Cove Lake Recreation Area
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $15From, per site
- Sites
- 36All of them booked ahead
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Cove Lake Recreation Area is a perfect summer getaway and an ideal place to camp, picnic or recreate. It envelops the shores of a 160-acre mountain lake near the 2,700-foot-tall Mount Magazine, the highest point in the state of Arkansas. Keep reading
Recreation
Popular activities include swimming, fishing, hiking, water skiing and scenic drives. A boat ramp is available and an on-site concessionaire provides boat rentals and other equipment available for purchase. The lake is home to catfish, large mouth bass, bluegill, sunfish, crappie and perch. It is stocked every other year, although a small amount of catfish are stocked annually and just prior to a yearly kids' fishing derby hosted at the lake.
Facilities
The recreation area provides picnic areas, campsites and a group shelter, as well as multiple activities, including miniature golf, canoe and paddleboat rentals. The campground offers multiple single-family sites for tent or RV camping. Each site is equipped with tables and campfire rings with grills. Accessible flush toilets, hot showers and drinking water are also provided. Multiple picnic areas are available on the lake shore, including a picnic shelter that has electricity.
Natural Features
The recreation area is situated in a mixed forest of mature trees and is located in the Arkansas River Valley in the Ozark National Forest.
Nearby Attractions
The recreation area is about 15 miles south of the town of Paris, in Logan County, Arkansas. A scenic route to the top of Mount Magazine is a beautiful 10 mile drive north from Havana, Arkansas.
What the agency tells you
A no-wake policy is in effect on the entire lake during weekends and holidays
Hookups are not available
First-come, first-served sites may be available
Everything else this campground posts · 3
Off-road vehicles are prohibited in the campground
Click here for more information on the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests
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. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 36
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 68 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- ACCESSIBLE FLUSH TOILETS on 1 of 37 campsite records
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “Accessible flush toilets, hot showers and drinking water are also provided.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 1 of 37 campsite records
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Store
- Nearby
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Other Recreation Concession Site
- Swimming
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 62nd darkest of 158 in AR
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 16:27 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
9 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:06 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 19 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 18 are free on Tue, Oct 20. read 16:27 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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
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
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 9
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first; the nearest 5 of 9. read 16:06 UTC
- Waveland ParkBlue Mountain Lake · 8.3 mi · 62 of 104 site-nights open
- Outlet AreaBlue Mountain Lake · 8.7 mi · 52 of 76 site-nights open
- Shoal BayDardanelle Lake · 12 mi · 36 of 156 site-nights open
- SpadraDardanelle Lake · 16 mi · 15 of 48 site-nights open
- AUX ARCOzark Lake · 20 mi · 5 of 170 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:27 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
37 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 36 mapped sitesAll 37 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 37 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| A | 001 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 148 ft | 564 ft | $15 | |
| A | 002 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 132 ft | 637 ft | $15 | |
| A | 003 | standard nonelectric | 44 ft | 119 ft | 533 ft | $15 | |
| A | 004 | standard nonelectric | 44 ft | 119 ft | 480 ft | $15 | |
| A | 005 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 108 ft | 345 ft | $15 | |
| A | 006 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 96 ft | 259 ft | $15 | |
| A | 007 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 96 ft | 241 ft | $15 | |
| A | 008 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 99 ft | 158 ft | $15 | |
| A | 009 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 99 ft | 252 ft | $15 | |
| A | 010 | standard nonelectric | 47 ft | 93 ft | 192 ft | $15 | |
| A | 011 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 93 ft | 286 ft | $15 | |
| A | 012 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 47 ft | 281 ft | $15 | |
| A | 013 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 47 ft | 327 ft | $15 | |
| A | 014 | standard nonelectric | 68 ft | yes | 60 ft | 355 ft | $15 |
| A | 015 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 56 ft | 363 ft | $15 | |
| A | 016 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | 47 ft | 404 ft | $15 | |
| A | 017 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 75 ft | 408 ft | $15 | |
| A | 018 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 47 ft | 439 ft | $15 | |
| B | 019 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 91 ft | 413 ft | $15 | |
| B | 020 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 77 ft | 365 ft | $15 | |
| B | 021 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 77 ft | 347 ft | $15 | |
| B | 022 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 78 ft | 342 ft | $15 | |
| B | 023 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 78 ft | 280 ft | $15 | |
| B | 024 | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 125 ft | 128 ft | $15 | |
| B | 025 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 82 ft | 240 ft | $15 | |
| B | 026 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 102 ft | 111 ft | $15 | |
| B | 027 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 82 ft | 206 ft | $15 | |
| B | 028 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | 147 ft | 99 ft | $15 | |
| B | 029 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 117 ft | 45 ft | $15 | |
| B | 030 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 113 ft | 53 ft | $15 | |
| B | 031 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 95 ft | 154 ft | $15 | |
| B | 032 | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 95 ft | 227 ft | $15 | |
| B | 033 | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 79 ft | 273 ft | $15 | |
| B | 034 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 79 ft | 196 ft | $15 | |
| B | 035 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 104 ft | 301 ft | $15 | |
| B | 036 | standard nonelectric | 62 ft | 91 ft | 326 ft | $15 | |
| Pavilion | day use | yes | $35 |
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 37 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Waveland Park8.3 mi
Outlet Area8.7 mi
Sorghum HollowOzark National Forest · 8.9 mi
Spring Lake Recreation AreaOzark National Forest · 12 mi
Shoal Bay12 mi
Spadra16 miFrom Paris, take Highway 109 south, then turn southeast on Highway 309 for 9 miles.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Subiaco, AR
Typical weather
Typical October night 50°F, day 74°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 29°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
Cove Lake Recreation Area 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 →
Who can change it · 3
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 member who votes the moneyBruce WestermanU.S. Representative · Arkansas’s 4th 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 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 Cove Lake Recreation Area, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas
Dear Bruce Westerman, I’m a constituent in Arkansas’s 4th district. I tried to camp at Cove Lake Recreation Area, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas, and couldn’t. All 36 sites at Cove Lake Recreation Area are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 19 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. Cove Lake Recreation Area keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Cove Lake Recreation Area. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest 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 Cove Lake Recreation Area (Ozark National Forest, 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 Cove Lake Recreation Area, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas
Dear John Boozman, I’m a constituent in Arkansas. I tried to camp at Cove Lake Recreation Area, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas, and couldn’t. All 36 sites at Cove Lake Recreation Area are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 19 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. Cove Lake Recreation Area keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Cove Lake Recreation Area. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest 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 Cove Lake Recreation Area (Ozark National Forest, 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 Cove Lake Recreation Area, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas
Dear Tom Cotton, I’m a constituent in Arkansas. I tried to camp at Cove Lake Recreation Area, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas, and couldn’t. All 36 sites at Cove Lake Recreation Area are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 19 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. Cove Lake Recreation Area keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Cove Lake Recreation Area. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest 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 Cove Lake Recreation Area (Ozark National Forest, Arkansas) via campanac.com