Lake Leatherwood City Park Campground

Minutes from Eureka Springs is this lovely small clear lake & campground. We tent camped next to the water in a large field with access to walking & bike trails. You can fish, rent kayaks, & buy bait, firewood. You can also burn any fallen tree limbs you find in the forest. A recent tornado has fallen a few old trees. Has a nice climbing playground for the kids, a bath house with flushing toilets & showers.

I've never been to this part of the Ozarks, taking Hwy 65 up from Little Rock. Lovely drive with plenty of camping options along the way. I made a reservation on RA - with the fee and tourism tax it was just over $40 total. Getting here was no problem if you like 'crooked & steep' mountain driving. We arrived just as it was getting dark to find the only other person here in the spot I reserved with a trailer (turned out to be the new camp host whose site wasn't ready yet). We took the spot next to it which also had full hookups. The electric had 30/50 available but no breakers, just plugs. The water was fine. The sewer was just PVC at ground level, also fine. Leveling was nearly impossible if I wanted to stay hooked up so we filled the water tank and emptied the black and grey as it was getting down to 25F overnight. The bath house was cute in a WPA style. The heat was on, showers hot with good shower heads, and stocked with paper towels. When the sun came up we found the lower RV section of the improved camping area to be quite nice though 30 amp only (no water). There was more dry camping in the field and across a dry stream bed. All of this is right on the lake surrounded by lovely mountains. There was a huge playset in the center area and a trail that goes around the lake suitable for hiking and some biking (Beacham Trail) depending on skill level and conditions. There were other gravity trail heads further up the road towards the entrance. This is not a big rig park and also a park where a booster comes in very handy. Speeds were slow but there was no signal without a booster and up to 4 bars with. Downtown Eureka Springs was less than a 15 minute drive.

The Lake looks beautiful in the nice frosty morning in February. I arrived at 9pm and there was a 30’ RV parked at the other end of the park. There is a large field closer to the lake to park at which is about a 300’ walk to the kayak, canoe dock.

There weren’t any signs to leave donations or requiring a fee but my assumption was it was definitely the off season. I would expect a small fee in the summer months.

I called. There are assigned RV and tent sites. I didn’t ask the fee as they were booked up. It looks beautiful from the photos though.

We stayed here for three nights in mid-September. The temperatures were lovely. Site 31 is fantastic. The bathhouse next to it was built by the civilian conservation corps, which automatically spells history and quality. We rented a paddle cycling boat for $20 per hour and were two of only four people on the lovely lake. The marina is within walking distance of site 31. There are trails here, although I didn’t do them. I just loved sitting in the shade, looking at the lake and reading. I made a complaint that there was no fastener on the men’s bathroom door. Someone installed one within five minutes. There is serviceable WiFi, which is great since the cell signal for att is so poor here. It’s a 12-minute drive to Eureka Springs, but I was far more impressed with this campground than I was with Eureka Springs, which is charming/touristy.

An older park that could be spectacular with better maintenance.

It is not big rig friendly at all. Don’t even think about. The other reviews on this site are very accurate. It’s just a bit more worn then the pictures would indicate.

Gorgeous park! Just sat outside for quite some time soaking it all in.