Gulpha Gorge Campground

This review is actually for when I stayed here in August of 2020 but I never submitted a review. I still remember everything about this spot though because I made such great friends and kept extending my stay.

Hot Springs National Park overall is strange but cool. The campground is not very private but the sites are well maintained and, if you're lucky enough to get a spot on the creek, quiet and pretty.

The only thing I have to complain about is the system to get a campsite. It's unclear what you do when you arrive. And the answer at the time was to just find an empty site and grab it then pay before the end of the day.

Loved being able to walk to downtown Hot Springs through the woods as I did not have a car at the time.

This is a hidden gem in the middle of Hot Springs National Park. This is a busy place do get there before noon if you want to find a spot. We stayed in spot 33 right on the river. Beautiful spot! Camp backs up to the trails that take you to the bath houses and downtown. This is a must see destination. Cell signal was great (tmobile and verizon). Public restrooms but no showers. This place does not take reservations. Just show up and pay the kiosk.

This campground has an Awesome location! Hiking trails lead right to town or into the forest depending on what you like. Clean and well taken care of. Some sites do not have fire rings. We had full hook ups. The sites along the River are highly sought after. I just felt lucky to get a site since you can not reserve sites. The one down side it that there is a very busy road that goes by the campground (lots of road noise). Even with the noise I would totally stay here again. Really enjoyed my time in Hot Springs!

We loved our stay at Gulpha Gorge. We arrived on a Tuesday night to no vacancy, but a woman intersected us to tell us they were leaving at 7am the next day. So we stayed overnight at a Walmart and got back in time to take their spot.

We were very fortunate that the site was level and also creekside. If you’re able, definitely scope a level, creekside spot. Some sites have grills whereas others have fire rings. 42 has a grill with holes in the bottom; but that’s my only complaint about the entire experience.

Verizon has great cell coverage - enough to stream video. ATT not so much. You can walk one of the trails into the city (45 min walk) and to the tower. There are plenty of other trails; all accessible through the campgrounds.

We loved it here. We came late on a Sunday and didn't get a spot at first (it is first come first serve) but we managed to stay at an RV park close by. Came back on Monday around 11AM and there were a bunch of sites available. Some are super easy to back into and others are challenging they're not all level either. The sites had a lot of space and each had a picnic table and fire ring. Trail heads were right at the campground so it was great for our dogs! Not far from restaurants and brewery. It is near a main road so there is car noise at night but we're from the city so that kind of stuff doesn't bother me at all. Terrible cell service and no Wifi. Would absolutely stay here again.

We stayed here as part of an extended overnight while headed out to the southwest. The campground (as of February 2021) is operating at a smaller capacity, but there were more than enough sites. It's the easiest campground to reserve, because it's first come, first serve and automated through an ATM like machine. Granted, you could not luck out and get a spot, but it's nice being able to arrive, find a spot and just go to the machine and pay.

One thing we noticed, many of the sites in the upper portion (closer to the road) are not very level. We had to make some modifications to level our RV out, so if I were staying again we'd stay closer to the river section or middle area. At the time they had just been through the snow storm and we didn't feel like dealing with a ton of snow while setting up. With that said, if you're going during any inclement weather, call ahead. Though they just been through a large snow storm that was unusual for them, we were told by the rangers that they weren't even sure what it was like there or how the roads were. So it seems like they don't have a ton of people with knowledge about the campground when you call.

Otherwise, the area gets great cell service and it's a nice campground close to downtown and the NP. It's also super accessible to the highway.

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!