Best Campgrounds near Pencil Bluff, AR

Beautiful location next to a stream, although the sites are tightly packed in comparison with most state and national parks. Lots of hiking trails accessible from the nearby trailhead and a quick drive to the historic and charming Bathhouse Row downtown.

Top notch RV campground that is well maintained and has a friendly professional staff. Lots of amenities like disc golf, hiking trails, pool, zip line course, lake access and two dog parks that were the cleanest I’ve seen at an rv park. We had site 204 which is a back in site with FHU on driver’s side. We loved this site because it was on the back side of the campground, near the dog park and lots of open space behind us to play with our dog. All of the sites are very spacious, concrete pads, well maintained hook ups, and most are full sun. This was our second visit and we will definitely be back.

This park is beautiful. It has camping for all types.

We enjoyed our camping trip here only thing missing was a shower in the bath house.

The campground is very clean and the views are amazing.  The owners are attentive and very kind.

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!

Great value for the price, $48 cash/$53 card. No online reservations. Owner is really nice and helpful. Clean facilities. Quiet.  Sites along the stream have a great view and a great place to sit and enjoy nature. About 10 minute drive to the National Park/Downtown Hot Springs. Recommend using a water pressure regulator, one of my pipes started leaking from the pressure.

First off the coordinates are 34.80858, -93.07552 This campsite has amazing 360 sunsets and sunrises. A bit rocky for tent campers but should have no trouble finding a spot for a 4 man tent. There is also limited level ground but not bad. This site has room for 2-3 rigs. If ya needed to squeeze 4 you definitely could. There is a good breeze as it is on the top of the ridge which would be great in summer but can get a bit nippy in the colder seasons so keep that in mind. Nice sound of the breeze in the trees to put you right to sleep and extremely rare traffic so minimal reminders of society!!! I’ve rambled a bit but this site genuinely ticked all the boxes for me. Made for a beautiful evening.

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…

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

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.

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.

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

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.

My first impressions of this site were terrible. The Bathrooms are extremely old and honestly seem like they're rotting down. The playground area is small but jot terrible. The area for rvs is pretty cramped with no privacy. Luckily while talking to some folks there they directed us on down the road. There are two more sections specifically for primitive camping that are really nice. There are a couple picnic tables and fire rings. There is also a nice pond. The cell signal isn't terrible but it's a bit hit and miss for internet.

Overall, I would suggest it but don't expect to use their showers or bathroom. Go a couple minutes down the road and use the state parks showerhouse. It's really nice.

WARNING Stay on the good gravel roads. GPS took me down 4 miles of an old log trail that I wasn't able to turn around on. Spent thirty minutes cursing GPS and contemplating my life choices. I was headed for one of the other sites but was so tired when I saw this one I took it.

The site is at a crossroads so quite convenient. Only room for one vehicle. It does have a stone ring for a fire pit. The main draw however is that there is pretty good signal with Verizon here which is really rare in the area.