CAMPANAC.Powered by public lands intelligenceMore Than Just Parks

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · AR

Tompkins Bend

1Heads up1 fire 50 mi away

Wildfire

Nevada 311 fire · 50 mi away · 1 acres · updated Oct 16, 2026

Fires: NIFC/IRWIN via MTJP wildfire tracker · Oct 16, 2026

ReservableBookable through April 17; tomorrow opens April 18.

Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book

Right now: Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 15:06 UTC
A night: $14–$30Across the site types the agency prices
Sites: 7775 on recreation.gov

Photos · USACE Lake Ouachita

20 ftLongest rig

620 ftElevation

746 ftWater · Lake Ouachita

8.4 miE of Mount Ida, AR

73%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices

In the agency’s own words

Tompkins Bend on Lake Ouachita, is a great family camping destination. The combination of lush mountain scenery and roomy sites big enough for two camping units, make this quiet location an ideal place for an outdoor getaway. Click here for the Lake Ouachita Virtual Tour. Keep reading

Recreation

Water skiers, jet skiers and anglers can all enjoy the crystal clear waters of the lake, while hikers enjoy the campground's location on the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (LOViT), which meanders across the south end of the lake. Wildlife enthusiasts can find everything from bobcats to black bears and deer in the forested mountains surrounding the lake, and Bald eagles are often spotted in winter.

Facilities

The campground consists of 77 sites including 63 sites with electric hookups and 69 sites with water hookups. Most sites will accommodate two camping units. Other amenities include a dump station, fish cleaning station, hot showers, playground and a boat ramp.

Natural Features

Lake Ouachita is fed from the cool waters of the Ouachita River in central Arkansas. Surrounded by the Ouachita Mountains and National Forest, it's crystal waters span over 40,000 acres and extend for 30 miles, making it the largest lake completely in the state of Arkansas.

Nearby Attractions

Head to Hot Springs National Park and discover how it earned the nickname, "The American Spa." Or take a scenic drive through the 1.8 million-acres of Ouachita National Forest. Here, off-roading enthusiasts can take on the Wolf Pen Gap Off-Highway Vehicle Trail System. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (501) 767-2101.

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

What the agency tells you

Rule

No off-road vehicles allowed in park

Rule

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.

Rule

Check-Out time is 4pm and Check-In time is 6pm

Everything else this campground posts · 1

Rule

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.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Source: recreation.gov facility notices, quoted verbatim · Sep 9, 2026

Tents and rigs

Sites: 77 · 14 tent-only
Hookups: 61 electric, 63 water
Longest rig: 20 ft
Paved pads: 63 of 77
Accessible sites: None listed
Pets: Allowed
Campfires: Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade: Every site

Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Showers: Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind; “Other amenities include a dump station, fish cleaning station, hot showers, playground and a boat ramp.”
Dump station: Yes; recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
Boat ramp: Yes
Playground: Yes
Stay limit: 14 nights; recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026

Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water: Hot springs, Lake, River; Biking; Boating; Canoeing; Fishing; Hiking; Kayaking; Mountain biking
Night sky · 65th darkest of 158 in AR: Bortle 4

Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Something open on 30 of the next 30 bookable nightsread 15:06 UTC

recreation.gov lists 75 of the 77 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.

OpenBooked

Booking window6 months outBookable now through April 17, 2027. Tomorrow at 10 AM ET, availability opens through April 18, 2027.recreation.gov

Max stay14 nights2-night minimum on weekendsthe facility record

A night$14–$30plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule

A weekend$36–$68DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above

If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule

Runs itU.S. Army Corps of EngineersBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record

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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 17

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Army Corps of Engineers

A night, per site$14–$30

Tent Only Nonelectric$14

Tent Only Nonelectric w/ Water$16

Standard Electric$24

Electricity, Water, Sewer Hookup$30

Group area, a night$50

The agency has already scheduled a change from Jan 1, 2027: $16 to $35 a night.

Rates for the season the campground is in now, Oct 1, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026.

The booking feerecreation.gov

Reservation fee, booked online$8

One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.

Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.

What a stay costs

One nightDerived$22–$38

A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$36–$68

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.

If your plans changerecreation.gov

Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10

Cancellation fee$10

Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night

No-show$20 + your first night

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

Sign price: recreation.gov facility rate schedule, quoted as the agency publishes it · Oct 1, 2026

Booking fee, change fee, cancellation fee, no-show: Rules and Reservation Policies, Recreation.gov, the published fee schedule, curated by hand into lib/reservation-fee-schedule.json (9 rows, each carrying its own verbatim sentence). The publisher states these policies were last updated September 2019. · Sep 9, 2026

The two totals: Derived by CAMPANAC by adding the agency’s own published nightly rate to recreation.gov’s own published reservation fee. Both components are cited above; the addition is ours and is shown only where every component is known. · Sep 9, 2026

Who keeps the booking fee: Recreation.gov facility policy text, Dead Swede Campground (facility 234221) · Not on the national policy page. This is agency policy text recreation.gov publishes on individual campground pages; this site holds it verbatim on 45 active campgrounds (campground_rules.cancellation_description, scripts/load-facility-rules.mjs). · Sep 9, 2026

The contract: Reservation Gods: Who Stole Our Campsites and Sold Them Back to Us, More Than Just Parks, April 2025 · Apr 1, 2025

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

recreation.gov availability, read 15:06 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

78 records · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 75 mapped sites

58 ftbetween you and the next site, typically

29%of tent sites sit clear of electric or RV sites

Most roomLoop D 68 152 ftLoop A 01 145 ftLoop D 57 125 ftLoop A 05 109 ftLoop A 04 97 ft

Least roomLoop D 73 20 ftLoop D 74 20 ftLoop D 64 23 ft

Source: Derived by CAMPANAC from recreation.gov per-site coordinates (nearest-neighbor distance) · Oct 12, 2026

All 78 records

77 of 78 records located

Tent only14RV / electric61Type not stated2

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77

Aerial · Esri World Imagery

Sites: recreation.gov (RIDB), coordinates as published · Aug 23, 2026

Imagery: Esri World Imagery

SleepsTakes aUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 75 of the 78 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	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	145 ft	138 ft	$24–$30
A	02	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	85 ft	108 ft	$24–$30
A	03	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	85 ft	115 ft	$24–$30
A	04	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	97 ft	125 ft	$24–$30
A	05	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	109 ft	71 ft	$24–$30
A	06	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	75 ft	104 ft	$24–$30
A	07	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	59 ft	122 ft	$24–$30
A	08	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	59 ft	64 ft	$24–$30
A	09	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	58 ft	98 ft	$24–$30
A	10	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	58 ft	96 ft	$24–$30
A	11	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		90 ft	100 ft	$14–$16
A	12	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	75 ft	177 ft	$24–$30
A	13	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	75 ft	112 ft	$24–$30
A	14	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		44 ft	119 ft	$14–$16
A	15	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	44 ft	164 ft	$24–$30
A	16	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		91 ft	76 ft	$14–$16
A	PAV1	day use	20 ft	20 amp
B	17	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	93 ft	117 ft	$24–$30
B	18	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	48 ft	109 ft	$24–$30
B	19	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	48 ft	85 ft	$24–$30
B	20	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	69 ft	119 ft	$24–$30
B	21	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	69 ft	159 ft	$24–$30
B	22	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		80 ft	161 ft	$14–$16
B	23	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		80 ft	128 ft	$14–$16
B	24	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	56 ft	126 ft	$24–$30
B	25	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	51 ft	110 ft	$24–$30
B	26	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	51 ft	66 ft	$24–$30
B	27	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	52 ft	89 ft	$24–$30
B	28	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		52 ft	56 ft	$14–$16
B	29	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	31 ft	109 ft	$24–$30
B	30	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		31 ft	85 ft	$14–$16
C	31	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		32 ft	230 ft	$14–$16
C	32	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		32 ft	200 ft	$14–$16
C	33	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	44 ft	159 ft	$24–$30
C	34	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	39 ft	184 ft	$24–$30
C	35	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	39 ft	148 ft	$24–$30
C	36	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	49 ft	158 ft	$24–$30
C	37	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	69 ft	129 ft	$24–$30
C	38	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	91 ft	142 ft	$24–$30
C	39	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	87 ft	83 ft	$24–$30
C	40	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	65 ft	143 ft	$24–$30
C	41	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	58 ft	101 ft	$24–$30
C	42	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	47 ft	151 ft	$24–$30
C	43	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	47 ft	155 ft	$24–$30
C	44	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		64 ft	98 ft	$14–$16
C	45	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		64 ft	121 ft	$14–$16
C	46	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		67 ft	126 ft	$14–$16
D	47	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	60 ft	102 ft	$24–$30
D	48	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	60 ft	137 ft	$24–$30
D	49	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	74 ft	81 ft	$24–$30
D	50	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	58 ft	135 ft	$24–$30
D	51	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	58 ft	172 ft	$24–$30
D	52	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	71 ft	206 ft	$24–$30
D	53	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	83 ft	142 ft	$24–$30
D	54	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	71 ft	216 ft	$24–$30
D	55	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	72 ft	165 ft	$24–$30
D	56	type not stated	20 ft	50/30/20 amp		260 ft
D	57	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	125 ft	269 ft	$24–$30
D	58	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	85 ft	177 ft	$24–$30
D	59	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	79 ft	157 ft	$24–$30
D	60	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	38 ft	198 ft	$24–$30
D	61	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	39 ft	145 ft	$24–$30
D	62	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	38 ft	183 ft	$24–$30
D	63	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	40 ft	126 ft	$24–$30
D	64	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		23 ft	158 ft	$14–$16
D	65	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	23 ft	147 ft	$24–$30
D	66	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	51 ft	164 ft	$24–$30
D	67	type not stated	20 ft	50/30/20 amp		256 ft
D	68	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	151 ft	328 ft	$24–$30
D	69	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	50 ft	325 ft	$24–$30
D	70	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	50 ft	276 ft	$24–$30
D	71	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	42 ft	220 ft	$24–$30
D	72	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	42 ft	230 ft	$24–$30
D	73	tent only nonelectric	20 ft		20 ft	192 ft	$14–$16
D	74	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	20 ft	173 ft	$24–$30
D	75	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	45 ft	152 ft	$24–$30
D	76	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	36 ft	187 ft	$24–$30
D	77	standard electric	20 ft	50/30/20 amp	36 ft	215 ft	$24–$30

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.

Price: Derived by CAMPANAC: each site takes the per-night rate this campground publishes for the site’s own site type (recreation.gov rate schedule). recreation.gov publishes no per-campsite fee, and a site whose type carries no published rate is left blank rather than called free · Oct 1, 2026

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 78 listed

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number

Coordinate34.56878, -93.46989

The mapSee it on the map

The driveDirections ↗

The phone870-867-4476

The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Also near here

Joplin1.6 mi

Denby Point2.0 mi

Little Fir4.4 mi Highway 27 Campground5.7 mi Camp ClearforkOuachita National Forest · 6.1 mi

Charlton Recreation AreaOuachita National Forest · 6.2 mi

Getting there

From Hot Springs, Arkansas, take US 270 west approximately 24.5 miles to Tompkin Bend Road. Turn right and follow access road 2.4 miles north to park.

From Mount Ida, Arkansas, take US 270 east about 10.7 miles to Tompkins Bend Road. Turn left and follow access road 2.4 miles north to the park.

Directions: Driving directions as the agency wrote them · Sep 9, 2026

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today67°Sunny

Tonight40°Clear

Sunday72°Sunny

Sunday Night42°Mostly Clear

NWS forecast for Crystal Springs, AR

Source: National Weather Service, LZK forecast office · Oct 17, 2026

Typical weather

Typical October night 49°F, day 75°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.

100°32°20°

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.

Measured at: MOUNT IDA ASOS, AR (USW00053921), 6 miles away and 82 ft higher

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly normals · Sep 8, 2026

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless

Bear Mountain1,910 acres · 8 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Source: USFS Inventoried Roadless Areas via MTJP Roadless Map · Jul 29, 2026

Who answers for this land

Tompkins Bend 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Source: U.S. Census district boundaries and the MTJP Congressional Public Lands Score

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from

Right now: recreation.gov is offering sites on 30 of the next 30 nights, which isn’t something a closed campground does.

Sites on recreation.gov: recreation.gov’s own month availability payload for this facility, asked for October 2026, November 2026 and July 2027. It names 75 of the 77 campsites the agency files here, and every one of them carries an answer either way. A campground nobody has read carries no answer at all, never a no. · Oct 11, 2026

Elevation: USGS 3DEP elevation point query at this campground’s coordinate · Sep 7, 2026

Tree cover: NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC), one 30 m cell at this coordinate, taken as the median across the 77 campsites here that carry a reading · Sep 9, 2026

Water: USGS National Hydrography Dataset, nearest perennial lake, reservoir, river or stream to this campground’s coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate: 0.34 mcd/m² of artificial all-sky glow, ranked against the 158 rated federal campgrounds in Arkansas · Sep 8, 2026

Sky-glow model: Duriscoe, Anderson, Luginbuhl and Baugh (2018), a simplified model of all-sky artificial sky glow derived from VIIRS Day/Night band data, the National Park Service sky-glow model

Cell signal: the Army Corps’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.

Nearest place of any size: Crystal Springs, AR, 7.4 mi WNW (a census designated place). Straight line.

Nearest town: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 places, measured by CAMPANAC to the town boundary; population is the ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate · Sep 9, 2026