Dam Site River (Beaver Lake)
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 16:10 UTC
- A night
- $22–$29Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 58All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Dam Site River Campground sits on the shores of the White River, just below Beaver Dam and Lake in the Ozark Mountains. The campground features spacious and sunny campsites and an abundance of recreational activities. Keep reading
Recreation
Fishing opportunities are plentiful near Dam Site River Campground. Just below the dam, the cold waters of the upper White River provide a perfect habitat for pole-bending rainbow and record-sized German brown trout. Nearby Beaver Lake has more than 28,000 surface acres of water, where anglers can try their luck at catching large and small-mouth bass, crappie, bream, white bass, stripers, and channel or spoon-bill catfish. Several trails snake throughout the Ozark Mountains, offering peaceful hiking, biking and wildlife viewing opportunities for visitors. Hunters will find game plentiful in northwest Arkansas. A mixture of hardwood and evergreen forest provides a good home to many different species of wildlife. While Beaver Lake is conveniently located near several population centers, within a short driving distance hunters can find remote areas filled with upland game animals such as deer, rabbits and squirrels. Many other sports and activities await campers, including boating, swimming, picnicking, scuba diving, water skiing, spelunking and sightseeing.
Facilities
Dam Site River Campground has large campsites with plenty of shade and room for activities, and is steps away from the lake shore. Fire rings, picnic areas, drinking water and flush toilets all make for a comfortable camping getaway.
Natural Features
Towering limestone bluffs, natural caves and a variety of trees and flowering shrubs surround Dam Site River Campground, making it an ideal retreat for outdoor enthusiasts. Beaver Lake and Dam, completed in 1966, was constructed in the White River Basin and boasts 449 miles of beautiful shoreline at the top of the conservation pool. Although the dam was originally built for flood control, hydroelectric power and public water supply, it has also created a popular recreational oasis.
Nearby Attractions
Several marinas are located around the lake, offering groceries, fuel, boat rentals and storage, fishing guides and camping supplies. Click here for more information.
What the agency tells you
Please check in with camp host upon arrival. Check-in is at 4:00 p.m. the afternoon of your reservation. Check out time is 1:00 p.m.
Campsites can accommodate one RV and one tent, or three tents.
No parking in the grass.
Everything else this campground posts · 7
No dumping of household trash, gray water, rubbish, black water or any other waste material or waste liquid. All waste generated must deposed of at the dump station or removed from the project lands. Shower tents and bathroom tents, commonly referred to as changing tents, are not allowed.
There is a $5 area use fee per vehicle for non-campers. Failure to pay day use fees, and or properly display applicable receipt, permit or pass is prohibited.
No off-road vehicles or golf carts are permitted.
All pets must be physically restrained in pens, cages, or on a 6-foot leash at all times. No Exceptions! Pets may not be left at campsites unattended. Persons bringing animals onto project lands are responsible for the proper removal and disposal of any waste produced by these animals.
Camping at one or more campsites at any one water resource project such as Beaver Lake for a period longer than 14 days during any 30 consecutive day period is prohibited without the written permission of the District Commander.
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
- 58
- Hookups
- 58 electric, 12 water
- Longest rig
- 78 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…rings, picnic areas, drinking water and flush toilets all make for a comfortable camping getaway. Natural…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…lake shore. Fire rings, picnic areas, drinking water and flush toilets all make for a comfortable…”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Beach
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Water sports
- Night sky · 132nd darkest of 158 in AR
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 16:10 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
7 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:42 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 58 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 23 are free on Tue, Oct 20. read 16:10 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 · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $22–$29 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 · 7
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first; the nearest 5 of 7. read 16:42 UTC
- Dam Site Lake CampgroundBeaver Lake · 0.5 mi · 2 of 90 site-nights open
- Rocky Branch CampgroundBeaver Lake · 7.8 mi · 3 of 78 site-nights open
- Prairie Creek (AR)Beaver Lake · 12 mi · 10 of 226 site-nights open
- Hickory Creek Park (AR)Beaver Lake · 16 mi · 4 of 126 site-nights open
- Campbell PointTable Rock Lake · 20 mi · 22 of 142 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:10 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
58 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 58 mapped sitesAll 58 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. 58 of the 58 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.
| PARK | 38 | standard electric | 5 ft | 30 amp | 158 ft | 218 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 39 | standard electric | 4 ft | 30 amp | 92 ft | 227 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 40 | standard electric | 7 ft | 30 amp | 137 ft | 100 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 41 | standard electric | 5 ft | 30 amp | 92 ft | 178 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 42 | standard electric | 3 ft | 30 amp | 126 ft | 69 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 43 | standard electric | 7 ft | 30 amp | 113 ft | 205 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 44 | standard electric | 5 ft | 30 amp | 113 ft | 28 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 45 | standard electric | 7 ft | 30 amp | 111 ft | 135 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 46 | standard electric | 3 ft | 30 amp | 73 ft | 74 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 48 | standard electric | 7 ft | 30 amp | 73 ft | 94 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 49 | standard electric | 3 ft | 30 amp | 111 ft | 196 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 50 | standard electric | 6 ft | 30 amp | 125 ft | 115 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 51 | standard electric | 4 ft | 30 amp | 112 ft | 141 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 52 | standard electric | 9 ft | 30 amp | 112 ft | 199 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 53 | standard electric | 5 ft | 30 amp | 146 ft | 289 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 54 | standard electric | 6 ft | 30 amp | 159 ft | 401 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 55 | standard electric | 7 ft | 30 amp | 137 ft | 261 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 56 | standard electric | 3 ft | 30 amp | 111 ft | 393 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 57 | standard electric | 3 ft | 30 amp | 160 ft | 328 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 58 | standard electric | 2 ft | 30 amp | 111 ft | 487 ft | $22–$29 |
| PARK | 59 | standard electric | 22 ft | 30 amp | 130 ft | 509 ft | $22–$29 |
| RIVE | 01 | standard electric | 15 ft | 50 amp | 99 ft | 193 ft | $22–$29 |
| RIVE | 02 | standard electric | 18 ft | 50 amp | 74 ft | 285 ft | $22–$29 |
| RIVE | 03 | standard electric | 18 ft | 50 amp | 84 ft | 171 ft | $22–$29 |
| RIVE | 04 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 74 ft | 273 ft | $22–$29 |
| RIVE | 05 | standard electric | 25 ft | 50 amp | 84 ft | 157 ft | $22–$29 |
| RIVE | 06 | standard electric | 35 ft | 50 amp | 104 ft | 158 ft | $22–$29 |
| RIVE | 07 | standard electric | 78 ft | 50 amp | 104 ft | 166 ft | $22–$29 |
| RIVE | 08 | standard electric | 18 ft | 50 amp | 91 ft | 298 ft | $22–$29 |
| RIVE | 09 | standard electric | 38 ft | 50 amp | 91 ft | 388 ft | $22–$29 |
| RIVE | 10 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 84 ft | 399 ft | $22–$29 |
| RIVE | 11 | standard electric | 70 ft | 50 amp | 84 ft | 365 ft | $22–$29 |
| RIVE | 12 | standard electric | 55 ft | 50 amp | 121 ft | 246 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 13 | standard electric | 32 ft | 30 amp | 130 ft | 189 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 14 | standard electric | 23 ft | 30 amp | 85 ft | 234 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 15 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 85 ft | 149 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 16 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 72 ft | 227 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 17 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 74 ft | 140 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 18 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 72 ft | 241 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 19 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 73 ft | 145 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 20 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 72 ft | 220 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 21 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 73 ft | 149 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 22 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 78 ft | 234 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 23 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 81 ft | 153 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 24 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 90 ft | 253 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 25 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 81 ft | 141 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 26 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 68 ft | 221 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 27 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 85 ft | 134 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 28 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 68 ft | 217 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 29 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 93 ft | 117 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 30 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 68 ft | 205 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 31 | standard electric | 7 ft | 30 amp | 68 ft | 205 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 32 | standard electric | 5 ft | 30 amp | 82 ft | 123 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 33 | standard electric | 5 ft | 30 amp | 85 ft | 133 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 34 | standard electric | 7 ft | 30 amp | 78 ft | 127 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 35 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 85 ft | 217 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 36 | standard electric | 5 ft | 30 amp | 78 ft | 131 ft | $22–$29 |
| The Pines | 37 | standard electric | 15 ft | 30 amp | 93 ft | 217 ft | $22–$29 |
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 58 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Dam Site Lake Campground0.5 mi
Indian Creek Campground (AR)2.4 mi
Lost Bridge North2.8 mi
Starkey Campground2.8 mi
Lost Bridge South3.7 mi
Rocky Branch Campground7.8 miFrom Eureka Springs, Arkansas, take Highway 62 West and travel just over 4 miles. Turn left on Highway 187 and continue for about 6 miles. Take the first right after crossing the dam and follow signs to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Lost Bridge Village, AR
Typical weather
Typical October night 46°F, day 71°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 Augusts are colder than the August 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
Dam Site River (Beaver Lake) is in Arkansas’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Steve Womack (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 moneySteve WomackU.S. Representative · Arkansas’s 3rd 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 Dam Site River (Beaver Lake), Arkansas
Dear Steve Womack, I’m a constituent in Arkansas’s 3rd district. I tried to camp at Dam Site River (Beaver Lake), Arkansas, and couldn’t. All 58 sites at Dam Site River (Beaver Lake) are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 58 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. Dam Site River (Beaver Lake) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Dam Site River (Beaver Lake). 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 Dam Site River (Beaver Lake) (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 Dam Site River (Beaver Lake), Arkansas
Dear John Boozman, I’m a constituent in Arkansas. I tried to camp at Dam Site River (Beaver Lake), Arkansas, and couldn’t. All 58 sites at Dam Site River (Beaver Lake) are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 58 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. Dam Site River (Beaver Lake) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Dam Site River (Beaver Lake). 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 Dam Site River (Beaver Lake) (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 Dam Site River (Beaver Lake), Arkansas
Dear Tom Cotton, I’m a constituent in Arkansas. I tried to camp at Dam Site River (Beaver Lake), Arkansas, and couldn’t. All 58 sites at Dam Site River (Beaver Lake) are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 58 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. Dam Site River (Beaver Lake) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Dam Site River (Beaver Lake). 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 Dam Site River (Beaver Lake) (Arkansas) via campanac.com