By:
Submission
APRIL 2020 - Closed temporarily due to storm damage Small campground with Adirondack-type shelters in a remote mountain setting on a small scenic stream. It provides a good site for a base camp for hikers in the Caney Creek Wilderness.
Take Arkansas Hwy. 84 west of Glenwood, AR; turn northwest on Arkansas Hwy. 246 at Athens, AR; turn right (north) on Forest Service Road 38 for 7 miles; turn right (east) on Forest Service Road 106 for 1/2 mile.
This was a very nice campground prior to tornado damage. The shelters are pretty much all damaged and inaccessible. It looks like some work (heavy machinery) is ongoing at the sites and pavilion directly next to springs.
I'm going to rate this 5 stars based on previous experiences with the area, but it is pretty much "closed" right now due to storm damage.
There are two entrances into the area, the first that you would come to if coming into the area from the direction of Shady Lake is the day-use only area. The second entrance is a bit further down and is where the camping sites and shelters are located.
It is important to note, however, that sometime in the first half of 2020 (I believe), a bad storm came through the area and knocked down A LOT of trees, and much of the former beauty of this area was demolished. Several of the Adirondack shelters have had their roofs torn off while others have trees lying on them that have utterly destroyed them. The drive into the area is completely blocked by more than one massive tree that have fallen into the roadway. The best way, otherwise, to explain how many trees have fallen is that once you got past the informational billboard on the camping side, the canopy of trees were thick enough that at night, you could barely see any stars. Now, the camping area has one of the most open clearings and views of the sky anywhere within a few miles.
The camping portion of the area was hit the hardest, while most of the day-use only area is still intact. Many of the trails and paths leading to other parts of the area and Blaylock creek are blocked by massive trees.
It's probably too soon after the storms to say for sure whether or not this area will be cleared and repaired, especially with all of the COVID-19 related restrictions, but it was a beautiful spot before with plenty of camping sites that were reasonably spaced out. It had basic needs met while still retaining enough of the feel that you were still out in the middle of the forest. I really hope that this will eventually return to its former glory.
Sad to see that the 2020 storm damage hasn't been repaired yet and that camping is still closed. But it's still a beautiful place for sure.
