Best Tent Camping near Parks, AR

Recent Tent Reviews in Parks

637 Reviews of 36 Parks Campgrounds

• 

  Charles H.

  Traveler

  

  Dec. 8, 2024

  Mount Magazine State Park Campground

  Flying High

  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!

• M

  Mark H.

  Scout

  

  Dec. 2, 2024

  Winding Stair Campground (Ok) — Ouachita National Forest

  Great Site - CLOSED Until May 2025

  After driving 4 hours to one of our favorite campsites in this area we arrived to find it closed until May 2025.  No explanation why.  We have camped here in winter several times before.  Disappointing!

• C

  Carmen V.

  Scout

  

  Nov. 20, 2024

  Springhill

  Disappointed

  Site is still charging campers full price for extended camping(14days) was told showers and restrooms available then suddenly they closed the facilities without notice. Was helping disabled person and his family who is currently homeless with the campsite and he now needing to look for somewhere else to go because there is nowhere for them to shower or use the restroom when needed.

• 

  James B.

  Ranger

  

  Nov. 19, 2024

  Twin Creek Campground

  Nice stay for one night

  We decided to stay here for an overnight after being in Hot Springs area.
  There was only one other camper. The fee is $14 a night, not the $12 listed on sign. There is a pay kiosk that takes cards The campground was very clean and had many many trash cans.
  Bathrooms clean and had running water and flush toilets. Cell signal was poor with Verizon. Found an opening and Starlink worked great.

• 

  Forest K.

  Traveler

  

  Nov. 10, 2024

  Buckville - Lake Ouachita

  Nice boon-docking area

  Our family has camp here the last 4 years, sometimes twice a year. We like it for the family and grandkids because of the swimming area and pit toilets, which allows us to stay for about 3-4 days at time, you need to bring your own toilet paper and water. There used to be a store a couple of miles up the road from here, but the last time we camp, it was closed due to the spouse passing away. If you like boon docking, Kayaking, and fishing in a quite area, this is the place for you. Bring your Kayak and go Island hoping!

• C

  Chris A.

  Guide

  

  Nov. 3, 2024

  Lake Ouachita State Park Campground

  Great State Park

  Lots of Space, Shade, and access to mountain bike trails and downtown hot springs

• N

  Nick & Allyssa S.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 30, 2024

  Springhill

  Great for the weekend!

  Fantastic park to bring the kids and ride the bike trails or fish. Several pavilions and playgrounds. Clean campground. NO SEWER at campsites which is the only reason for the 4 stars. We stayed 7 days and had to move to pump out twice during our stay, so it was slightly inconvenient. Other than that, we loved it and will be back for shorter visits!

• 

  Twyana S.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 27, 2024

  Bear Creek

  Primitive beauty

  This park is a wooded area beside a lake. Campsites have a picnic table & grill. No electricity or water. No concrete parking pads. However almost all sites have a view of the lake. Beautiful views. Two pit toilets were clean & smelled ok.

• 

  Devin R.

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 22, 2024

  Cane Creek Recreation Area

  Beautiful Sunset

  Be sure to catch the sunset here. This has a beautiful setting even though it has been basically abandoned by the COE. The people who stay here must really care about the place because my site was very clean. Do not. I repeat DO NOT think you can use the pit toilets here. Be self contained and you’ll be fine. There seemed to be some long-timers camped there together and their dogs barked quite often during the day, but they must have taken them in at night or my van did well with blocking out the noise. My site wasn’t 100% flat but I just slept with my feet going on the downhill slope. Also, be aware if you use a flashlight, you WILL see eyeballs looking back at you from the other side of the water

• 

  Alice S.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 21, 2024

  COE Lake Greeson Self Creek Jim Wylie Recreation Area and Campground

  Wooded With View of Lake

  This site was difficult to find. It is listed on the highway with a sign but on GPS it wasn't listed. The proper address is 4101 US-70, Kirby, AR 71950.

  You book through recreation.gov but it is actually listed under Self Creek campgrounds. When booking just lok for sites listed on LOOP JW.

  This is a good site for tents, campervans, and smaller rvs. There are sites for larger rvs but not many. It may be difficult to find a level spot if you're in a larger vehicle. There is only one site directly on the water. The remainder are on the wooded hill but still have a beautiful view of the lake.

  The bathhouse has flush toilets and showers but is very old. They maintain it well and it is cleaned regularly. The toilets are perfectly fine but the showers are just old and a bit icky. I would suggest for showers going to the Daisy State Park. They have newer and nicer showers.

• 

  Twyana S.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 20, 2024

  COE Lake Greeson Self Creek Jim Wylie Recreation Area and Campground

  Unable to Locate

  The GPS coordinates are wrong for this one but I couldn't locate the correct site. Tookus down a gravel road that wasn't bad until it turned to mud.

• 

  Twyana S.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 20, 2024

  Self Creek

  Lots of Choices

  Large campground with lots of different areas to camp. They have sites in the woods, next to the water, and out in the open.

  The bathrooms were clean and well maintained.

• 

  Twyana S.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 20, 2024

  COE Lake Greeson Star of the West

  Arkansas Beauty

  Amazingly beautiful and cheap. Bathrooms are vault toilets. They smell bad but the room is clean.

• 

  Alice S.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 19, 2024

  Daisy State Park Campground

  Very Nice but Busy

  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.

• 

  Alice S.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 19, 2024

  COE Lake Greeson Star of the West

  Good Location But Better Options Available

  The price here is now $10 per day but if you have America the Beautiful Pass it's half price.

  Couple downsides are that the bathrooms are pit style bathrooms and kind of nasty and unless you snag one of the sites far back in the woods you are pretty close to the highway so some noise.

  It is my understanding that they are scheduled to update the bathrooms in the next year or two but until then I'd definitely suggest going to Arrowhead Point. It's right down the road, same price, quieter, and nicer bathrooms.

• 

  Alice S.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 19, 2024

  Arrowhead Point — Lake Greeson

  Affordable and Comfortable

  This location is right on the lake with quite a few camp sites available. The only down side is they have only one site available with electric and hookups. Everything else had no electric or hookups.

  The electric site is $22 and all the rest are $10. If you have a senior pass they are half off though. It's first come first serve.

  A nice boat ramp is on site as well as a swimming beach. The beach isn't really big and I visited in October so not sure how nice it is or deep but still a good option to have.

  The bathroom has flush toilets and are decently clean. No showers but the state park right down the road has showers you can use for free.

  Overall, I really like this place. It's quiet and peaceful. And most important, doesn't hurt my pocketbook too bad.

• 

  Susan L.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 11, 2024

  Daisy State Park Campground

  Definitely worth a stay!

  I 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!

• 

  Susan L.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 10, 2024

  Tompkins Bend

  COE Lake Ouachita camping

  I tend to like COE campgrounds. However, this one was a different experience for me. It's laid out in a way that it seemed like there was no space between sites and no berms or green cover to give the feeling of some privacy. The site next to me parked their truck about 10 feet from my site on the dirt between us. Boats on trailers are parked in between sites on diagonal or however to make them fit.

  Narrow, windy road into park is nicely paved. Nicely shaded, almost level gravel/asphalt site (not very wide with a tree on one side that would obstruct a rig with slide, awning side is tight too) with picnic bench, fire ring, lantern pole and BBQ.

  Also, the lake is very low right now. I was told that the state is drawing down the lake for hydro power and because there hasn't been any rain in awhile it's starting to show. It was fun to walk the lake bed and look for rocks and minerals that are usually covered by water. Not much else to do if here if you don't have a boat. Otherwise, a nice place to sleep while visiting the area.

• 

  Greg D.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 1, 2024

  Cove Lake Complex

  Quiet and wooded

  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

• J

  Jessica P.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 21, 2024

  Grape Country RV Park

  Beautiful grounds, beautiful countryside

  Settled right in between grape fields, beautiful manacured grounds with lots of picnic tables and plenty of area to walk dogs or kids. No additional amenities but not needed really with FHU. Owner came by and personally checked on us, booking was easy with a text! Great wines right up the road

• p

  paul

  Guide

  

  Sep. 12, 2024

  Springhill

  2 Days Nice

  A little older of an area. Stayed in site B10. Close to level. We have a 36' 5th wheel, tow vehicle, plus another vehicle. Easy entry into site and large enough for all vehicles. Asphalt with concrete patio. There is a picnic table and fire ring. 50/30/20A We can kind of see the river from this site. Very roomy sites in the woods with plenty of shade. Mostly dirt ground. Older but clean restrooms. We didn't use them. There are single person combined toilet and shower rooms at the front of park. There are mountain bike/hiking trails all over, even a little bike park with ramps and jumps. Playground and boat ramp. No sewer hookups, but there is a dump station. Lots of mosquitoes in the evening. Although some sites need maintenance and the restrooms are old, this is a nice park. We stayed 2 days and would definitely stay again.

• 

  Taryn S.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 25, 2024

  Cove Lake Complex

  Hidden gem in the Ozarks

  Fantastic 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.

• 

  Fred S.

  Legend

  

  Jul. 18, 2024

  Outlet Area

  RV and Big Rig Friendly Campground along Petit Jean River

  The Petit Jean River, flowing from an outlet, divides this US Army Corp of Engineers campround into two areas. There are 38 campsites, with electricity and water hookups. This includes three multi-family sites. Fees range from $18 to $40. Reservations are made on recreation.gov or by calling 877-444-6777. First come, first served sites may be available outside the reservation season. The campground description at recreation.gov indicates that the campground is located on Blue Mountain Lake, but there is no lake access from here. A drive to Waveland Park is required for Blue Mountain Lake recreation. Most sites are waterfront; a few are just a short walk away from the Petit Jean River. Most sites have picnic table shelters. There are 12 sites and a restroom/shower house along the north bank of the river. The remaining campsites, along with a restroom/shower house, are on the south side of the river. The sites on the north side, except site #6, are in a open area offering little shade. The sites on the south side are along a forest and are more shaded. There is no privacy between campsites; several sites, especially on the south side, are close to each other. The north side restroom/shower house was closed. The south side restroom/shower house was very clean. The roads accessing and in the campground are paved. The campground is setup to accommodate RVs and big rigs, although tent camping is possible. Fishing in the river appears to be the main recreation activity. Walking access to the river bank is provided by stairs. Two playgrounds are at the south side camping area.

• 

  Fred S.

  Legend

  

  Jul. 17, 2024

  Girard Rd/Forest Road 20 Dispersed, Ouachita National Forest, AR

  Somewhat private dispersed site off of unbusy forest road

  Coordinates: 35.02531, -93.88228. Located just off of Girard Road (Forest Road 20) - a maintained gravel/dirt forest road. This road is mostly a single track - narrow with some minor erosion in a few places. A lifted 4x4 vehicle is NOT needed to drive to the site. The dispersed site is located 1.3 miles south of the turnoff to Jack Creek Recreation Area. This site is set off from the forest road on a narrow undesignated dirt track which is easy to miss. It is a small site with enough room for one vehicle - truck camper size and smaller. The site is mostly level on a dirt surface with a rock fire ring. It is mostly shaded, although solar recharging may be possible during the afternoon with solar panels being placed on the access track in front of the site. Tent and hammock camping are possible. Received a strong T-Mobile 5G signal here. Except for some peace and quiet, there is nothing remarkable about this particular campsite. However, is is located in the Jack Creek area of the Arkansas Ouachitas. This area has a few nice swimming holes and hiking trails which one can drive to. OHV recreation is also possible in the area.

• 

  Fred S.

  Legend

  

  Jul. 17, 2024

  Ashley Creek Recreation Area

  Pretty Location, Free Primitive Camping

  I didn't camp here, but thought I leave an updated review. Previous review still applies. This is a free primitive campground, but a permit is required to camp here; see COE Web site for info. There is a very clean portable john with tp in the campground. It appears that the campsites themselves have not been maintained in a while, although the campgound itself looks nice, with a view of the lake. Some of the sites are close together offering no privacy. I received T-Mobile cell service. Convenient boat ramp nearby. I wouldn't make this campground a multi-day vacation destinition, but it's convenient for an overnight stay and for those using the lake for recreation.

• 

  Soren B.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 8, 2024

  Mount Magazine State Park Campground

  Nice Two Day Place

  There 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.

• 

  Chloe T.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 25, 2024

  Hickory Nut Mountain

  Amazing camp site

  plenty of spots & a bathroom! Not too far from Hot Springs National Park!