Lake Fort Smith State Park Campground

Without question, the beauty of LFS is unmatched. Trails and other desirable amenities make this a wonderful location for your family. Living only a few miles from LFS, we have camped here numerous times. Unfortunately, with the exception of one or two occasions, we have had issues, major issues with water and electricity. I will highlight the two most egregious. In 2021, we had a four day weekend trip scheduled and, upon our arrival and check-in, we’re told that they had a water main break. No access to water whatsoever so no way to fill our fresh water tank for hygiene. Even though we shared no blame, LFS did not refund us the full amount of our stay. Left a very bad taste in our mouth but things happen so we blew it off and my wife and I agreed to give LFS another try. Fast forward to March 2023. Once again we schedule a four day stay, centered around my birthday, for a getaway. Just me my wife and our one year old puppy. Upon arrival on Wednesday afternoon everything seemed to be in order. I filled our fresh water tank FIRST THING in case of another water issue. If you are not doing so, I highly recommend this practice. Who would have thought it could happen again but a few hours into our stay, no water. A call to the welcome center confirmed, you guessed it, a water main break! Water was out for several hours but had little effect on us as we had a full fresh water tank. Fast forward to 9 pm Friday and we noticed our electricity was surging. Not nearly enough power to run the microwave or even a small electric fan! I checked the breakers and all was fine. I used my 50 to 30 amp adapter with the same results. Finally I cranked up the generator and everything worked perfectly. This is far too many issues for a modern State Park that is only 15 years old. I have no complaints with the staff, rangers and other personnel but will not patronize this park again, at least until confirmation that the infrastructure issues have been resolved. We left a day early as cold weather was predicted for the next night and we didn’t want to be reliant on the generator. I will be requesting a t-shirt from LFS that states, “This was my LAST camping trip to Lake Fort Smith”.

We had an electrical problem with the power pedestal, their maintenance/repair crew came right away, diagnosed and replaced a faulty 50amp plug. Even though ALL of the park facilities are very new & up-to-date, it’s still possible to encounter faulty components . . . the maintenance crew’s quick response resolved the issue at our site.
Well done !

This is one of the top rated state parks in Arkansas. It deserves every accolade it has been given. It's not far off I49 between Fort Smith and Fayetteville.

We're very new to RV camping (converted rustic tent campers gone gray, stiff jointed and achy), so I made the mistake of booking a B grade campsite. We moved shortly after arriving to one of the AAA grade campsites. These all are near the lake and have full hookups but the primary reason was that the hookups and picnic table and grill and on the correct sides for a Class A camper. The lower numbers are near activities, hiking trail, pool, visitor center and 1 -5 are in a cul-de-sac. 9 - 11 are pull through. We would opt for more isolation since other folks and animals get our pups excited.

There was a bit of a slightly steep and slightly winding road getting there, which is fairly normal for north Arkansas.

We had zero cell reception (T-mobile), and called that a win, but the several TV stations did come in handy since bad weather was coming in and we needed to stay updated.

The folks at the visitor center were great and what a beautiful facility that is!!!

Since we're locals and retired we get a 50% discount on weeknights, so this is going to be a regular extremely peaceful hideaway for us.

Bathroom was very clean. Loved the large shower. The sites are not level so be prepared to level. There is a pool but you have to pay to use it. $5/person plus tax. Bring pool shoes as there is no shade and cement gets hot. There are trails to hike and bike. Beautiful lake but you can NOT swim in it. The sites all have picnic table, grill and fire ring.

Everything works just a couple of years old… Neat, clean, well-maintained, very little trash. Trash cans located every second campsite. RV pad is concrete with a concrete block outlining the table fire pit barbecue and light pole. Also outlining A tent area. Space 27 and surrounding spaces do not have sewer. But they do have 30 amp electrical and water. Bathrooms are a bit of a walk but are in very good condition. The men’s room had two free showers. Everything was neat and clean.
Very quiet, too.
It takes a bit of work to get to the campground, but the roads are in good repair in traffic with minimal.

This was our second Arkansas State Park (Petit Jean was first) and it was fantastic. We had a back-in with full hookups. Nice private site with large patio area and tent pad. Could see the lake sort of through the trees, but this park has no lake views from the RV sites. Very quiet park and stars were amazing. The park is clean and staff are very active and visible. The day use area is huge and nicely maintained. We did the trail with the waterfall and went into Fort Smith. The Regional Art Museum is small but worth the visit. Fort Smith Historic Site was interesting, but visitor center was closed due to construction. If we are back in this area definitely will stay here again.

Great experience. Nice level sites. Ours was a pull through with water, 20/30/50 amp,, and power. We were on lower part of camping loop. We could see lake through trees bc it was wi yet. Any other time you probably won’t see lake. We loved that our site had a mini trail that led to the Ozark Highlands Trail. We really enjoyed a good hike there. ZERO VERIZON LTE NOR 3G. This was a good thing for us but if you are expecting to have any connection for any remote work it’s not going to happen. Very clean well run park. Look forward to going back!