Carter Cove
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 15:57 UTC
- A night
- $24–$52Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 34All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Carter Cove Campground sits along the shores of Nimrod Lake and Dam, cradled between Arkansas' Ouachita and Ozark Mountains. Visitors are greeted with shaded campsites, beautiful scenery and many outdoor recreation opportunities. Nimrod Lake provides the ideal spot to get away from it all, relax and enjoy yourself. Keep reading
Recreation
Fishing is one of the most popular activities at the lake, with an abundance of catfish, bluegill, bass and crappie available. Boating, water skiing and tubing are also popular, with 11 boat ramps conveniently located around the lake, however, skiing and tubing are only allowed from the tip of Carden Point eastward toward the dam because areas west of there are too hazardous. Campers are likely to spot white-tailed deer, eastern wild turkey, bobwhite quail, squirrel, rabbit, fox, mink, black bear, dove and waterfowl in the area. Seasonal hunting is also permitted throughout the lake, except in or near recreation areas.
Facilities
With 34 spacious and modern campsites and one large day use group picnic shelter, Carter Cove Campground has plenty of room for the family. A swimming beach, boat ramp and playground are also provided.
Natural Features
Nimrod Dam was completed in 1942 as part of a comprehensive plan for flood control and development of water resources in the Fourche LaFave River. Although recreation was not part of the initial mission of the dam project, the lake and surrounding 21,000 acres of pristine land have now become a recreational oasis for outdoor enthusiasts.
Nearby Attractions
Nimrod Lake is conveniently located adjacent to State Highway 7, a National Scenic Byway and other nearby points of interest like Petit Jean State Park, Mount Nebo State Park and Hot Springs National Park.
What the agency tells you
Check-in time: 3:00 p.m.
Check-out time: 1:00 p.m.
Park attendants are on duty from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. & 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Everything else this campground posts · 4
Two tents or one RV and one tent per campsite
Off-road vehicles not permitted. Highway legal transportation only.
Group Shelters are Day Use Only. Camping is not allowed at group shelters.
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 34
- Hookups
- 33 electric, 34 water
- Longest rig
- 75 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- 33 of 34 sites
Facilities
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Playground
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 42 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Hot springs, Lake, River, Beach
- Boating
- Fishing
- Swimming
- Night sky · 79th darkest of 158 in AR
- Bortle 4
44 of 68 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 15:57 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
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 · 16
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $24–$52 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 15:57 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
35 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 34 mapped sitesAll 35 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. 33 of the 35 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| CARTER COVE | 01 | standard electric | 54 ft | 30 amp | 71 ft | 1,787 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 02 | standard electric | 42 ft | 30 amp | 60 ft | 1,855 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 03 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 60 ft | 1,915 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 04 | standard electric | 51 ft | 30 amp | 46 ft | 1,978 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 05 | standard electric | 48 ft | 30 amp | 60 ft | 2,047 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 06 | standard electric | 36 ft | 30 amp | 90 ft | 2,131 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 07 | standard electric | 75 ft | 50 amp | 92 ft | 2,404 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 08 | standard electric | 71 ft | 50 amp | 92 ft | 2,392 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 09 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 98 ft | 2,218 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 10 | standard electric | 30 ft | 30 amp | 82 ft | 2,049 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 11 | standard electric | 33 ft | 30 amp | 45 ft | 1,998 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 12 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | 45 ft | 1,965 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 13 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 93 ft | 1,895 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 14 | standard electric | 27 ft | 30 amp | 93 ft | 1,802 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 15 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 103 ft | 1,701 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 16 | type not stated | 36 ft | 30 amp | 1,615 ft | ||
| CARTER COVE | 17 | standard electric | 45 ft | 50 amp | 50 ft | 2,485 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 18 | standard electric | 45 ft | 50 amp | 50 ft | 2,486 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 19 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 54 ft | 2,538 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 20 | standard electric | 48 ft | 50 amp | 45 ft | 2,548 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 21 | standard electric | 44 ft | 30 amp | 45 ft | 2,581 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 22 | standard electric | 52 ft | 50 amp | 45 ft | 2,565 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 23 | standard electric | 30 ft | 30 amp | 47 ft | 2,605 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 24 | standard electric | 50 ft | 30 amp | 35 ft | 2,602 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 25 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 35 ft | 2,634 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 26 | standard electric | 48 ft | 30 amp | 33 ft | 2,687 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 27 | standard electric | 48 ft | 30 amp | 33 ft | 2,712 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 28 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 33 ft | 2,722 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 29 | standard electric | 56 ft | 30 amp | 53 ft | 2,672 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 30 | standard electric | 48 ft | 30 amp | 50 ft | 2,734 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 31 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 67 ft | 2,624 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 32 | standard electric | 50 ft | 30 amp | 61 ft | 2,691 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 33 | standard electric | 56 ft | 30 amp | 62 ft | 2,650 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | 34 | standard electric | 64 ft | 50 amp | 85 ft | 2,569 ft | $24–$52 |
| CARTER COVE | GS1 | day use | 30 amp | 82 ft | 1,885 ft | $75 |
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 35 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Carden Point2.7 mi
Sunlight Bay3.7 mi
Quarry Cove4.2 mi
River Road4.9 miFourche Mountain Recreation AreaOuachita National Forest · 9.7 miSouth Fourche Recreation Area9.8 miFrom Plainview, Arkansas, take Route 60 for 3 miles east to the Access Road. Continue 1 mile south and 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 Plainview, AR
Typical weather
Typical October night 51°F, day 76°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 31°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
Carter Cove is in Arkansas’s 4th congressional district. Its representative, Bruce Westerman (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →