Best Tent Camping near Ouachita National Forest

Stayed here on June 11, 2024. Small 5-site primitive campground. No water. No electric. Clean vault toilets with tp, and a trash barrel. Clean campground & campsites. Sites are small with reasonable separation, but no privacy. Sites have clean picnic tables, fire ring/grill. Some have lantern plies. Gravel drive. Sites nearly level. No tent pads, but tents can be set up. Sites may be able to accommodate a truck camper & smaller. Lots of highway noise from nearby Hwy 27, but not too bad overnight. There was logging activity elsewhere in the national forest, so log haulers were driving by during the day. Campground is located at eastbound turnoff onto Forest Road 83W - a well maintained gravel road. Pine & oak trees in the campground. Probably a beautiful view of distant mountains during the winter. This campground is good for an overnight stay when exploring the national forest or passing by on Highway 27. There is no recreation in this recreation area; no water access, no hiking trails. Good T-Mobile cell service. Despite some of the road noise from nearby Highway 27, I really liked this campground.

The Long Creek Primitive Campsite is located in the Ouachita National Forest along the Little Missouri Trail on the eastern section of the Eagle Rock Loop. The only way to access this site is by entering at a trailhead and hiking in to the site. The nearest trailhead is at Albert Pike Recreation Area. This is a primitive dispersed campsite, but the ground has been cleared. The site is located alongside a creek.

On your hike into this site you will be rewarded with beautiful scenery as you walk through majestic forests of oak. You'll also see a variety of plants and forest creatures. The campsite is along Long Creek so you will have access to water. Perhaps 100 feet up river from our campsite I found a nice fishing hole and caught and released 7 trout and 1 sunfish within about 1 hour. 

There is adequate clear space to set up a tent or numerous trees to string up a hammock. There are no facilities nearby. You can collect and filter water from the river and dig a hole to poop in the woods. Please practice Leave No Trace in this area. 

Trekking poles are recommended to aid in tackling the various inclines and declines of the trail.

If you need any supplies before entering the Ouachita National Forest stop off in the town of De Queen where there are various grocery stores, restaurants and gas stations. 

During the spring and summer the insects can be intense. I advise treating clothing and gear with permethrin to prevent ticks and pacaridin for other insects.

Park Review

The Viles Branch Creek Primitive Campsite is located in the Ouachita National Forest along the Athens Big Fork trail on the southern section of the Eagle Rock Loop. The only way to access this site is by entering at a trailhead and hiking in to the site. This is a primitive dispersed campsite, but the ground has been cleared and there are visible campfire locations. There is adequate clear space to set up a tent or numerous trees to string up a hammock. There are no facilities nearby. You can collect and filter water from the river and dig a hole to poop in the woods. Please practice Leave No Trace in this area. 

On your hike into this site you will be rewarded with beautiful scenery as you walk through majestic forests of oak, pine, maple and pecan trees. You will hike along the Viles Branch Creek and need to cross the creek various times. It is possible to fish in the creek, but we only caught small sunfish. In the nearby Little Missouri River there are larger fish. You'll hear birds singing all day long. We did have critters visit us in the evening so be prepared to hang your food in a tree or carry a protective canister.

Bring hiking shoes and water shoes for the various river crossings. Trekking poles are also recommended to aid in the river crossings and for tackling the various inclines and declines of the trail.

If you need any supplies before entering the Ouachita National Forest stop off in the town of De Queen where there are various grocery stores, restaurants and gas stations. 

During the spring and summer the insects can be intense. I advise treating clothing and gear beforehand with permethrin to prevent ticks and use pacaridin on the spot for other insects.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, from time to time I get products to test. For this trip I was provided some Morsel Long Handle Sporks. 

Fork it, Spoon it, Scrape it… is what you can do with Morsel Long Handle Sporks. 

Like many camping sporks the Morsel product has a fork end and a spoon end. The fork end also has a slightly serrated edge to slice pieces of your meal. The spoon end also has a uniquely shaped rubber edge that can be used as a spatula. The sporks come in regular and long handle forms. I chose the long handle sporks to make it easier to eat out of our backpacking food bags. The long handle allow one to access your food while keeping your hand and fingers clean. The long handle makes eating your meal a more enjoyable experience.

The sporks also come in a variety of colors. This is handy when you are camping with a group so that each person can choose and remember which spork belongs to them. 

One of the truly unique features of the spork is the spoon/spatula end. The end of the spoon is shaped like a spatula and has a soft rubber or silicon edge. This edge makes it easy to scrape morsels of food from the corners of your pot, bag or plate. This ensures that you eat every last piece of food, but it also makes clean up of your pot, bag or plate easier. 

I packed the sporks in my food bag inside my backpack for the entire trip. I was a little concerned that the sporks might break, but they held up well. Overall, I was very satisfied using the Morsel Sporks. 

Things that I liked most about the Morsel Sporks:

1. Long handle

2. Spatula/Spoon edge

3. Variety of colors

Camped here mid-week on May 28, 2024, just after Memorial Day weedend. The Spring Lake Receation Area is open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. The recreation area is gated between 10pm and 6am. It has a day use area, and a campground which is a long walk or short drive away from the day use area. The day use area has picnic tables, grills, beach and a central restroom/shower facility. Day use fee is $4. The small campgound is situated in the woods along Spring Lake across from the day use area. Camping fee is $15 ($7.50 for federal pass holders). Sounds from folks enjoying the day use area can be heard in the campground during the day, but it's very quiet during the night when the day use is closed. The campground has 13 sites. All of the sites can accomodate tent camping. Each site is unpaved and has a level tent pad, table, metal fire ring and lantern pole. Most of the sites are small with little privacy between sites. The sites are in the woods and have a view of the lake, with some actually on the lake shore. Our site, #8, has a short walking path to the shoreline - good for bank fishing. The campground has two single unit vault toilets which were reasonably clean. For showers and flush toilets, campers will have to use the central restroom/shower facilites in the day use area. The campgound has two water spigots, and trash reeceptacles. There is also a playground with swings and a group pavilion in the campground. There are no hookups at the campsites. I don't recommend this campground for RV camping; Cove Lake Recreation Area is a better choice. Because of the campsite sizes, levelness and ability to access, I believe sites 1, 5, 7 and 8 can accomodate van, RTT or SUV camping, and possibly small towables such as a pop-up or tear drop campers. In my opinion, all of the other sites are too small with tight access and not level enough for anything other than tent camping. Our site, #8, had a level pad which accomodated our camper van, plus a smaller seperate tent pad. The camp host was very friendly and provided good information. There is an iron ranger with payment envelopes at the campground entrance; cash and checks are accepted. There was no AT&T and T-Mobile reception, although cell reception may be possible at other locations around the lake. I came across three possible disperse camping spots around the lake (see separate listings). Overall, this is a beautiful campground. It was quiet and peaceful during the night. I would stay here again, especially in the Fall.

Park Review

The Straight Creek Primitive Campsite is located in the Ouachita National Forest along the Athens Big Fork trail on the western section of the Eagle Rock Loop. The only way to access this site is by entering at a trailhead and hiking in to the site. This is a primitive dispersed campsite, but the ground has been cleared. The site is located in a valley between two mountains and is located alongside a creek.

On your hike into this site you will be rewarded with beautiful scenery as you walk through majestic forests of oak, pine and maple. You'll also see a variety of flowers and plants. The campsite is near Straight Creek so you will have access to water.

There is adequate clear space to set up a tent or numerous trees to string up a hammock. There are no facilities nearby. You can collect and filter water from the river and dig a hole to poop in the woods. Please practice Leave No Trace in this area. 

Trekking poles are recommended to aid in tackling the various inclines and declines of the trail.

If you need any supplies before entering the Ouachita National Forest stop off in the town of De Queen where there are various grocery stores, restaurants and gas stations. 

During the spring and summer the insects can be intense. I advise treating clothing and gear with permethrin to prevent ticks and pacaridin for other insects.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, from time to time I receive products to test. For this trip I was provided some electrolyte drink mix by Liquid IV.

I ordered the product directly from the company website https://liquid-iv.com. The product was delivered quickly and ahead of schedule. I ordered the variety pack which included three flavors - Lemon Lime, Acai Berry and Passion Fruit. There were 8 packets of each flavor. It is recommended that each packet be added to 16 ozs. or 0.5 liter of water.  At first I found it a little difficult to open the packets cleanly. I then realized that I needed to completely tear the top of the packet across the top to expose the opening. After opening the packet, pour the powder into the water, then mix or shake the solution vigorously. The solution dissolved and mixed easily. 

Liquid IV claims that their solution has 3x the electrolytes of traditional sport drinks. It is non-gmo, vegan, gluten free, dairy free, soy free and made in the USA. 

I first tried the passion fruit flavor because I thought that it was the most unique. The flavor was rather light. I then tried the lemon lime flavor and found it to be stronger. The acai berry was somewhere in the middle. The flavors of Liquid IV are not as sweet as other mixes like Gatorade or PowerAid - which is a good thing. I've stopped drinking traditional sport drinks because of their high sugar content in overly sweet flavor. The Liquid IV solution was about right for me. 

Things that I liked:

1. Variety of flavors

2. Flavor was not overly sweet

3. Instructions were clear

Things that could be improved:

1. Packaging could be simplified for easier opening

2. Packaging could be minimized

Located along Forest Road 132 (Winona Scenic Drive) in the Ouachita National Forest, Saline County, Arkansas. Flatside Wilderness Area located across the road from the site. Access to the Ouachita National Recreation Trail located nearby. Free dispersed site, no facilities. Rock fire ring. Should be enough parking for 2 vehicles. Suitable for tent camping, car camping, truck camping & van camping. Mostly level. There was plenty of firewood left by the fire ring. Camped here in February; very quiet. Only 2 vehicles drove by. Had a few bars of T-Mobile service.

Definitely my favorite park in Arkansas so far. It’s a really big park at the lake with lots to do. I was there in the fall so I didn’t do any lake stuff but still had a great time tent camping. There’s a nice hiking trail to explore. Also, the bathrooms were the cleanest I’ve ever seen at a state park. All the tent sites have a gravel pad, grill, picnic table and fire ring. There are also walk in tent sites on the peninsula which are nice and quiet. If you get one at the end I’d say it’s probably 200 meters to the parking lot and bathrooms. I peeked into one of the cabins and they look really nice. They also have camper cabins that have heat/air but no bathroom. In all there are 93 RV/tent sites, 8 cabins and 4 camper cabins. The park is also near Hot Springs so there is lots to do.