Tompkins Bend Campground

While Joplin CG a couple of miles down the road has magnificent views, we stayed at Tompkins Bend and not disappointed. Well maintained, clean (including restrooms and showers), and lots of sites with great lake views. Sites 1-16 are least desirable due to noise from COE pump/water facility. Sites 50-77 have great views of sunset. We were at 34-C which was level and ample room, but not the best lake view. Would definitely stay again!

This CoE camp has many sites, most are large, altho little vegetation for privacy. Many are on Arkansas’ largest lake—Lake Ouachita. Many are water and electric for $24 ($12 with Access Pass-a bargain). Some tent only for $14/$7. Most campers are boaters, but the 20 mi one way Ouachita Vista Trail is great for hikers or mountain bikers. Road biking off on narrow 2lane road w/o shoulder. Verizon adequate. No OTA tv. Bathhouses dated, but clean and have good pressure and hot water.

Arrived after dark and towing a 26’ foot TT. Recommend getting there in daylight. Ofcourse it’s quite dark, however it’s tight backing in with trees. So good to have help with additional light. Verizon had 1-2 bars. Starlink was so/so. Water pressure was very low. I heard it’s high in the campground showers provided there is no more than one shower going. Price is average. Campground is clean. Would come again.

Got here around dusk on a Wednesday… didn’t have a site reserved, but had checked beforehand to see what was available. Luckily my service worked well and I was able to drive around the loops to find the best open site and then get online to reserve.

Got a nice tent-only spot on the water, no super close neighbors. At night the crickets came out and nearby campers were quiet and respectful. Facilities are super clean. Far enough off the highway to not hear any traffic noise. Would definitely stay here again!

This was our 2nd time staying at a COE on lake Ouachita, first was at Crystal Springs. We are in a 39’ 5th wheel and had no problem getting into our site, although I saw some that would be pretty tight because of the trees. Restrooms and showers were clean, we checked them out but didn’t use them. One word of caution. Our power went out several times and I was thinking that it was a general power outage for the camp, it wasn’t. When I checked my surge protector I found that it was tripping the power due to high voltage. The highest I saw indicated was 138 volts. This may not be their typical condition but I would highly recommend the use of a quality surge protector here. I use Power Watchdog which allows you to monitor the power via an app on your phone.

We made our way to Arkansas and stayed at another COE on Lake Ouachita, Tompkins Bend Recreation Area. Very nice park with lots of shade and fishing-everyone was from Arkansas and all brought their boats...and it’s spring break here! We stayed in site C-38 on the water. Had water/electric with picnic table, grill and fire pit. Very clean, safe and nice camp hosts. Would recommend as we would stay here again!
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We spent 5 weekdays here. The sites are well shaded and in overall good shape. Good biking and hiking all right out of the camper. You can fish or swim steps from your camper. We rented a boat for 2 days to explore the lake. It was really nice since it was very hot. Boat rentals can be made in a short walk at shangri la resort. Overall I would return to this site.

Lake Ouachita is a great place with lots to do. We stayed at Tompkins Bend campground for 6 nights and would have stayed longer, but had to get home. No reservations taken this time of the year, but plenty of sites to set up for all sizes of RVs or tent campers, though some are a little tight to maneuver. The sites are mostly level with either gravel or paved pads. Many have water/electric hook ups and there is a dump station in the campground. Each loop has heated restrooms and hot showers available. There are picnic tables, BBQ grill and fire ring located at most ,if not all, sites. There is a great hiking trail, Lake Ouachita Vista trail which spans most of the southern part of the lake and hits all the campgrounds. With lake views, wildlife and forest, it is a nice hike and relatively easy, at least around this campground. With national parks pass the fee is 50% off, so we paid $11per night and there is a 14 day limit. It is only 30 miles from Hot Springs and within a couple of hours of other state parks and national Forest lands.

We didn't have a reservation, but had many sites to choose from. We took #58 loop D because of the water view. The site was great, but it was a little tough to get our 5th wheel into. The main problem was trees across the road from our drive. We pulled out with no problem, so I probably could have backed it with less problems. Mt Ida was only about 10 miles away with groceries, gas and restaurants available. We drove to Hot Springs to see the National Park, but it was October Fest and way to crowded for us.