Carver Campground
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- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $16From, per site
- Sites
- 8All of them booked ahead
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Carver Campground is located in the Upper District of the Buffalo National River, and about 12 miles (19 km) east of Jasper. It has 8 tent-only sites. Drinking water is available when fees are collected from approximately March 15 - November 15. All sites are limited to 6 people per site, and each site is $16 per night. All sites must be reserved in advance. A vault restroom is available. Keep reading
Recreation
Paddling conditions in the upper (westernmost) district of Buffalo National River are extremely dependent upon rainfall. On an average year, the upper river is only navigable by boat in the spring and early summer when consistent rainfall feeds into the watershed. Some sections on the upper end of the river are technical and should not be attempted by novices. For current paddling conditions, please check with an outfitter (visit our Guided Services web page ), call the Tyler Bend Visitor Center at (870) 439-2502, or check the USGS Buffalo River Floating Conditions web page.
Facilities
Carver has 8 reservable tent-only sites with potable water available from approximately March 15 through November 15 each year, but no electrical amenities. A vault restroom is available.
Natural Features
The Buffalo National River flows free over swift running rapids and quiet pools for its 135-mile (217 km) length. One of the few remaining rivers in the lower 48 states without dams, the Buffalo cuts its way through massive limestone bluffs traveling eastward through the Arkansas Ozarks and into the White River.
Nearby Attractions
Carver is conveniently situated between the Upper and Middle Districts of the Buffalo River, offering access to many great day hiking and overnight backcountry destinations in the park. Additionally, access to the Gene Rush Wildlife Management Area is immediately across the river from Carver.
Charges & Cancellations
If I book this reservation today, what are my options to change or cancel? Please remember that reservations at these facilities prevent other visitors from using these sites. Planned changes to your stay should be made as far in advance as possible. You can make changes to your reservation in My Reservations. Changes If your new stay dates are completely different from your original stay dates, there is a $10 change fee (per reserved site). There are no additional fees for: Adding or removing nights to your stay. Changing to a different campsite. Balances will adjust based on your new stay's nightly rate. Cancellations You can cancel the reservation any time before the date of your scheduled arrival. You will receive a refund for your stay, minus the following fees: $10 cancellation fee Any reservation fees (only if paid when booking) Any previous change fees Late cancellation penalties may also apply: What is “Late”? For individual campsites, a late cancellation applies starting from midnight 1 calendar day before your scheduled check-in. For cabins and group sites, a late cancellation applies starting from midnight 14 calendar days or fewer before your scheduled check-in. Late Fee In addition to the fees listed above, a late cancellation will also subtract your first night's recreation use fee from any refund owed. For additional details, please visit here . Changes and Cancellations rules and reservation policies
What the agency tells you
All sites at Carver are available by reservation only
Carver is only available to tent campers. RVs, trailers, pop-up campers, motorhomes, campervans and any other type of recreation vehicle on wheels is prohibited in this campground.
The facility is available for camping free of charge outside of the reservation season, generally November 15th to March 15th every year.
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Climbing and/or diving from the bluffs is dangerous and highly discouraged.
Do not swim alone during high water.
Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states.
All park trails are closed to pets with the exception of the Buffalo River Trail, only on the section of trail between Ponca and Steel Creek, the Villines Homestead Trail at Ponca, the Mill Creek Trail, the Tyler Bend Campground trails (Spring Hollow, Buck Ridge, and Rock Wall in the Middle District), and all three Buffalo Point Campground trails (Forest Trail, Overlook Trail, and Campground Trail in the Lower District). Visit the park's hiking page for more information and maps of these trails.
Please be aware that some special events held at the pavilions or anywhere in the park (such as weddings, press receptions, concerts, et al) require a Special Use Permit in addition to the pavilion reservation. To obtain a Special Use Permit or additional information, please contact the Commercial Services office at (870) 365-2724. For more information visit the Special Park Uses page on the park website.
Please be advised that providing business services within an NPS unit is prohibited per CFR 5.3 without a written Authorization or Permit approved by the Superintendent. This includes services such as RV or tent delivery & set-up, firewood sales and delivery, shuttle (transportation) services, and guided hikes, floats, etc. For a list of approved visitor services and to learn more about working with Buffalo National River, please visit the Doing Business with the Park page on the park website.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 8
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets - year round
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 30 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Kayaking
- Picnicking
- Stargazing
- Swimming
Full this Saturdayread 15:44 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
6 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:10 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 8 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 8 are free on Mon, Oct 19. read 15:44 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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 · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $16 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.
“Changes If your new stay dates are completely different from your original stay dates, there is a $10 change fee (per reserved site). You will receive a refund for your stay, minus the following fees: - $10 cancellation fee - Any reservation fees (only if paid when booking) - Any previous change fees Late cancellati…” · 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
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 6
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first; the nearest 5 of 6. read 16:10 UTC
- Rush CampgroundBuffalo National River · 7.6 mi · 6 of 24 site-nights open
- Tyler Bend CampgroundBuffalo National River · 8.9 mi · 6 of 86 site-nights open
- Ozark CampgroundBuffalo National River · 14 mi · 2 of 62 site-nights open
- Erbie CampgroundBuffalo National River · 17 mi · 6 of 62 site-nights open
- Steel Creek CampgroundBuffalo National River · 24 mi · 18 of 78 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 15:44 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
8 sites
All 8 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 8 of the 8 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
WoolumBuffalo National River · 5.1 mi
Rush Campground7.6 mi
Tyler Bend CampgroundBuffalo National River · 8.9 mi
Ozark CampgroundBuffalo National River · 14 mi
South MaumeeBuffalo National River · 15 mi
Richland Creek CampgroundOzark National Forest · 17 miFrom Fayetteville, Arkansas drive north and take US Highway 412 East for approximately 42 miles (67.5 km) to the intersection with State Highway 21. Take highway 21 South for approximately 17 miles (27.4 km) to the intersection of State Highway 43. Here, take highway 43 East for about 5 miles (8 km) to the intersection of State Highway 74. Here, turn right onto highway 74 and drive about 25 miles (40.2 km) to the intersection of State Highway 123. Turn left on State Highway 123 and drive approximately 3 miles (4.8 km), then turn right on Carver Campground Road. The campground will be at the bottom of the short gravel road.
From Little Rock, Arkansas take Interstate 40 West for approximately 74 miles (119 km) to Exit 81. At Exit 81 turn left on Aspen Road and then take an immediate right on N. Arkansas Avenue/Scenic Byway 7 North. Follow N. Arkansas Avenue/Scenic Byway 7 North through the town of Shiloh and drive approximately 39 miles (62.8 km) to the intersection of State Highway 16. Bear right at the intersection towards State Highway 123. Take State Highway 123 for about 20 miles (32.2 km), then turn right on Carver Campground Road. The campground will be at the bottom of the short gravel road.
From Springfield, Missouri take US Highway 65 South for approximately 70 miles (112.6 km) to the town of Harrison. In Harrison, take State Highway 7 South about 1 mile (1.6 km) through downtown Harrison until you come to the intersection of US Highway 412 East. Turn left and drive for about 15 miles (24 km), then turn right on State Highway 123. Follow State Highway 123 for about 11 miles (17.7 km), then turn right on Carver Campground Road. The campground will be at the bottom of the short gravel road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Pindall, AR
Typical weather
Typical October night 45°F, day 73°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 24°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 · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Carver Campground 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 →
Who can change it · 4
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The office that runs itBuffalo National RiverNational Park Service unit
- The member who votes the moneyEric A. "Rick" CrawfordU.S. Representative · Arkansas’s 1st district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJohn BoozmanU.S. Senator · Arkansas
- Your senator, on the same appropriationTom CottonU.S. Senator · Arkansas
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks the National Park Service to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up, and to post what that share is.
Subject Hold back a share of sites at Carver Campground for campers who drive up
To the National Park Service: I tried to camp at Carver Campground in Arkansas and couldn’t. All 8 sites at Carver Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 8 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Carver Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m asking for one specific thing: set aside a published share of the sites at Carver Campground as first-come, first-served, and post what that share is so it can be checked. Somebody who drives up has no way in, and no way to find out whether they might have had one. Sent about Carver Campground (Arkansas) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Carver Campground, Arkansas
Dear Eric A. "Rick" Crawford, I’m a constituent in Arkansas’s 1st district. I tried to camp at Carver Campground, Arkansas, and couldn’t. All 8 sites at Carver Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 8 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Carver Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Carver Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Carver Campground (Arkansas) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Carver Campground, Arkansas
Dear John Boozman, I’m a constituent in Arkansas. I tried to camp at Carver Campground, Arkansas, and couldn’t. All 8 sites at Carver Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 8 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Carver Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Carver Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Carver Campground (Arkansas) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Carver Campground, Arkansas
Dear Tom Cotton, I’m a constituent in Arkansas. I tried to camp at Carver Campground, Arkansas, and couldn’t. All 8 sites at Carver Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 8 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Carver Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Carver Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Carver Campground (Arkansas) via campanac.com