Campground Information:
Devils Den State Park
11333 West Ar Hwy 74, West Fork, Arkansas
(479) 761-3325
www.ArkansasStateParks.com
email:
devilsden@arkansas.com
Campground Visit / Stay Information:
Stay: 7/29/2006 - 8/2/06 (4+ days).
Site type: back-in with full hook-ups (WES).
Site amenities: picnic table; paved pad; fire pit; grill; lantern pole; gravel pad for tent; shade trees; no cable.
Rate/night: $27
Extra Charges/night (Pets, Children, A/C, etc): Unknown
First or Return Visit: First visit
Your Rating (1 Low – 5 High): 5
Campground Facilities Information:
Back-in/pull-through: All campsites in Campground are back-in. Some were not suitable (either due to shorter length or problematic access) for our 2363. Loop "E" most desirable for TT-TV combos. best to call, as did I, to get appropriate site.
Hook-ups: 44 sites were electric, water, sewer; there is a total of 150 sites in park but brochure and web site not clear on breakdown of W/E sites and those with no utilities.
Credit Cards Accepted: VISA, MC, Disc, not sure about Amex.
Discounts Accepted (Good Sam, KOA, other): none I know of.
Roads: Roads were all paved, I would call them good. Only problem is narrow roads and turns in vicinity of Visitors center, could create difficulty for long TT-TV combinations. Best to call ahead and arrange to set camper up in campground before going to office at the Visitors Center. Also, brochure advises "large" trailers should not use Hwy 74 from Winslow to the park. We departed the park using this route and had no problems, although, coming in this way and braking for all the hairpin curves coming down the hill will require use of lowest gears and watching carefully for oncoming traffic.
Level Sites (Yes/No; rating: 1 low – 3 high): yes, rating: 3
Wide/Open Sites (Yes/No; rating: 1 low – 3 high): Yes, rating: 2.5
Restroom Cleanliness (1 low – 3 high): rating of 3 - restrooms were clean and well maintained.
Store (Yes/No; rating: 1 low – 3 high): yes, rating: 1.5 (small, with some essentials).
Game Room (Yes/No; rating: 1 low – 3 high): Yes, no rating, did not visit.
Pool (Yes/No; Heated/Not Heated; Clean, rating: 1 low – 3 high): Yes, open during summer (not heated), clean, rating: 2 (nice pool but a bit crowed for us).
A coin laundry also available.
Campground Impressions:
Kid Friendly (Yes/No - Activities): Yes, has pool, large softball field, 8 acre lake with paddle boats and canoes, interpretive programs, Junior Naturalist and Explorer programs in summer.
People Friendly (Yes/No): Very
WiFi Friendly (Yes/No; - Charge?/Service Provider?): No
Cell Phone Coverage (Yes/No - Service Provider?): Not dependable, Park in a deep valley. TV reception also very poor.
Pet Friendly (Yes/No): Yes
Personal Comments:
This park was built by the CCC in the 1930s and refurbished in the 1970s while retaining its character. It has many original rock and wood buildings and cabins and a large rock dam that creates a small lake. When you drive into the valley it feels like the clock turns back 70 years. Even so, the campgrounds themselves are modern, clean, and well-maintained. The loop we were in had a bath house that was several years old and in pristine condition. All the hook-ups in the loop were new. The park offers a number of short and long hiking and mountain biking trails, lots to offer for the nature lover. The park is not near any sort of metropolitan center or town of major size (seven miles to Winslow, population 399), so if you need lots of civilization, this is not the one. The things we liked about the park were its isolation, its natural beauty, the CCC buildings and stone work, the mountain creek just beyond our campsite, the modern campground, and the abundance and variety of trails. So far in our limited travels, our stay at this park is tops on our list.
Jerry
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