RV Parks in Arkansas

They call Arkansas "The Natural State," and for once the license-plate slogan holds up. The Ozarks and Ouachitas stack rough, folded mountains across the north and west; the Delta flattens out east toward the Mississippi. RV parks and campgrounds cover all of it, tied together by scenic byways and a dense scatter of state parks, national forests, and Corps of Engineers lakes. For a state its size, the camping options run deep.

The Ozarks are the headliner: Eureka Springs, the Buffalo National River, clear water for canoes, and trailheads in every direction, with RV parks tucked into the trees or set along the streams. Due west, the Ouachitas answer with Hot Springs National Park and Lake Ouachita. Both ranges run cooler than the lowlands in summer and put on a genuine foliage show come October.

Eastern Arkansas is another country entirely, the flat, fertile sweep of the Mississippi River Delta. This is Civil Rights history and blues heritage territory, with Helena-West Helena at its musical heart and wildlife refuges pulling in the birders. RV parks here sit near rivers and small towns rather than trailheads. In the middle of the state, Little Rock and the Arkansas River split the difference: city amenities on one side, lake and river country on the other.

Arkansas State Parks runs some of the most in-demand RV camping in the state, much of it with full hookups and modern facilities. The Ozark-St. Francis and Ouachita National Forests fill in the rustic end of the spectrum. Between the resort-style parks near the big attractions and the quiet lakeside loops in the woods, most RVers will find their spot, the trick is booking it before someone else does.