachita Lake?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Ouachita Lake is Lake Catherine State Park Campground with a 4.6-star rating from 83 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Ouachita Lake?
TheDyrt.com has all 30 glamping camping locations near Ouachita Lake, with real photos and reviews from campers.
