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4.5
12 votes

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge

239 Turpentine Creek Ln, Eureka Springs, Arkansas 72632-9185 USA

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$$
Reasonable
Closed Now
Opens Tue 9a
  • Independent
  • Credit Cards
    Accepted
  • Not Wheelchair
    Accessible
  • Public
    Restrooms
  • Wifi
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“sleep with the big cats!”

Turpentine Creek is open every day of the year except Christmas. The self-guided area is open from 9 AM - 6 PM in the summer months and 9 AM - 5 PM in the winter months. Guided tours run every hour on the hour from 11AM - 3PM with feeding time at 4PM in the winter months and 11AM - 4PM with feeding time at 5PM in the summer months. In 1978, the Jackson Family acquired their first lion, Bum, while living in NE Texas. Tanya Jackson Smith, current president of TCWR, was only 11 years old at the time. In 1982, they acquired another lion, named Sheila. Although it wasn't easy taking care of the two lions in their backyard, the Jackson family was successful. Bum and Shelia moved from their home in Hope, Arkansas, to Eureka Springs when the Refuge was first started in 1992. They remained at the Refuge for their entire life. In December of 1991, Katherine Gordon Twiss, a breeder and black market dealer, showed up on the Jackson's doorstep with 42 big cats crammed into three cattle trailers. She was on the run from the law in Texas and desperately needed to find a home for the cats. A friend of the Jackson family lived on a ranch in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and offered temporary refuge for the cats. Later the property was bought for a permanent home. The 42 big cats were moved to the nearly 500 acre ranch near Eureka Springs, which later became what today is Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. The labor intensive job of quickly building temporary cages for the 42 big cats was completed. Twiss was impossible to get along with and moved all her 70 cats and 30 horses that she had picked up from around the country and brought them to the refuge. It soon became evident, by incoming phone calls from all over the country from "big cat pet owners" looking for a home for their cat, that someone needed to start a refuge, or sanctuary. The Jackson family: Don, Hilda, and Tanya stepped up to this challenge and did what most would only dream of - sold everything; moved over 300 miles; and humbly went to work for the animals. Today there are over a dozen reputable sanctuaries for big cats around the country, and Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge truly stands out as a frontrunner. The United States has thousands of its residents keeping dangerous big cats in their backyards, basements, garages, and warehouses. People acquire these animals as pets and soon find they have made a grave decision and turn to Turpentine Creek for refuge. Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge features a safari lodge, suite, treehouse and an RV park. Starting September 1, we will be implementing a 2 night minimum stay on weekend bookings in all rooms! Stop and sleep with the big cats!

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Reviews of Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge

11 people have reviewed this location

Ratings Summary

4.8 Access
4.8 Location
4.8 Cleanliness
4.7 Site Quality
5.0 Noise

Cell Coverage

Verizon 4G

Confirmed by 1 users | Last reported on May 31, 2021

AT&T 4G

Confirmed by 2 users | Last reported on May 31, 2021

T-Mobile 4G/5G

Confirmed by 2 users | Last reported on November 04, 2023
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Reviewed by
juswas

  • 12 Reviews
  • 3 Helpful
September 09, 2016
Rated 4.0

Easily recommend a stop at this place

1 person found this review helpful

Reviewed by
Shaunna13

  • 1 Review
  • 1 Helpful
August 22, 2016
Rated 5.0

This was our FAVORITE part of the trip!!! The entire refuge is cared for in such a prideful, and respectful way! The staff was stellar! Always professional, but laid back and willing/able to answer each and every question! Take the $5 trolley tour- it is beyond worth the money! This place is going to be a frequent family trip from now on!!!! SO AWESOME!!!

1 person found this review helpful
  • 7 Reviews
  • 4 Helpful
November 26, 2015
Rated 5.0

This is such a wonderful place that it would be a shame to miss it! We stay here at least 2x a year in the safari lodges. Love the cats. Staff is wonderful. Great place for a romantic weekend or to take the family for day

1 person found this review helpful
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Reviewed by
Campendium

March 15, 2020
Rated

The sites are grass, have electric and water on site. You will have to dump in town though, they give you a list of places and prices to go. Your price paid for the site includes a walking tour, self tour and tram tour. If you go into town for supper, you dont have to be rushed, they give you a code to get back into gates after they closed.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $65.00

Days Stayed: 1

Site Number: 6

4 Access
4 Location
4 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

AT&T 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

October 03, 2020
Rated

This is my top five favorite. The campground is right next to the animal enclosures. You get to interact withand see them up close. When they all get to corralling(big cat talking) it’s mesmerizing . You get the tram tourFree with your camping fee. This is a legit animal rescue and the camping fees support the animals.

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Nightly Rate: $45.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: -

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise
Photo of Campendium

Reviewed by
Campendium

May 26, 2021
Rated

Camping near lions and tigers who "carol" on and off all day and night is the coolest experience and my absolutely favorite thing about our stay. We selected spot #1, right next to a liger (lion/tiger mix) and enjoyed observing her. We backed up to a lovely wooded area and enjoyed some shade. Water and electric provided. No dump station. Wifi and cell service is decent. It's very quiet. Place is well maintained. A koi / lily pond as well as several flower gardens are nearby. As an overnight guest, a sanctuary tour is included. You also have unlimited access to the Discovery Center where you can watch a grizzly play in the water and observe a variety of other exotic critters.

Also available for overnight accomodations are two safari (glamping) tents, a tree house, and several cabins with access to a firepit and hot tub.

Turpentine Creek is located about 9 miles south of Eureka Springs: a cute little town worth checking out. Also recommend the very unique Quigley House just 4 miles down the road.

By the way, the second and third nights camping was $60.

All camping revenue goes to support the rescued animals so feel good about your camp fees supporting nearly 100 majestic animals with heartbreaking stories. ⁿlⁿ⁹8d8 8d8 7

I'd stay here again in a minute!!!!

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $80.00

Days Stayed: 3

Site Number: 1

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise
  • 41 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
May 31, 2021
Rated

Amazing, unique camping experience! Site 1 is directly next to the liger (ligress) in her enclosure. If you have panoramic driver side windows like we do on our RV, it's a perfect view to watch her in her habitat.

This is a beautiful place both in terms of the landscape and the inhabitants/animals. Koi ponds, lily pads, pretty gardens and wonderful rescued animals. The campsite itself is grassy and somewhat level. Water and 50Amp was available, as well as 30 and maybe 20A connections too. No sewer available even though it looks like they are starting to put in connections but haven't finished -- or maybe used to have connections and now don't. Clean bathrooms near the gate entrance, but still reachable with a long walk or a short drive.

This is a destination, not an RV park but it works well as an RV park too with the partial hookups and the view onto the ligress habitat. Tour is included with the cost of camping, for two people. It's one of the more expensive places we have camped, but the money goes towards the wildlife refuge, which makes it worth it. We spent $65 on the site itself plus two extra people who came on the tour only plus pet fees, so around $125 or so. But it's well worth it.

Cellular data service was sluggish, but not unexpected out here. There is guest wifi here and it was good enough. Out of all the cell providers we have Verizon had the best service consistently.

Eureka Springs is a destination in and of itself, but only 15 minutes away from the refuge. We had a great dinner out at a German-Czech restaurant called the Bavarian. Everyone loved their meal. No one was disappointed. There were many other restaurants to go to there as well. You get a gate code when you are a guest so you can come and go as you wish to go out to eureka springs or wherever.

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Nightly Rate: $65.00

Days Stayed: 1

Site Number: 1

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

AT&T 4G

T-Mobile 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

February 10, 2023
Rated

Why $65 is a GREAT Deal for a water & electric site!!! This includes 2 "VIP" passes ($32 each.) We had access to the Discovery Center any time during operating hours. We were able to visit the habitat area multiple times - You book a time when you make a reservation - check in the office for other available seats and put your name on the list... the last tour of the day is just before feeding and the animals are close to the road. AND you are helping to support the care of these rescued animals.

We stayed in site 1. We have to pay a non refundable pet deposit of $5 for each animal, but there was a ligress just outside our window (behind 2 fences.)!

We stayed here once before we had an RV and were in the Safari Lodge. The view from our deck was very beautiful.

I'm giving this 5 stars for noise, if I could give it 10 I would... the lions "caroled" all through the night. I have a clip of it in our video.

To say this is a unique lodging experience does not begin to describe this place.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $65.00

Days Stayed: 1

Site Number: 1

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise
Photo of Campendium

Reviewed by
Campendium

November 04, 2023
Rated

I’d give it 7 stars if they’d have at least an RV dump station but they don’t. Each of the 6 sites have electric and water. Try and get the numerically lowest site you can so you can better hear or even see the cats “Carol”. Take the tour(s).Attend the Behavioral Training sessions in the mornings. It’s SO nice to stay at an RV park and listen to the big cats and not listen to traffic and/or train horns. The staff are super friendly and knowledgeable. There’s also a nice/small laundry in town w a Harts grocery store next door.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $50.00

Days Stayed: 3

Site Number: 2

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

T-Mobile 5G

Reviewed by
Lesli Peterson

  • Blogger
  • 1,213 Reviews
  • 59 Helpful
April 11, 2022
Rated 5.0

Explore the wild side of Eureka Springs by visiting the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. Here, big cats romp and play. Tigers, lions, leopards (oh my!) wait to meet visitors to their refuge.

This remarkable refuge provides a safe home for neglected big cats. You might find an Asian tiger preening in lush grass or a cougar leaping from rocks in their exhibit.

We think a stop here is one of the best things to do in Eureka Springs!

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Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge

239 Turpentine Creek Ln
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
72632-9185 USA
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Hours

Closed Now
  • Sun - Sat: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm

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Good for wildlife viewing.

  • Check
    Parking
  • Unavailable
    Pets Allowed
  • Check
    Restrooms
  • Check
    Wifi
  • Unavailable
    Wheelchair Accessible
  • Check
    Credit Cards Accepted
Last Nightly Rate
65.0
Longest Vehicle Length Reported
37.0
Lowest Nightly Rate
45.0
Max Length
45 ft
  • Check
    Fifty Amp
  • Check
    Full Hookup
  • Unavailable
    Pull Through
  • Unavailable
    Tent Sites
  • Unavailable
    Dump Station
  • Unavailable
    Big Rigs
  • Unavailable
    Open Seasonally
  • Unavailable
    Age Restricted
  • Unavailable
    Boondock
  • Unavailable
    Cabin Sites
  • Unavailable
    Dispersed Sites
  • Unavailable
    Firewood
  • Unavailable
    Fulltime Residents
  • Unavailable
    Group Tent Sites
  • Unavailable
    Laundry
  • Unavailable
    Mobile Homes
  • Unavailable
    Permit Required
  • Unavailable
    Propane
  • Unavailable
    Public Water
  • Unavailable
    Pull Through RV Sites
  • Check
    Reservations
  • Check
    Sewer Hookup
  • Unavailable
    Showers
  • Unavailable
    Standard Tent Sites
  • Check
    Water Hookup
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Campground, Parking, Restrooms

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