Best RV Parks & Resorts near Prairie Grove, AR

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.

This is primarily a dive shop/convenience store that has a campground and rooms for rent attached to the property. It is clean, quiet, and a pleasure to stay at. Most RV sites are 30-amp with water, but most do not have sewer connections. There is a dump station, but larger RVs may have a problem getting in through the pull through. I have an 18-ft travel trailer and didn't have any problems.

The water is good, but pressure is a little on the low side. There are free showers and toilets available, as well as a pool on site. The store is open weird hours but has a pretty good selection. If you are a scuba diver, they are a full service dive shop. Make sure you get a full tank of air though--the guy filling ours only gave us about 2600psi in ours.

This is KOA, not my favorite place to stop, but they have good, basic facilities, sort of like Motel 6. They are just off I-40, so it was convenient for a one night stop. The sites were level, and were Pull-Thru so we didn’t even unhook. Full hookups, Some shade, a dump station. The shower/bathroom was clean. There is a small store. They also have cabins and tent sites; Free Wi-Fi, cable tv, a pool and playground, and a pond for fishing. There is a small Kamp K9 (dog park). When we were there everything was wet, and the smell of wet creosote from the log yard next door was terrible.

When I came here I had but one reason to check out this area, the abandoned once amazing Monte Ne.  As a bit of a novice urban explorer I was intrigued by the history of this once giant which featured the first indoor swimming pool in the state, hosted a presidential function, boasted a gondola to ferry those visiting the facilities and was a part of a man’s manifesto of greatness.  Then it fell to hard times and eventually to ruin much like so many other locations.

So what makes this area so intriguing?  The ruin is now being slowly swallowed by Beaver Lake and the once grandiose walls are now somewhat of an embraced location for street art.   

Rogers has several locations you can camp, but this is the closest to the site itself.  I was excited to check it out and as I drifted further and further away from the Rogers city it started to look more and more remote.  While there were some homes which scattered along the roadsides there wasn’t much in way of civilization.  

Then I happened upon my location of the Monte Ne RV Park, a quaint and secluded space which embraces the peaceful location of Beaver Lake and makes for a perfect idealist setting for relaxing. While it isn’t the most updated campsite I had seen it by far was not the worst and the staff in the front more than made up for any short comings of some weary benches here and there.

The typical person staying here while traveling is enjoying hiking and fishing along with boating and other outdoor based activities.  It was a perfect location for access to the lake and though there were several people there, it didn’t seem crowded because the spaces are nice sized.  There are more than a few long term campers here as well and much like any campsite which allows long term camping you can tell the difference in the residence spaces as they have skirtings on their RVs and plants outdoors.

I was able to find a tent site and settled in and was very pleased that it was very quiet.  I met a couple that was also traveling and had been there a couple nights and they had said they had been out exploring a bit in the area and were quite pleased, even made a couple suggestions for me for my time at the location.

My site was typical in that it had a picnic table and fire ring.  It did include electricity, which typically I am not concerned with but it was nice to have so I could charge my devices and edit some video. 

Closer to nightfall I noticed several people were outdoors using their grills and moving around because the temperatures were a bit better.  It was nice to see the community I was around and again the staff came around to check on everyone which was a very nice touch.  

The positives of this campground:

• TENT, RV and CABIN options

• Shady sites - on hot days this can make all the difference

• Friendly Staff

• Free WIFI

• AT&T Good Signal

The negatives of this campground:

• Slightly outdated, needs some paint and some upgrades on some tables and benches

• Trash - unfortunately when I drove in I noticed trash as one of the first things I saw, this looked like it had been tossed by people coming in and out instead of using trashcans

• Bumpy Road

Well worth the stop to get to be so close to checking out Monte Ne.  If I was to return to Beaver Lake this would for sure be on my list again!!

This is a lakeside campground with 2 primary sections terraced so that most campsites have at least a partial lake view. All sites are water/electric with sites 51 thru 57 offering 50 amp and the remaining sites 30 amp. Some of the 30 amp sites share water connections. There are 2 boat ramps and a playground. The dump station is just outside the gate and is in good working order. Cookson Bend has the potential to be a beautiful campground but lacks facility and grounds maintenance. Unfortunately, this is well below the COE's typical standards.

Follow route alerts by taking AR170 at West Fork from Interstate 49! 

Do not go to Visitor Center to check in while towing. Go to campsite, unhitch, and then go to Visitor Center. 

Fayetteville for Walmart, Target and other box stores + Braun's Ice Cream

Jakes in West Fork Harps grocery store & fuel 

PROS 

Senior discount 

No fee to make my own on-line reservation

Dark sky friendly 

Quiet during weekday stay

Campground E has lots of trees 

Campsite asphalt parking pad level 

Metal picnic table (on concrete pad), pedestal BBQ grill, metal fire ring with cooking grate that consumed half of the ring and metal lantern hook 

Good space between most campsites 

Campground E trash bin at every other campsite 

Clean toilet/shower facility 

Ample TP, hand soap and an electric hand dryer in toilet facility Campground E

Climate controlled toilet/shower facility. Felt great on a 38 degree morning! 

Park ranger drive thru campground during daylight hours 

Good signage throughout park concerning burn ban 

Good assistant park superintendent presentation at the park amphitheater regarding the CCC constructing DDSP 

Nice hiking trails 

Squirrels will eat from your hand
 in Campground E

CONS 

No cell service. Pay phone at campground toilet/shower facility 

Only free WiFi is at camp store by the pool. We purchased WiFi from park vendor Viasat $20 unlimited for 3 days for one device 

Cannot see or hear creek from site 89 

Sewer connection at rear of site pad 

No privacy from any other campsite in Campground E 

Cannot move site picnic table 

No camp host

This was our second stop at the KOA in Fort Smith AR. They have many improvements since out last stay. The campground is convenient to I-40. It’s far enough away to not have traffic noise. The sites are level, there is a pool, Propane, fishing pond, and camp store. Also hiking trails. Also some tent sites. There is a whole new section for Class A and large 5th wheel campers now. The are located behind a highway department facility, and last visit the smell of the treated power line poles was overwhelming. No problem this time. This is one of the few campgrounds I’ve been to that have a storm shelter!