Best Cabin Camping near Shirley, AR

This is probably an excellent site in spring or fall. However summertime is hot at the site because of the lack of shade trees. Site 15 is by the water and has a large area for dogs or family. There is a staircase down to the water next to site 8. The fishing is good. It’s a pet friendly site however if your dogs bark neighbors will complain. The manager is friendly. They do not have trash pick up service; you just take your trash to a dumpster at the end of the camp, which is not a big deal. No grill available but has picnic tables and fire ring. WI-FI aid very good.

Our first time in Petit Jean State Park and hopefully not our last! The area is so beautiful and the park is clean. We stayed in one of the yurts. The kids enjoyed the geese right outside the door and at night, the deer came out only feet from the yurt. The yurt itself is was as expected. Only beds inside with one table, 4 chairs and a fan. It does have electricity inside but no water. Outside is a nice deck, propane stove, water faucet, fire ring, picnic table and bbq pit. It also has a canoe available for use with each yurt. The boathouse was not too far away and well maintained. There is a very nice pool on the grounds also. We really enjoyed the hiking trails.

We love this campground. We love having direct access to creek. It is kayak, family, pet friendly. The only thing it is lacking is internet connection, which for us is a plus for disconnecting. All sites are reasonably level. Site F is the premium and most secluded full hook up site. They have all levels of sites: primitive, water and electric, or full. Their small store has firewood and many other convenient items for sale. We take our own kayaks, but they do have rentals. They have public showers and restrooms, but the restrooms are currently closed due to renovations. It’s really one of our favorite local sites to camp.

Buffalo national river is the first national river established in the US and let me tell you it's gorgeous!! There are many places to camp but we stayed at Buffalo Point. There are a few different loops to stay on, we stayed in A. Each site has parking, for car or RV all differing in length, and you walk behind the parking to an area with benches, picinic table, lantern hanger, and fire pit. The river is behind the sites and you can swim in it. I recommend swim shoes because its all rocks to get to it and entering in and out of the water. Behind A loop on the opposite side from the ramp before the curve in the river is a rope swing. Its across the river so you must be a strong swimmer to beat the current. The bathrooms are well kept and there is trash bins available. Pets are allowed too. The loop that we stayed in was first come first serve and there was a self pay station near the bathroom. If you are up early enough, you may see bald eagles flying around the river like we did!

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

Beautiful park with lots of space between spots and large green belt areas to enjoy. The hiking trails were fun and challenging with not many people and we hiked with our dogs. We stayed in a pull through site in Loop A, Spot 29 with full hookups. It had plenty of room for trailer and truck parking and was pretty level. There was no wifi or cell service for T-Mobile. We rode our bikes to the Visitor Center to access wifi and were able to get cell service at the Mather Lodge overlook. There is a really nice walking / bike trail from the campgrounds to the Mather Lodge. The park is well maintained with clean bathrooms and showers. Trash bins were located throughout the camping area. We will visit here again.

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.

We made it back to Petit Jean State Park for a pre-fathers day weekend. The park was opening back up slowly with COVID-19 closing many of the facilities, but it was almost back to “normal”. We stayed in B loop and grabbed an extra night in A loop on this trip.

B loop pros: -plenty of shade in hot months with the pine grove -easy access to the paved CCC trail -30/50 amp service, water, picnic table, fire ring and trash hook -clean and accommodating bath house -enough space between sites for plenty of privacy

B loop cons: -some sites are angled differently and there is no clear indication how you have to enter the loop to be able to access your site. It can create some frustration when trying to get set up -many sites are unlevel and require significant leveling chocks to get it truly level -some sites have water and the picnic table on the opposite sides of the camper. it’s purely inconvenient and I’m not sure why this is this way. pay attention when you book your site to campsite photos -NO SEWER. (EXCEPT FOR SITES 47 & 48)

A Loop pros: -it’s new, it’s laid out ideally, full hook up sites with sewer, and plenty of gravel and concrete to keep from dealing with too much dirt, mud, sand (we’ve got 2 small kids and a little dirt is great, but a lot of dirt makes for a lot of cleaning). -pull through sites and site facing the lake -much quieter and plenty of space between sites for privacy

A loop cons: -very little shade. would be rough in summer months without shade tents, awnings, etc -“Stays booked 93% of the year” -Park Office. It’s really hard to get a reservation if you don’t book at least a year out in A loop.

Petit Jean is a must for family camping. Mather Lodge has an accommodating restaurant if needed. Plenty of trails for hiking. Pool, basketball and tennis courts. Marina with boats and kayaks. It is a wonderful park and a must for all campers! Book your trip!

• 17 Site with electric
• 16 Non electric sites
• Reservations accepted
• Fire Rings
• Dump Station
• Toilets
• Drinking Water
• Boat Ramp
• Picnic Tables
• Water Sites
• Paved Sites
• 475 Cherokee Park Road, Greers Ferry, Arkansas
• Directions:  From Drasco take Highway 92 west 7 miles till Brownsville Road.  Turn  left, travel 3 miles.  Keep up with your mileage as there will not be a sign pointing the traveler to the turn.  You will find a small white sign that directs you to Brittany Cove.  Turn left.  We put the address into the GPS (updated GPS) and it did not find the campground.  If you follow the above you will arrive at the campground.

This campground is very rural.  I would suggest buying your supplies at the nearest town.  Once you arrive at the campground you are about 11 miles to Drasco and Greers Ferry will be about the same distance.  Drasco has a small store and service station and Greers Ferry has a small grocery market.

The  sites are small but well shaded which is a bonus.  Fishing or boating would be the main draw for this location.  If you want to enjoy the peace and quiet this is your stop.  The view is beautiful with all the water sites.

• LNT
• Leave it Better Than You Found It
• Stay safe and Happy Camping