Gulpha Gorge Campground

Quiet and peaceful park within steps of some great trails. You can also walk a 2 mile trail to town of Hot Springs. Our spot was across from the registration office and was great. Each site has a grill or a fire pit...not both. Our site was on the creek which was really nice and pretty. Try and avoid the spots close to the road (hwy 7). The day we arrived we got a couples massage at Quapaw Bathhouse which was awesome. Bathhouse Row was a cool surprise and the history was very interesting. We went over to Lake Ouachita State Park and went a on a great 4 mile hike that was really pretty called Caddo Bend Trail. We’ve really enjoyed our time here.

We camped here 4 nights in our motorhome and loved that it was just steps away from the trails. Busier than we expected this time of year but easy to get a site. Didn’t realize before selecting a site that you get either a camp grill or fire pit but not both. Did notice they were flexible on those coming in to snag up an open site first thing in the morning. We liked the secluded feeling of the campground. The entrance to the campground was just a bit confusing though with first seeing the do not enter signs. A few horns going off but otherwise fairly quiet at night.

The campground is in the center of the park. It is first come first serve. We got there around 7pm on a Saturday night and there were about 3 spots left. We were able to back into a spot and didn’t need to unhitch. All of the spots that we saw are on a slight incline, but nothing too drastic. The spots are pretty small, we felt like our neighbors were very close to us. Everyone was respectful and quiet - we slept well. Really nice to wake up and hike around the park. I would recommend getting there - bit earlier to guarantee a spot. We called the campground before driving there to get an idea of how many spots were available- she said 12 were open and after our three hour drive there were 3 - they go quickly!

DATE OF VISIT = Oct. 2020...price reflects 50% Access Pass discount...FCFS FHU (although our connection was uphill, so did not have good functionality)...interior sites are NOT level, choose wisely if you have a choice...CG is right on the highway which is very noisy...trails from the CG connect to downtown Hot Springs (2 miles) which is the primary reason to stay here...many miles of trails and, if you were of a mind to, you could connect all 26+ miles of trails in one hike...okay OATV...Critters Spotted: three-toed box turtle, western skink, deer, squirrels, fence lizards

We arrived around 1 pm on a Tuesday and got the last spot backing up to the creek (site 33). Other than that there was only one other open spot, everything else was full. Parked and went to the kiosk to pay since it was after 12 pm. Every site is $30 per night unless you have a senior discount (America the Beautiful senior/ Golden Age access pass) in which case it is $15 per night. Our site had a fire ring, picnic table, water, sewer and electric. This spot was also very level compared to a few others in the park. Had a couple of raccoons visit our site, so be sure to keep trash packed up! Would definitely stay here again, it was beautiful!

We love Hot Springs and we have wanted to stay at Gulpha Gorge for some time, but it can be hard to get a spot since there are no reservations. We decided to try it in November. We got extra lucky and scored a creekside spot. We could hear the music of the creek in our bedroom at night.

In addition to being a truly lovely campground, it is also very conveniently located for exploring historic Hot Springs, or for taking off for scenic drives. There are plenty of trails in the area, including one that starts in the campground.

There is nothing not to love about Gulpha Gorge!

We used our Senior Park Pass to stay for half price making our cost $15 per night.

Nice little park tucked in close to the touristy part of Hot Springs.
The only problem with this place is how hard it is to get a spot.. We arrived on Sunday at about 10am, and there were several spots open. We talked with the guy on the golf cart to find out the modus operendi for checking in. The secret recipe, find an open spot with no tag on the post, and occupy it. Wait till noon, then the site will open up in the kiosk in the guard hut. All self service. It was pretty easy, I guess because it was a Sunday.
What we found after that, especially Wednesday morning, our getaway day, was that prospective campers were swarming all over trying to get dibs on sights that were opening up. The creek front sites are the most in demand. We had site 41, which was primo. No showers in the park.
Nice 2 mile hike into Hot Springs from the amphitheater in the park.
Highway next to the park has a lot of daytime noise, quiets down pretty well at night.

Stayed here 10/11/2020 to 10/18/2020. I came in on a Sunday just before noon and figured I'd have no trouble at all grabbing a site. While there were plenty of sites available, it definitely wasn't as empty as I expected and I still got the very last site that backed up to the creek. The campground ended up being at full capacity most of time I was here.

I had site number 31 which has a tree right on the corner making it pretty tricky for bigger rigs to back in and out of, but I ended up making it just fine with my 26' TT. One of the park staff members actually came and spotted for me which was very helpful. Another note about site 31, it doesn't have a fire ring. Apparently not all of the sites have them, so if having a fire is important to you that's something to check for before committing to a site.

The self-service kiosk was really easy and convenient and it looked like you could go in and renew if you decided to stay longer, though I never did this. They said there was a two week maximum at this park.

The location of this park is amazing. My dog and I hiked all the trails you could access from here and also used them to get downtown all week. I only drove my truck once the whole week I was here. This was also one of the most dog friendly places I've ever been. Dogs are allowed on all the trails and also at many of the places downtown (the visitor center even said my dog could come in!)

Verizon speeds here were great, as other users have mentioned. One thing worth noting is that this is definitely a family park and there were tons of kids when I was here. Definitely take it slow driving around the park as they are often running and riding bikes around on the roads. This also makes it not the most quiet and tranquil place, but it's a lot of fun and all the kids seemed to be having a blast.

We had heard that getting a site here can be a little challenging since they don't take reservations. We pulled in at 10:30 and were able to wait for someone leaving a site by the creek. The hiking right out of the campground was fantastic and there is nothing better than the sound of water right outside your campsite. Cell signal was strong and stores were close.

We stayed here right after the National Park opened again after COVID-19 Quarantine so there was relatively few people here...even so the whole "first-come-first-serve" thing is very stressful! The camp host told us normally it is very cut-throat with people getting there early and staking sites out. We drove around to pick a site, and while un-hitching at the dump station (which no one uses because = full hookups) I went and paid for our site at the kiosk. This took all of 2 minutes and when I went back to put the receipt on the site post, someone was already in it unpacking! I had to nicely apologize and beg them to leave as I had already paid and there is NO site switching after you paid. They were nice about it, but apparently protocol is to leave something in the site to signify you are taking it (camp chair, etc.). The babbling creek that runs behind the sites was a nice surprise, but even more so was the blazing fast Verizon hotspot speeds! I'm talking 50-70Mbps down!! We also had a great time here hiking to the brewery for dinner, and I was able to run some of the trails during my lunch break. The sites are a little close together, think like an RV resort would have. But in my opinion the full hookups make up for it. A tip is that you technically only have to book 1 night, and then you have until 12 pm the next day to re-up and book another. But if you booked 7 nights and decided to leave early you would not get a refund, so booking a couple days at a time may be the better option. Not having a reservation makes me WAY too nervous, so we had a backup reservation at Lake Catherine State Park. Gulpha Gorge is way better (and closer to Hot Springs) but beware the Arkansas State Park system cancellation policy is a one-night deposit, so it was a relatively pricey cancellation.