Blanchard Springs Recreation Area
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 16 of the next 30 nights read 16:45 UTC
- A night
- $15From, per site
- Sites
- 21All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices
In the agency’s own words
Blanchard Springs Recreation Area is located in the scenic Ozark National Forest. The Ozark Mountains are known for beautiful "rolling" hills, hidden caverns, waterfalls and clear flowing streams. Examples of early Ozark culture and music can be found throughout the region. Blanchard recreation area is a great starting point for an Ozark adventure. Keep reading
Recreation
Trout fishing is available on nearby Mirror Lake. Other popular activities in the Blanchard area include mountain biking, hiking and swimming.
Facilities
The campgrounds offer a variety of campsites to accommodate all types of visitors, including group and single campsites. All sites are equipped with tables, grills and campfire rings. Individual sites are on a first come, first served basis. The individual sites are open except when there is high water. To check campground status, call 870 757 2211. The picnic shelters have grills and ample picnic tables for groups. Flush toilets and drinking water are provided.
Natural Features
The facilities are near picturesque rock bluffs and crystal clear streams. Sites are well shaded by stately yellow pine trees.
Nearby Attractions
Blanchard Springs Caverns offers tours, exhibits and family activities. North Sylamore hiking trail follows the scenic Sylamore creek for 25 miles and connects to the Ozark Highland trail. Mountain biking is available on 50 miles of the Syllamo Mountain Bike Trail.
What the agency tells you
Don't Move Firewood : Help protect our forests! Obtain your firewood near your destination to avoid the spread of pests. Using firewood from outside the area can threaten native trees and forests. Firewood from outside the area is not recommended as some states have quarantines in effect and firewood movement is illegal. Visit don'tmovefirewood.org to learn more.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 21 · 2 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 25 ft
- Paved pads
- 19 of 21
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…and ample picnic tables for groups. Flush toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…tables for groups. Flush toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features The facilities are…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake, Creek
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Horseback riding
- Hotel/Lodge/Resort Privately Owned
- Hunting
- Ranger programs
- Swimming
- Visitor center
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 54th darkest of 158 in AR
- Bortle 4
3 of 8 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:45 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBookedClosed
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $15 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:45 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
24 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 5 mapped sitesAll 24 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 21 of the 24 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Day Use | Amphitheater | day use | 20 ft | 30 amp | yes | 281 ft | 690 ft | $40 |
| Day Use | Large Pavillion | day use | 20 ft | 30 amp | yes | 349 ft | 382 ft | $30–$60 |
| Day Use | Small Pavillion | day use | 20 ft | 30 amp | yes | 281 ft | 482 ft | $30–$60 |
| Group Camp | GS 1 | group standard area nonelectric | 25 ft | 283 ft | 304 ft | $35–$60 | ||
| Group Camp | GS 2 | group standard area nonelectric | 25 ft | 463 ft | 143 ft | $35–$60 | ||
| S&P | Single, S&P | type not stated | 25 ft | $3–$15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 15 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 16 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 17 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 18 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 19 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 20 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 21 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 22 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 23 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 24 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 25 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 26 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 27 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 28 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 29 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 30 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 31 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 | ||||
| Upper Loop | 32 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $15 |
The agency files 3 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It files them as day use. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Gunner Pool CampgroundOzark National Forest · 2.4 miBarkshed Recreation AreaOzark National Forest · 5.1 mi
Barkshed CampgroundOzark National Forest · 5.1 mi
Dam - Quarry20 miFrom Mountain View, take Highway 5-9-14 north for 5 miles to Allison. At Allison, take Highway 14 west for 8 miles toward the town of Fifty Six. Turn right at the Blanchard Springs Recreation Area sign. Be sure to bring a map, GPS directions have led many visitors off-course.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Fifty-Six, AR
Typical weather
Typical October night 45°F, day 71°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 25°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Blanchard Springs Recreation Area is in Arkansas’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Rick Crawford (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →