We Would Rather Be Camping!: The Narrows Campground at Greers Ferry Lake

This post is almost a year overdue. We camped at The Narrows campground at Greers Ferry Lake near Heber Springs, Arkansas (about 60 miles north of Little Rock, AR) over the Memorial Day weekend 2012. We had a great time once we got there. There was a little TOO much adventure in the getting there – but that will be saved for another story.

Greers Ferry Lake is a popular outdoor recreation spot for people who live within a days drive to the area. As you can imagine, all of the campgrounds were packed Memorial Day weekend. The main attraction is the large lake (about 40,500 acres). On any pretty weekend, you will see it dotted with ski boats, fishing boats, jet skis, and party barges. The lake is actually 2 lakes connected by a narrow gorge that is filled with water. This narrow part is called “The Narrows” and that is the campground we stayed at. As I recall, we made reservations several months in advance but most of the spots were already reserved. They book up fast for a holiday weekend. There is also a dam at one end with The Little Red River on the other side. The JFK campground borders the Little Red River which is very popular with the fishing crowd.

Most of the campgrounds that border the water are run by the Army Corps of Engineers. There are 10 that I know of: Heber Springs, John FKennedy,

Dam Site, Old Hwy 25, Shiloh, Hill Creek, Narrows, Devils Fork, SugarLoaf, and Choctaw. Click on the names to see a map of each campground. A good number of the sites are first come, first serve but many are reserveable at reserveamerica.com. I think all of the sites are without water hookups (most have electricity, but some have no hookups). There are several water spigots that you can get potable water from to fill your camper’s water tank.

We stayed at site #B-2 at the Narrows and we liked it pretty well. The one thing that I did not like was that the “living area” was at the street. What I mean by that is the picnic table, grill, fire-pit was all on the street side and because the campground was so busy, it felt like you were on display. Next time, I might pick #B-1 for that reason. Both sites have a short walk to get to the water. A very popular campground is the G loop at Old Hwy 25 campground. It seems to be perpetually booked up, but I would like to stay there sometime as well. The Old Hwy 25 campground has more modern facilities. I avoided the restrooms/showers at The Narrows (my only real complaint). Glad we had a fully contained camper. Of course, the campground was packed that weekend.

We bought some plastic floating pool chairs at the dollar store nearby and went out to where the boats were making big waves with their wake. (Doesn’t take much to make us happy). It felt great to get out of the near 100 degree temps into the cool waters of the lake.

Anyway, if you enjoy camping and boating or fishing or just being near a lake, you may want to plan a trip to this area. We will definitely go back!