Looking for the perfect glamping experience near Ouachita National Forest? Glamping near Ouachita National Forest is a great way to travel off the beaten path. Find the right glamping site for you with our user-submitted photos, reviews, and tips. The Dyrt makes it easy to find glamping for your Ouachita National Forest adventure.
This recreation area is part of Ouachita Lake
This recreation area is part of Greeson Lake
Nestled between the Ozark National Forest to the north, and the Ouachita National Forest to the south, Mount Magazine State Park boasts the highest point in the state of Arkansas: Mount Magazine at 2753 feet. Located just 100 miles northwest of Little Rock, this area has been a recreation destination since the late 1800s. Recreation at Mount Magazine really started booming in the 1930s and 40s with the construction of a lodge, campgrounds and trails. Visitors came to beat the heat of the surrounding valleys, as well as to enjoy the panoramic views, abundant wildflowers, autumn color, and numerous opportunities to play outdoors. The area finally became a state park in 1998.
Whether you prefer a posh lodge or cabin, a fully-equipped RV pad, or a rustic campsite, there’s a place for you to stay and play at Mount Magazine. The park’s campground offers 18 spacious sites with full or partial hookups. Amenities include flush toilets, hot showers and a dump station. Campers are required to store food and trash properly to minimize black bear encounters. For more luxuriant accommodations, the park’s lodge offers 60 guest rooms and spa suites with a variety of comforts, as well as 13 full-equipped cabins with up to three bedrooms. Not in the mood for hot dogs over the campfire? The large dining room at the Skycrest Restaurant serves daily meals while overlooking the Petit Jean River Valley.
When you’re ready to play on Mount Magazine, you can do it by foot, wheels or wings. Hikers have access to 14 miles of trails, ranging from 1 to 3 miles, with connecting options for going farther. The 34-mile Huckleberry Mountain Trail is great for mountain biking and horseback riding. For gravity-defying activities, the park offers more than 100 climbing routes on its southern bluff, as well as a hang gliding launch point over the Petit Jean River Valley. Less strenuous activities include bird and wildlife watching, guided ranger walks, historic site tours and various interpretive programs and outdoor skills workshops. There’s also spectacular leaf-peeping in the fall when the forest takes on its vibrant autumn transformation.
$35 / night
$15 - $50 / night
$23 / night
This recreation area is part of Degray Lake
Little Fir is a small quiet campground located along the western shores of Lake Ouachita. Little fir is a popular destination for many anglers who desire a quiet atmosphere while still being close to prime fishing habitat.______ Click here for the Lake Ouachita Virtual Tour.
World-class striper fishing brings crowds of anglers year-round, and incredibly clear waters attract scuba divers, hoping to explore the flooded forests and mountain valleys below the lake's surface.____ Hikers take pleasure in the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (LOViT), which lines the southern end of the lake.
World-class striper fishing brings crowds of anglers year-round, and incredibly clear waters attract scuba divers, hoping to explore the flooded forests and mountain valleys below the lake's surface.____ Hikers take pleasure in the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (LOViT), which lines the southern end of the lake.
Lake Ouachita is fed from the cool waters of the Ouachita River in central Arkansas. Surrounded by the Ouachita Mountains and National Forest, it's crystal waters span over 40,000 acres and extend for 30 miles, making it the largest lake completely in the state of Arkansas.
This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (501) 767-2101.
Explore Ouachita National Forest's 1.8 million acres, surrounding Lake Ouachita and extending across central Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma.
$20 / night
Brady Mountain Day-Use Area delights visitors with its family-friendly facility, fabulous views and idyllic placement on Arkansas's Lake Ouachita. The lake attracts visitors who come for the crystal clear waters and bountiful fishing opportunities.____ Click here for the Lake Ouachita Virtual Tour.
A unique way to explore the lake is to follow the Geo-Float Trail, coined as the first water-based interpretive trail included in the National Trails System. The self-guided boat tour leads visitors on a 16-mile trip to see incredible geologic features as it stretches from the Spillway Recreation Area to Brady Mountain Recreation Area.______ Hikers enjoy the scenic land-based nature trail accessible from the campground. Boating, fishing and scuba diving among the remains of the flooded mountain valley are also popular here.
The Day-Use Pavilion has electrical hook-ups, picnic tables, and lighting. Other amenities include a bathroom facility, a swim beach, and a boat ramp.
Lake Ouachita sits in the heart of the Ouachita Mountains, just 10 miles west of Hot Springs National Park.______ The lake stems from the Ouachita River and boasts 692 miles of shoreline with 178 islands.
This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (501) 767-2101.
Head to Hot Springs National Park and enjoy a traditional bath or modern spa experience with the natural spring water.
$50 / night
Whether your perfect vacation is action-packed or laid back, you’ll find everything you need at Catherine’s Landing. Conveniently situated on 400 pastoral acres with a mile of frontage on beautiful Lake Catherine just outside historic downtown Hot Springs. Catherine’s Landing offers an ideal natural environment mixed with a range of accommodations and on-site activities that appeal to every form of traveler. Choose from RV sites with modern concrete pads, fully-furnished resort cottages, yurts for a true "Glamping" experience, or raised and bordered tent sites. Add exceptional on-site amenities, a convenient concierge at your service, a beautiful lake right outside your door, Wi-Fi and cable, and you have everything you need for your next getaway.
Traveler
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!
Guide
Lots of Space, Shade, and access to mountain bike trails and downtown hot springs
Legend
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.
LegendI 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!
Guide
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
Guide
The tent site was perfect! With fire pit, power, and water. The bathrooms and showers were nice and clean.
Legend
We had an overnight here after visiting the hot springs national park. The euro delights food truck was a tasty treat. Loved that the pool was open until 10pm just wish the store was open past 5. Great sites. Full hook ups. Paved roads perfect for scootering.
Traveler
I keep coming back here to dig for diamonds. There are cheaper campgrounds in the area, but the State Park grounds are top notch. Very level camper pads, stable power and water and everything is well maintained. There are multiple bath “houses” — single shower room style privacy, not a large room with curtains. A playground in the sites for kids to play on also.
The only downsides that come to mind are the iffy WiFi (the reservation system is pretty accurate on which sites have “good” WiFi and which do not) that is decent for casual web browsing but not likely to be streaming possible. And then a mixed pro/com is that satellite connections (direct or Starlink) is going to be rough due to the wooded aspect of the sites — although the trees do help keep the camper cooler. 🤷🏻♂️
GuideFantastic 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.
ScoutBeautiful RV Camp . Checks all the boxes . Serious Problem is Very Poor WiFi .
GuideThere 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.
Traveler
The campground is on the small side, but with a nice shower area and coin laundry. The paved areas (including the Rv pads) are a bit rough, but ok. Leveling pads were needed for our site . Lots of crystals just laying around also. Something out of the control of the campground, but the Oakworms were crazy. That’s not rain you hear falling from the trees! lol Stay under the awning.
TravelerThis is a quiet campground with plenty of shaded and nearly perfectly level pull ins. Power is consistent. Water pressure fluctuates from good to high — regulator necessary. Wifi is spotty, but the reservation center is pretty accurate on strength of WiFi at various sites. The site we are in right now, WiFi is sketchy.
In cool weather, a walk to the diamond field would be fine. In hot weather, no way.
Scout
Great place alone or with kids. I keep coming back
GuideThis was on my wifes bucket list, didnt find any diamonds, got dirty but had fun and got dirty. Sites and bath house were nice , full hook ups
GuideThis camp is ideally located in the Crater of Diamonds State Park with easy access to the Visitors Center by foot or car. The campsites are well maintained and adequately situated to afford some privacy. There are 6 individual bathrooms with toilet, sink and shower, in the bathouse nearest to us that are modern and clean. The shower was "almost" hot.
The only negative is that the adjacent site's fire ring is too close to our back window and the smoke from a fire could enter our window.
This is our second stay at this park and we would definitely return.
TravelerWe stayed in Daisy for the Eclipse weekend and expected this place to be crawling with people, so we were so happy to see it was still amazingly clean and quiet. We stayed in walk-in site #67, which was at the very end of the paved path from the parking lot. The site had a very level and massive gravel tent pad, as well as firepit, picnic table and lantern post. The hill in/out is quite steep, but the pavement makes it easy to haul with wagon, and I've rarely seen multiple water spigots in a walk-in area like that. Our neighbors were a little closer than we're used to for walk-ins, but we had glorious views of the lake and very little traffic walking past our site, which is a blessing when you have two somewhat barky dogs. The camp store sold firewood, ice and souvenirs and they were super-friendly, and one of the rangers even helped load the firewood in the car for me. My only complaint is that there's only one hiking trail in the park, and it's just a very short nature trail and doesn't really give you a good view of the lake or anything. However, there were many beautiful trails to be had within a 30-40 minute drive of the park.
Ranger
Fairly cheap for a nicely established campground with really nice bathrooms (with showers)! Water spigot right at our site. Park has 3 different loops and lots of amenities.
Scout
As of 2023 this campground is under new management.
Guide
Full hook ups, big campsites with table, fire pit, and level gravel. River is close by with playground. Booked up fast for us on the weekend. 20 to hot springs.
LegendThe Hot Springs NP campground was closed for the season so we stayed at Lake Ouachita SP Campground for 3 nights. We are tent camper and this was the best it gets! The tent sites are well separated from the RVs and generators. The sit right on the lake so they can get windy but are peaceful and beautiful. Each tent site has a level pad for tents, picnics tables, and fire-ring. A small down-side, you have to park and walk your gear to your site but it's not terribly far or a big deal. The lake is beautiful and all tent sites have access to the water. It's a bit of a walk to the bathrooms but they are wonderfully clean (and heated). The camp store had decent wood for sale. The only thing to beware of is the crows. They are relentless and even took a bag of sealed, in it's original container, tortilla chips and tried carrying them away and pecking the bag open. So don't leave anything unsupervised (even in closed container or bags).
Guide
This park is awesome for multiple reasons. The lodge is fantastic, great food and great views with a friendly welcoming staff. The views (worthy of mention again) are top notch, with some incredible sunsets. The mini train and mini golf were closed for the season but it looked like a great time. The bath house was clean, warm (it was cold AF outside), and had great water pressure. The town of Mena was a short scenic drive away, with a brewery and a couple restaurants worth checking out.
Now, the reason for the downgrade to 4 stars. The campsite layout is…weird. It’s like most of the sites were designed for a motorcoach to drive into, not for a travel trailer to back into. For example most of the camp amenities are on the utility side of the trailer when backed in, as opposed to the party side. Some of the sites are reeeeeally close together, as others have mentioned. I might even go so far as to say that if we would have kept our original site it might have garnered a 3 star review. The back rows have the amenities on the rear of the rv, which I actually kinda liked. Yes there is no sewer…but it’s a state park that’s expected.
Legend
Jake from the Dyrt here! Mama Gaia's Zen Garden & Yogic Retreat is a quiet place to relax and connect with nature in this great region of Arkansas! Check them out and leave a review about your stay on the Dyrt!
TravelerGreat get away close to the Ozarks. Clean, quiet, beautiful views!
RangerGreat place to camp, been coming here my entire life and it has changed very little in that time. Boating, fishing, swimming, cabins available, lots of trails to hike. Just minutes from Mt Magazine and the town of Paris. Friendly staff.
Traveler
Beautiful! So peaceful. If tent camping, sites 17,14,16 have the best views of an overlook. Cabins 11 and 14 have great views as well.
TravelerI really enjoyed the location, quite, glassy lake, clean showers, kayaking rentals $20, the marina close by rented the Pontoons, and the lake was clean to swim in. If you have a boat, jet ski, kayaks it’s a great spot. Plenty of shade and the camp host are 100% wonderful such a pleasure to meet them. You will love your experience here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Ouachita National Forest?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Ouachita National Forest is Lake Ouachita State Park Campground with a 4.7-star rating from 45 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Ouachita National Forest?
TheDyrt.com has all 30 glamping camping locations near Ouachita National Forest, with real photos and reviews from campers.
