Crystal Springs (AR)
1Heads up1 fire 47 mi away
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 15:03 UTC
- A night
- $14–$30Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 7364 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices
In the agency’s own words
Crystal Springs Campground, perched on the shores of Lake Ouachita in Arkansas, is an ideal spot for families, friends and couples. Approximately 1.2 million people visit the lake each year to explore its crystal clear waters and scenic mountain landscape. Click here for the Lake Ouachita Virtual Tour. Keep reading
Recreation
Visitors enjoy fishing, water skiing, hiking and boating. Scuba diving is particularly popular because of the lake's high underwater visibility. Small and rare freshwater jellyfish (non-stinging) can be found, in addition to many types of fish, including the striped bass, lazily drifting between rocks. Bald eagles are a big attraction for bird watchers and photographers in winter months.
Facilities
The campground consists of 63 sites with electric and water hookups. There is also a reservable group campsite that includes electrical and water hookups. The two group picnic shelters have electricity. Other amenities include a dump station, fish cleaning station, hot showers, boat ramp, playground and a swim beach.
Natural Features
Lake Ouachita is nestled in the Ouachita Mountains just 10 miles west of Hot Springs National Park. The pool is fed by the cool waters of the Ouachita River and extends about 30 miles over 40,000 surface acres.
Nearby Attractions
Part of the scenic 223-mile Ouachita National Recreation Trail runs just north of the lake. Here, hikers and mountain bikers can explore an array of breathtaking views in the Ouachita Mountains. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (501) 767-2101.
What the agency tells you
No off-road vehicles allowed in park
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.
Check-Out time is 4pm and Check-In time is 6pm
Everything else this campground posts · 1
Camper Self-Check In Cards are located at the entrance of the campground. Please grab a card apon entry, fill it out and attach it to your campsite post. A ranger will verify the information written on the card later and check you in.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 73 · 4 tent-only, 1 group
- Hookups
- 64 electric, 67 water, 1 sewer
- Longest rig
- 20 ft
- Paved pads
- 2 of 73
- Accessible sites
- 2
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 4 of 75 campsite records
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- SHOWERS on 4 of 75 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 2 of 75 campsite records, WATER SPIGOT on 2 of 75 campsite records
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Playground
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Hot springs, Lake, River, Beach
- Boating
- Swimming
- Night sky · 93rd darkest of 158 in AR
- Bortle 4
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Army Corps says
- Yes
Full this Saturdayread 15:03 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
8 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 15:08 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 64 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 17 are free on Wed, Oct 21. read 15:03 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 · 18
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $14–$30 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 · 8
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first; the nearest 5 of 8. read 15:08 UTC
- Charlton Recreation AreaOuachita National Forest · 2.4 mi · 20 of 47 site-nights open
- Tompkins BendLake Ouachita · 6.8 mi · 1 of 75 site-nights open
- Point CedarDegray Lake · 19 mi · 13 of 41 site-nights open
- Arlie MooreDegray Lake · 21 mi · 4 of 46 site-nights open
- Alpine RidgeDegray Lake · 21 mi · 2 of 29 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 15:03 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
75 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 64 mapped sitesAll 75 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. 64 of the 75 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| A | 01 | tent only electric | 30/20 amp | 34 ft | 96 ft | $18 | ||
| A | 02 | tent only electric | 30/20 amp | 34 ft | 89 ft | $18 | ||
| A | 03 | standard electric | 2 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 59 ft | 125 ft | $24–$30 | |
| A | 04 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 27 ft | 142 ft | $24–$30 | |
| A | 05 | standard electric | 50/30/20 amp | 27 ft | 128 ft | $24–$30 | ||
| A | 06 | standard electric | 50/30/20 amp | 64 ft | 102 ft | $24–$30 | ||
| A | 07 | standard electric | 50/30/20 amp | 43 ft | 74 ft | $24–$30 | ||
| A | 08 | standard electric | 50/30/20 amp | 15 ft | 104 ft | $24–$30 | ||
| A | 09 | standard electric | 50/30/20 amp | 15 ft | 90 ft | $24–$30 | ||
| A | 10 | standard electric | 50/30/20 amp | 46 ft | 118 ft | $24–$30 | ||
| A | 11 | standard electric | 50/30/20 amp | 46 ft | 101 ft | $24–$30 | ||
| A | 12 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 50 ft | 109 ft | $24–$30 | |
| A | 13 | tent only electric | 30/20 amp | 72 ft | 42 ft | $18 | ||
| A | 14 | standard electric | 50/30/20 amp | 72 ft | 52 ft | $24–$30 | ||
| A | 15 | standard electric | 50/30/20 amp | 71 ft | 49 ft | $24–$30 | ||
| A | 16 | standard electric | 50/30/20 amp | 24 ft | 76 ft | $24–$30 | ||
| A | 17 | standard electric | 50/30/20 amp | 24 ft | 83 ft | $24–$30 | ||
| A | 18 | tent only electric | 16 ft | 30/20 amp | 62 ft | 125 ft | $18 | |
| A | 19 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 62 ft | 141 ft | $24–$30 | |
| A | 20 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 26 ft | 162 ft | $24–$30 | |
| A | 21 | standard electric | 50/30/20 amp | 26 ft | 173 ft | $24–$30 | ||
| A | 22 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | yes | 135 ft | 219 ft | $24–$30 |
| B | 23 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 99 ft | 82 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 24 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 50 ft | 94 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 25 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 57 ft | 66 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 26 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 57 ft | 38 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 27 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 42 ft | 44 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 28 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 42 ft | 63 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 29 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 50 ft | 93 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 30 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 64 ft | 58 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 31 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 27 ft | 44 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 32 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 27 ft | 48 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 33 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 36 ft | 54 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 34 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 36 ft | 90 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 35 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 35 ft | 113 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 36 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 35 ft | 122 ft | $24–$30 | |
| B | 37 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 70 ft | 128 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 38 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 60 ft | 33 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 39 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 49 ft | 82 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 40 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 44 ft | 33 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 41 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 44 ft | 39 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 42 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 30 ft | 35 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 43 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 29 ft | 25 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 44 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 30 ft | 57 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 45 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 29 ft | 18 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 46 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 44 ft | 43 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 47 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 68 ft | 35 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 48 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 68 ft | 19 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 49 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 31 ft | 67 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 50 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 31 ft | 78 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 51 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 45 ft | 34 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 52 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 37 ft | 20 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 53 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 37 ft | 52 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 54 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 39 ft | 70 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 55 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 39 ft | 49 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 56 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 55 ft | 74 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 57 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 60 ft | 54 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 58 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 60 ft | 102 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 59 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 72 ft | 91 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 66 | type not stated | 20 ft | 44 ft | ||||
| C | 67 | type not stated | 20 ft | under 10 ft | ||||
| C | 68 | type not stated | 20 ft | 55 ft | ||||
| C | 69 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 72 ft | 114 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 70 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 72 ft | 171 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 71 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 57 ft | 213 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 72 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50 amp | 57 ft | 170 ft | $24–$30 | |
| C | 73 | type not stated | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | yes | 93 ft | ||
| C | 74 | type not stated | 20 ft | 50/30/20 amp | 68 ft | |||
| D | D-1 | type not stated | 20 ft | 50 amp | 20 ft | |||
| D | D-2 | type not stated | 20 ft | 50 amp | 56 ft | |||
| D | D-3 | type not stated | 20 ft | 50 amp | 89 ft | |||
| D | D-4 | type not stated | 20 ft | 50 amp | 82 ft | |||
| D | D-GROUP | group standard electric | 20 ft | 50/50/30/20 amp | 247 ft | 56 ft | $80 | |
| DUSE | PAV 1 | day use | 20 ft | 20 amp | yes | 166 ft | ||
| DUSE | PAV 2 | day use | 20 ft | 15 amp | yes | 236 ft |
The agency files 2 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.
25 of 75 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Charlton Recreation AreaOuachita National Forest · 2.4 miCamp ClearforkOuachita National Forest · 3.2 mi
Joplin5.5 mi
Brady Mountain5.8 mi
Tompkins Bend6.8 mi
Denby Point7.7 miFrom Hot Springs, Arkansas, take US 270 west about 15.4 miles to North Crystal Springs Road. Turn right and follow access road three miles north to the park.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Crystal Springs, AR
Typical weather
Typical October night 48°F, day 73°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 Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
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
Crystal Springs (AR) 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 Crystal Springs (AR), Arkansas
Dear Bruce Westerman, I’m a constituent in Arkansas’s 4th district. I tried to camp at Crystal Springs (AR), Arkansas, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 64 of the 73 campsites the agency files at Crystal Springs (AR), and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 64 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. Crystal Springs (AR) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Crystal Springs (AR). I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 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 Crystal Springs (AR) (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 Crystal Springs (AR), Arkansas
Dear John Boozman, I’m a constituent in Arkansas. I tried to camp at Crystal Springs (AR), Arkansas, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 64 of the 73 campsites the agency files at Crystal Springs (AR), and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 64 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. Crystal Springs (AR) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Crystal Springs (AR). I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 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 Crystal Springs (AR) (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 Crystal Springs (AR), Arkansas
Dear Tom Cotton, I’m a constituent in Arkansas. I tried to camp at Crystal Springs (AR), Arkansas, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 64 of the 73 campsites the agency files at Crystal Springs (AR), and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 64 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. Crystal Springs (AR) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Crystal Springs (AR). I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 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 Crystal Springs (AR) (Arkansas) via campanac.com
How we know this · 4
How we know
every fact on this page, and where it came from
“the agency's own site records list "CELL PHONE SERVICE" on 2 of 75 campsites here”