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Scott and Jackie's Travels – Thousand Trails Reviews, Campground Reviews, Fulltime RVing, European Travel

Tag: Arkansas

2018 – Maumelle CoE Campground – Little Rock, AZ

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We had a shorter stay at Little Rock’s Maumelle CoE Campground in 2015 and looked forward to this return visit. This is a terrific Corps of Engineers campground located along the Arkansas River in the Little Rock metro. I reviewed the campground on our previous visit and I think everything I said then still applies now.

The campsites away from the river are great sites. The ones along the river are, well, excellent. Most of them are 50 amp, paved, back in spots. A few are pull through. Many motorhomes pull in rather than back in so they can enjoy the beautiful river view. A good rule of thumb when reserving is that the riverfront sites on the western end of the campground have their river view blocked by a big marina. Those on the eastern end are 30 amp only. And – unless you are coming in for only a night or two, you will need reservations if you want one of these prime sites.

Otherwise, I think it would be a challenge to get satellite TV in many of the sites away from the river. To be fair, most of the Little Rock broadcast TV stations towers are very near the campground. Without even raising our TV antenna we got nearly 40 channels! I also got satellite so there was no lack of TV for us. Also, my Verizon 4G signal was a good one.

As you can tell we really like Maumelle and give it a two thumbs up.


See individual photos with captions here.

2018 – Sightseeing Little Rock, AR and vicinity

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Sometimes in our travels we stay at a campground that is, in itself, an “attraction.” We’ll review Maumelle Corps of Engineers campground in a separate post, but it’s one of those campgrounds that’s so pretty with such great campsites that we enjoyed just hanging out at the campground rather than heading out to see the sights.

We did, though, spend the better part of a day at the Arkansas State Fair; our second big fair this year. We entered the fairgrounds through the midway but we quickly made our way back to the exhibit areas. We walked through a building with a wide variety of vendors and items for sale and then visited the cattle barn. My favorite building was arts and crafts. I’m always amazed the beautiful throws, pillows, clothes and quilts people make. In the same building the end wall was full of canned foods but it was the blue ribbon gigantic pumpkins and watermelons that got my attention. Our final stop of the day was at the arena where they were judging cattle and giving the ribbons. This was a new experience for me and very interesting.

Pinnacle Mountain State Park was very near our campground. We visited this park a couple of years ago and remembered that it is a terrific place to visit. As we arrived at the park near the Visitor’s Center we saw some beautiful early fall colors in the trees by the pond. We then climbed the stairs to the observation deck and were rewarded with a great view of the wetlands with the Arkansas River below us. There was no one else there and I enjoyed not only the view but also the quiet away from traffic and crowds. After a pleasant time there we went to the Visitor’s Center. I enjoyed seeing the wildlife dioramas and the live beehive behind glass. For those with with children there are interactive displays, color pages and other activities. This is a great place and surprisingly close to Little Rock.


See individual photos with captions here.

Sightseeing Review: Pinnacle Mountain State Park, Little Rock, AR

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Pinnacle Mountain State Park is just a short drive from our campground, Maumelle CoE Park and at Little Rock, AR. We especially enjoyed having our grandson, Matt, with us for our visit there. At the visitors’ center there are several dioramas, a touch table with bones, rocks, antlers and other items. There is also an area with live snakes, tadpoles, and a baby alligator. Just an easy walk from the Visitors Center is a short trail with stairs is an overlook of the Arkansas River. We enjoyed the view and while there we saw six deer come out of the trees below and cross the field. From there we drove over to the Arkansas arboretum. The paths are paved and along the trail are markers with the names of trees with several stops that have a self-powered, hand crank machines that you crank and to hear recordings of facts about the area. We took a short walk to a river overlook with a bench. I highly recommend this day use park.

Campground review: Maumelle CoE Park, Little Rock, AR

grscott

We’ve enjoyed our short stay at Maumelle Park in Little Rock, AR very much. This Corps of Engineers Park is beautifully situated on the Arkansas River which is at least a mile wide at this point. The grounds are well kept and the park really does offer a “park-like” experience. There are many campsites situated right on the river, providing great views. Many sites are 50 amp and most of the sites can be reserved. There’s a boat launch, three playgrounds, and several group shelters.

We had a bit of unease driving in to the campground. The roads are rather narrow with no shoulders. Really, had the signage trailblazing the route in not been so good I think I would have been a bit worried that I had gotten off onto the wrong road. Also, as you pick a campsite you might want to know that there’s a big yacht club in the river and along the northern river front campsites that pretty much ruin the view of the river for those sites. Also, none of the public campsites have sewer hookups; however, the campground allows campers to drain gray water out and water the grass with a water hose (a policy I wish many other campgrounds would adopt). One thing we enjoyed a lot was the bluegrass players who come to the park on summer weekends. They gathered in clusters and made great music all through the evening. Anyone is welcome to bring a lawn chair and enjoy the music.

One outstanding feature of the campground is the availability of several campsites which are specifically reserved for patients at the nearby Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. These are full hookup sites (many are pull throughs) that give patients and their families a pleasant place to stay while battling the illness. I applaud the Institute and the Army Corps of Engineers for this wonderful partnership.

Near the campground is Pinnacle Mountain State Park, a great place to hike. There are plenty of restaurants, food stores, and gas stations nearby. Downtown Little Rock is around 20 minutes away. We had no problem getting our satellite signal and had a good Verizon 4G signal.

All in all, I’d say this place is a real winner and will be our Little Rock campground of choice in the future.