Summer arrived like a fireball, prompting many Arkansans to seek solace in the Natural State’s abundant waters.
Thanks to recent rains, our rivers are in prime condition for paddling and float fishing. Camping can extend your pleasure.
During the summer, fishing is best early in the morning and late in the evening. That leaves a lot of free time to explore the surrounding area or to take in the delights of the nearest town or city. Lakes and rivers in all parts of the state offer excellent camping facilities that provide access to a multitude of other activities, especially around Hot Springs and Northwest Arkansas.
Hot Springs
With lakes Ouachita and Hamilton nearby, the Spa City is one of America’s great fishing destinations. Both lakes have excellent fishing for largemouth bass, spotted bass, striped bass, white bass, hybrid striper, walleye, crappie, bream and catfish.
For bass fishing, Lake Ouachita is legendary, but Lake Hamilton is also superb. Bobby Dennis of Hot Springs, a renowned lure designer and entrepreneur, lives in the last home owned by the late Cotton Cordell. He said that Lake Hamilton one of the nation’s finest big bass lakes. By that, Dennis said he means bass in the 10-pound range. Indeed, Lake Hamilton supplied one of the 10-pound and larger bass to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s inaugural Legacy Lunker Program in the spring.
We have enjoyed some outstanding crappie fishing trips on Lake Hamilton, as well as some of our most memorable hybrid bass fishing trips.
Ouachita has excellent fishing for everything, but it is also one of the prettiest lakes in America. It is user-friendly, too, with a string of campgrounds from end to the other on both sides of the lake.
The south-side campgrounds are better and offer a range of sites for RVs and car camping. They have water and electrical hookups, lavatories and boat ramps. All are near U.S. 270, which makes it easy to reach Hot Springs. There you’ll find a range of restaurants to suit all tastes, as well as a full suite of entertainment options including live music, dancing, bowling, go-kart racing, laser tag and gambling. It has theaters, museums, bathhouses and a variety of shops offering goods that are hard to find anywhere else.
There are also plenty of places to buy live and artificial bait, tackle, camping supplies and ethanol-free gasoline.
Activities closer to nature abound. The Ouachita Trail is nearby, as are trails at Lake Ouachita State Park and Gulpha Gorge. The state park also offers a selection of family-friendly activities. A hike through Garvan Woodland Memorial Gardens is always a treat.
DeGray Lake
Though on the outskirts of Arkadelphia, DeGray Lake is one of the Diamond Lakes that includes Ouachita, Hamilton and Catherine. An impoundment of the Caddo River, it is part of the Ouachita River watershed and resembles a smaller version of Lake Ouachita. It also has excellent fishing for bass, walleye, white bass, hybrid striper, crappie, bream and catfish.
Like Ouachita, DeGray Lake has a string of public campgrounds operated by the Corps of Engineers. They are well-kept and have the same facilities for RV and car camping, and boat ramps, too.
DeGray Lake State Park is a destination in its own right. It has an excellent golf course and five hiking trails in various ranges of ease. Visitors can also go on kayak lake tours and snorkeling tours. Horseback riding is available, as are arts and crafts workshops, jig-tying workshops, nocturnal wildlife safaris, “owl prowls” and square dancing.
Restaurants abound in Arkadelphia, and there’s one at the state park, too.
North Arkansas
With its lakes, rivers and streams, north Arkansas is a fisherman’s paradise. You can catch largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, as well as walleye, striper, hybrid, white bass, bream and catfish at lakes Beaver, Norfork and Bull Shoals.
Their tailwaters also contain some of the world’s best trout fishing.
Bull Shoals White River State Park has 103 campsites along or near the river offering a range of services. Interpretive programs, workshops and nature camps are available throughout the year. Park facilities include picnic areas, standard pavilions, playgrounds, hiking trails and a multi-use trail.
In low water, you can wade fish for the entire length of the park. You can also rent boats for high water or to fish downstream.
You can also rent cabins at a number of trout fishing resorts. Gaston’s White River Resort is the most famous, but it’s not the only one. Stetson’s Resort on the White River is highly regarded. The White River Inn at Cotter is a classic, old school fishing motel. White Buffalo Resort is also a great fishing getaway.
Excellent bass fishing is also available on the Buffalo River, Kings River, Crooked Creek, Osage Creek and a dozen other highland streams. Kings River Outfitters near Berryville is the main commercial presence on the Kings River. It has a campground, canoe rentals and shuttles.
Beaver Lake and Bull Shoals Lake offer excellent fishing for largemouth, smallmouth and Kentucky bass. They also support vibrant crappie fisheries, as well as great opportunities for striped bass. As at Lake Ouachita, Beaver and Bull Shoals have multiple campgrounds for RV camping, car camping and even tent camping. Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville have everything you want away from the water, as does Mountain Home for visitors to Bull Shoals.
Near Rogers is Hobbs State Park and Conservation Area. Covering 12,056 acres, it’s the largest property in the state park’s system. It contains a well-developed trail network for hiking, biking and horseback riding.
Arkansas River Valley
Lake Dardanelle is consistently rated as one of our best bass fisheries. Smaller waters nearby also have great fishing, like Piney Creek and Illinois Bayou.
Lake Dardanelle State Park occupies a large section of the lake shore on the outskirts of Russellville. It contains 74 sites that offer a range of amenities. The main park includes a trail, and you can also rent kayaks. Park interpreters also conduct a variety of nature programs.
Mount Nebo State Park sits atop 1,350-foot Mount Nebo and has 34 campsites with a range of amenities, as well as 15 fully equipped cabins with fireplaces and kitchens.
Fourteen miles of trails encircle Mount Nebo. The park also contains one of two designated launch sites for hang gliding, as well as a swimming pool, picnic areas, playgrounds, a ball field and pavilions.
Watching a sunset at Sunset Point is a lifetime event.
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Bryan Hendricks)
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Bryan Hendricks)
Bryan Hendricks
Bryan Hendricks has been the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette outdoors editor since 2005. He covers hunting, fishing, camping, and all other outdoor activities in The Natural State, as well as the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Bryan has won 30-plus awards for his work, including the Arkansas Press Association Freedom of Information Award, Service to Freedom of Information Award (Associated Press Managing Editors), Reporting on Freedom of Information Issues Award (Society of Professional Journalists), the John Robert Starr Award for Excellence in Journalism, and the Arkansas Wildlife Federation Conservation Communicator of the Year Award.
