Close to both Hot Springs and Little Rock, Arkansas. this Arkansas State Park is located right on DeGray Lake. A lake that has absolutely no houses on its shores. The Park has a 90-room lodge with a conference center over looking the lake. It also has 81 campsites, and three Rent-A-Yurts. Also, on the grounds is an 18 hole golf course, a marina, hiking and biking trails as well as playground and basketball courts etc.
This sounded like a great place to check out for a family vacation for 2023.
This could be a great place for camping but my personal opinion is don’t come here in your travel trailer. The sites are, for the most part, pretty terrible; but more about that in a minute. We chose site 11, somehow thinking it was 50 amp and full hookup, but that was our mistake. Site 11 and almost every site is water and 30 amp electric. The 30 amp electric really is a non issue for us most of the time. It appears that many more sites were once full hook-up but that the sewer connections have now been capped off; so they cannot be used. It would appear that the only real full hook up sites are in a small (very crowded camping loop) down by the lake. We drove through that area and there was nothing attractive about camping in that area.
This was one of the few times Tammy recommended leaving a campsite before we even set up. However, we were already there, and it was only for two nights. So we decided to just live with our decision and make the most of it.
The water hookup is on the entrance side of the trailer and the electric is on the backside. I’m not fond of that sort of setup as you may just trip over a hose or power cord at some point during your stay. Since Eva and I are always outside before the sun comes up it seems like something that could easily happen.
As far as the roads going through the campground, they contain many short steep hills and some tight turns. Tammy and I have camped in some places with unfriendly travel trailer roads, and this one would be included on that list.
Many of the asphalt pads here have a steep drop-off and are crumbling on the sides. This makes coming out of your trailer dangerous. This is especially true if you have a two year old excited sable shepherd. Look at the picture of our trailer and you can see we tried laying a large timber next to the pad to keep us from falling off the pad under our last step. So between the possibility of tripping on the water hose and the steep drop-off, “safety first” will need to be my mantra here.
Thinking that maybe we just got a lemon of a site we drove through the campground but the majority of the sites are like ours. I would guess that 75% of the sites need somewhere between a minor to major overhaul.
The area around our site was primarily sand and pebbles. There is very little grass and about a six inch depth of pine needles. I have no issue with that at all, but if you have a dog, it is nice to have a little grass. Eva is not particular about the surface she needs to do her business, but I worry about her paws.
Also, don’t expect any cell service in the campground or any WiFi. I’m not sure how one would call for help in an emergency. This is a big concern because s&%* happens. So if you want to call for help, check the news, or simply get your mail via the internet, that is not going to happen. Even up at the lodge the cell service was weak. Now to be fair, we have T Mobile and it is possible that other carriers might work better. Even the park has stated “The phone service at the Park can be spotty, it depends on who your carrier is and where you are at the Park”.
Inside your trailer, You won’t pull anything but about four PBS channels and one cooking show via air TV. I watched an interesting documentary on the 1910 fire in Idaho the first night we were there; not much after that. Satellite TV isn’t going to work here except perhaps in the crowded camping loop down by the lake. That might be the only place that has a clear view of the southern sky.
On a positive note the sites are really quite secluded from each other which is probably the best thing about camping loop A where we were located. If you like secluded, quiet camping, this is the place to go – despite the drawbacks.
We went to the lodge for dinner and it was nothing short of amazing. A very upscale type of dinning room overlooking the lake with fantastic food at a great price. I had the smoked pork chop dinner and Tammy had the chicken breast dinner. I must say that I was pretty impressed with the lodge. We also went for breakfast the next day and it was just as good. I also want to say that the employees are some of the nicest folks we have met on this trip.
The park also has a Marina so you can rent a boat and spend the afternoon in the lake.
The golf course looks spectacular, and the prices are reasonable. They have a twilight price (after 3:00 PM) of 20.00 for 18 holes. That is very reasonable.
Keep in mind we were here for only two nights but quite frankly it’s not a spot I’d return to; at least not with my travel trailer. The condition of the sites combined with the lack of cell coverage in an emergency make it a little undesirable. However, if that doesn’t matter to you, it is a beautiful park. If you love golf, and really good food, this may be the place for you. In addition, I would say that this could be a great campground with some renovations to the sites.
This park would also be a great place to tent camp or to rent one of the parks yurts. It is very reminiscent of some of the wooded areas that I camped in with the Boy Scouts when I was in grade school. My guess is that most of the five star reviews it receives is from tent campers and folks staying at the lodge. I would say that in those cases it definitely deserves a five star rating.
It is pretty apparent that the parks main emphasis is on promoting the lodge. However, given the shortage of campgrounds in the country right now, that seems pretty short sighted. This state parks campground was maybe at 10% occupancy while we were there; and that’s a shame. If they concentrated on improving their campground this place would probably be full all the time, and generate decent revenue for the state.
They do have one of the best dump stations I have run across in recent history. It has an easy approach from both entrances, and two campers can be dumping at the same time. It was almost directly behind our site separated by 50 yards and some trees; but we were never bothered by it. You can see the dump station behind the trailer in the picture above.
This park didn’t really flip the switch for us, but it may be worth checking out since it really is quite beautiful. For now, it’s back to Texas for us…and I have some travel trailer repairs to make.
For a summary of this trip and the resulting repairs click here.
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