Crystal Springs (AR)
October 2026
About
Overview
Crystal Springs Campground, perched on the shores of Lake Ouachita in Arkansas, is an ideal spot for families, friends and couples. Approximately 1.2 million people visit the lake each year to explore its crystal clear waters and scenic mountain landscape.
Click here for the Lake Ouachita Virtual Tour.
Recreation
Visitors enjoy fishing, water skiing, hiking and boating. Scuba diving is particularly popular because of the lake's high underwater visibility. Small and rare freshwater jellyfish (non-stinging) can be found, in addition to many types of fish, including the striped bass, lazily drifting between rocks.
Bald eagles are a big attraction for bird watchers and photographers in winter months.
Facilities
The campground consists of 63 sites with electric and water hookups. There is also a reservable group campsite that includes electrical and water hookups. The two group picnic shelters have electricity. Other amenities include a dump station, fish cleaning station, hot showers, boat ramp, playground and a swim beach.
Natural Features
Lake Ouachita is nestled in the Ouachita Mountains just 10 miles west of Hot Springs National Park. The pool is fed by the cool waters of the Ouachita River and extends about 30 miles over 40,000 surface acres.
Nearby Attractions
Part of the scenic 223-mile Ouachita National Recreation Trail runs just north of the lake. Here, hikers and mountain bikers can explore an array of breathtaking views in the Ouachita Mountains.
Contact Info
This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (501) 767-2101.
Amenities
Phone: 501-991-3390
Is Crystal Springs (AR) fully booked?
A campground showing no availability is almost never full for good. People cancel — plans change, weather turns, someone books three weekends and keeps one — and the site goes straight back into the booking system, usually without warning and often at odd hours. The reason sold-out campgrounds feel impossible is not that sites never free up; it is that nobody is watching at the moment they do.
CampHawk watches Crystal Springs (AR) in Royal, AR for you. We recheck it every 15 seconds, around the clock, and the moment a site opens we send a text, an email and a push notification — and on Recreation.gov we can put the site straight into your cart, so it is held while you get to your phone.
Searching is free and needs no account — the calendar above is live right now. Watching Crystal Springs (AR) for cancellations is the paid part.