Buck Creek (MO)
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 15 of the next 15 nights read 15:57 UTC
- A night
- $16–$26Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 3836 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Relax in the shaded campsites at Buck Creek, on the Arkansas side of the massive Bull Shoals Lake. Here, there's plenty of opportunities for water sports, hiking and picnicking. The Peel Ferry, the last remaining state-operated ferry in Arkansas, leaves from Buck Creek. It connects Highway 125 from Arkansas to Missouri for convenient access to the lowers stretches of the lake. Keep reading
Recreation
Bull Shoals Lake has great appeal to jet skiers, water skiers, fishermen, birders, hikers and those who just want to "get away from it all." Fall foliage in the area attracts lots of visitors for an annual celebration called the Flaming Fall Revue.
Facilities
All but two of the 38 sites have electric hookups. The campground caters to kids with a playground and swimming area, and campers with boats can make use of the launch ramp.
Natural Features
Bull Shoals Lake, spanning upwards of 71,000 acres, is fed from the White River. The river flows from northwest Arkansas to south-central Missouri, and then loops back into central Arkansas where it eventually flows into the Mississippi River. The lake is lined with hardwoods and cedar.
Nearby Attractions
Visit the Bull Shoals-White River State Park and explore its two hiking trails. The Big Bluff Trail presents views of the White River below Bull Shoals Dam, and the Lakeside Trail meanders along the shores of the lake.
Charges & Cancellations
Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee.
What the agency tells you
Off-road vehicles are not permitted
No livestock at this facility
No firearms allowed
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Don't Move Firewood: Protect your forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
STOP THE SPREAD OF INVASIVE SPECIES. Remove plants, seeds, animals, and mud from boots, gear, pets, and vehicles. Clean your gear before entering and leaving the recreation site. Stay on designated roads and trails, and follow local guidelines for firewood. CLEAN, DRAIN, DRY boats and any other recreational equipment that contacts water. Dispose of unwanted bait, worms, fish parts, or other organisms into the trash and not into the environment. For more information visit https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/rec.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 38 · 1 group, 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 36 electric, 37 water
- Longest rig
- 36 ft
- Paved pads
- 37 of 38
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Playground
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Boating
- Swimming
- Night sky · 69th darkest of 158 in AR
- Bortle 4
40 of 72 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 15:57 UTC
recreation.gov lists 36 of the 38 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
OpenBooked
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.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
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 · 15
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $16–$26 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.
“Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee.” · this campground’s own terms
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 · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 15:57 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
39 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 34 mapped sitesAll 39 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. 36 of the 39 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| ALOO | A01 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 71 ft | 377 ft | $24–$26 |
| ALOO | A02 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 71 ft | 354 ft | $24–$26 |
| ALOO | A03 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 98 ft | 324 ft | $24–$26 |
| ALOO | A05 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 127 ft | 288 ft | $24–$26 |
| ALOO | A06 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 98 ft | 307 ft | $24–$26 |
| ALOO | A07 | standard electric | 32 ft | 30 amp | 98 ft | 259 ft | $24–$26 |
| ALOO | A08 | standard electric | 32 ft | 30 amp | 134 ft | 186 ft | $24–$26 |
| ALOO | A09 | type not stated | 26 ft | 73 ft | |||
| ALOO | A11 | type not stated | 26 ft | 94 ft | |||
| ALOO | A12 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 90 ft | 187 ft | $24–$26 |
| ALOO | A13 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 90 ft | 199 ft | $24–$26 |
| BLOO | B01 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 100 ft | 419 ft | $24–$26 |
| BLOO | B02 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 71 ft | 504 ft | $24–$26 |
| BLOO | B03 | standard electric | 32 ft | 30 amp | 71 ft | 508 ft | $24–$26 |
| BLOO | B04 | standard electric | 32 ft | 30 amp | 80 ft | 487 ft | $24–$26 |
| BLOO | B05 | standard electric | 32 ft | 30 amp | 89 ft | 470 ft | $24–$26 |
| BLOO | B06 | standard electric | 36 ft | 30 amp | 89 ft | 470 ft | $24–$26 |
| BLOO | B07 | standard electric | 36 ft | 30 amp | $24–$26 | ||
| BLOO | B08 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | $24–$26 | ||
| BLOO | B09 | standard electric | 32 ft | 30 amp | 91 ft | 407 ft | $24–$26 |
| BLOO | B10 | standard electric | 36 ft | 30 amp | 80 ft | 567 ft | $24–$26 |
| BLOO | B11 | standard electric | 36 ft | 30 amp | 93 ft | 587 ft | $24–$26 |
| BLOO | B12 | standard electric | 36 ft | 30 amp | 90 ft | 530 ft | $24–$26 |
| BLOO | B13 | standard electric | 36 ft | 30 amp | 90 ft | 508 ft | $24–$26 |
| BLOO | B14 | standard electric | 36 ft | 30 amp | 136 ft | 424 ft | $24–$26 |
| BUCK CREEK | GS01 | group shelter electric | 71 ft | 337 ft | $50 | ||
| BUCK CREEK | GS1 | day use | 15 amp | $50 | |||
| CLOO | C01 | standard electric | 36 ft | 50 amp | 99 ft | 436 ft | $24–$26 |
| CLOO | C02 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 99 ft | 407 ft | $24–$26 |
| CLOO | C03 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 109 ft | 303 ft | $24–$26 |
| CLOO | C04 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 107 ft | 404 ft | $24–$26 |
| CLOO | C05 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 91 ft | 325 ft | $24–$26 |
| CLOO | C06 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 91 ft | 261 ft | $24–$26 |
| CLOO | C07 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 53 ft | 335 ft | $24–$26 |
| CLOO | C08 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 53 ft | 290 ft | $24–$26 |
| CLOO | C09 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 108 ft | 344 ft | $24–$26 |
| CLOO | C10 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 88 ft | 335 ft | $24–$26 |
| CLOO | C11 | standard electric | 36 ft | 50 amp | 71 ft | 301 ft | $24–$26 |
| CLOO | C12 | standard electric | 36 ft | 50 amp | 84 ft | 270 ft | $24–$26 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It files it as day use. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
25 of 39 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Highway 125 Park Bull Shoals1.3 mi
Lead Hill7.1 mi
Theodosia Park9.6 miOakland Park10 mi
Tucker Hollow Park12 mi
Lakeview Park16 miFrom Mountain Home, AR, take SR 5 N 24 mi. to US 160 JCT. Travel W on US 160 21 mi to Hwy U. Follow SR U 5 mi. S to US 125 for 5.7 mi. to Buck Creek Park Access Road. Follow signs into campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Diamond City, AR
Typical weather
Typical October night 45°F, day 70°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 23°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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Buck Creek (MO) 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 →