Best RV Parks & Resorts near Ouachita Lake

Catherine’s Landing is a great RV park with lots of amenities and things happening. This park is an RVC Outdoor Destination property which is known for their “resort” amenities. The park is set on 400 acres with one mile bordering Lake Catherine and about eight or nine miles from downtown Hot Springs. 

All roads, sites and patios are paved and this is definitely a big rig-friendly park. Every site has water, 50/30 amp, sewer, cable, and wifi. Fire pits and picnic tables accompany all sites. There are a variety of sites ranging from waterfront back-in, pull-thrus, or interior back-in. Waterfront sites have a nice view of the lake from the back of the site and access for fishing. The park also has yurts and cottages (some of which are pet-friendly). Adjacent to the yurts is a nice, large covered picnic area with grills, a dish washing station. 

Lots and lots of amenities here. Hiking trails, swimming pool, fitness center, lounge, playground, dog park, zip-line, boat rental, boat launch, store, and disc golf. Some amenities (boat rentals and zip-line) are an extra charge. 

Hot Springs is a nice little town nestled in the Ouachita Mountains with interesting history and natural beauty. We found plenty to do from hiking the National Park to learning about the bathhouse history to discovering the gangster influence. We spent four nights and could have stayed longer with all that the town offers. Most people come here to bathe in the soothing warm mineral waters but there is also a horse racetrack, science museum, off road track, water/theme park, alligator farm, and a few museums. Hot Springs National Park has miles and miles of great hiking trails and a great place to spend an afternoon. The town of Hot Springs is very dog-friendly and we found many places that would allow them in and on the patio for lunch.

Pros:

• Very nice, clean, well-manicured
• Lots of amenities
•  Paved level sites with paved patios 
• The dog park was a decent size for running and mingling with other dogs
• The hiking trail(about 3 miles) was a big plus and got used a lot. 

Cons:

• Price. We booked late and didn’t have too many sites to choose from we had to pay for a waterfront site

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.

D26 Back-in full hook-ups, fire ring & picnic table. 2 nights - Memorial Day weekend. Good spot, close to bath rooms/shower house/cafe. Pretty level - just 1 leveling block was all we needed for our pop-up. Lots of amenities- cafe, fishing pond, small general store, playground and off leash dog area. Staff was very friendly. Escorted you to your spot and helped us back in. Shower house was always clean. Loved the dog park! We are just starting to travel with our 2 boxers and was so nice to have an area for them to run a bit. Cons - spots are very close, no privacy. Each spot has a very bright “porch” light that is on until Midnight

This is to update my previous post. We are now in the Old Cowhide Cove Campground. We have a beautiful spot backed up to the lake with a wonderful view. There are two widely separated camping areas: New Cowhide Cove and Old Cowhide Cove. We ae in OLD Cowhide Cove so this review is specific to that area. Very adequate campsites are well spaced with picnic table, fire ring., 50 amp electric and water. There is a well situated dump station right on the way out. Even though the sites are long enough for most rigs, there is a paved parking area between most sites. Old Cowhide Cove Campground is a small area with only a few sites--a plus for me.

I highly recommend this campground. The unreasonably late check-in time is a responsibility of the COE. There was no one to check us in which was no problem for us as we had advanced reservations and an assigned site which was easy to find and presented no difficulty in backing in.

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

This is a nice place with a combination of pull through and back-in spots. Our site (and I’m assuming others) is level with well-packed aggregate. The sites are fairly spacious for this type of layout.

The park is located 10-12 miles outside of Hot Springs. Even though it’s along a highway, it’s quite a ways up a hill and through the woods. We had no issues with road noise at night.

If you want a built-in grill or fire pit, then you’re not going to be happy because they don’t have them. I saw a lot of folks had their own small grills. I also saw a full-size black stone griddle at the rec room, but did not ask if it was available for everyone to use.