Thursday, May 9, 2013

Lake Dardanelle State Park, Russellville, AR

Russellville, AR

While we had a great time at Natchez Trace SP it was time to move on.  Our immediate goal is to slowly work our way to the SKPs national rally (Escapade) in Gillette, WY at the end of June.

We have a couple of stops in mind, but nothing is ever set in stone.  After a bit of internet searching and reading reviews on RV Park Reviews we decided to head over to the middle section of Arkansas. We drove about 350 miles Wednesday enroute from Natchez Trace SP to Lake Dardanelle SP near Russellville, AR.  The trip was fairly uneventful until we got near Brinkley, AR (on I-40 west). Road construction on the bridge over the White River has been continuing for MANY, MANY long months now and we were prepared to detour on a parallel road if the need arose.  Well, not only was the road construction backing up traffic for many miles, but a very serious crash involving multiple tractor-trailers occurred in the construction zone.  We heard later that there was at least one fatality in the crash.  The detour only slowed us by about 25 minutes (and we were continuously moving), so we really couldn't complain.  Also, what difference would it make anyway!  (Another great advantage of the fulltime lifestyle!)

Park Entrance
We arrived at Lake Dardanelle State Park around 4 PM. We had reservations for 5 days originally, but after taking a look around I believe we'll be extending our stay a few more days. 
Top(L) Looking "up" the road  Top(R) Typical WF Site
Bottom(L) Patio and Tent Platform  Bottom(R) End of circle
This is one beautiful park!  The sites are well spaced and our "A" section has a view of the water from every site. 

Patio Side
Our Site (Afternoon Shade, but still Satellite!)


Lake Dardanelle is large.  With 315 miles of shoreline, it is a 34,000 acre man-made lake on the Arkansas River.  One of the many locks and dams sites are just south of the campground.

Top(L) Swim Beach  Top(R) Fishing Tournament Area
Bottom(L) Picnicking  Bottom (R) Visitor Center
In addition to the campground there are great facilities for picnicking, boating, biking, hiking, and fishing.  I'm not into fishing, but the park has some great facilities for bass fishing tournaments. They have devoted a whole building complete with fish tanks, weighing station, viewing areas, and launching ramps nearby for the professional Bassmasters Nation Event held here each year.

We didn't get a chance to get our Sea Eagle boat in the water while in Natchez Trace SP in Tennessee due to the rain the last couple of days, but this park looks very favorable for that activity. 

On Thursday we took a short drive and visited another Arkansas SP, but more on that in our next post.

Thanks for dropping by to take a look!

7 comments:

  1. Glad you made it through that construction site, that's where Marti met that unpleasant AR trooper. :cO

    Hope they finish that work soon, it sure messes up the traffic flow.

    Really nice campground, you have to get the boat out and go paddling. That water is too good to waste! :cD

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  2. This does look like a great State Park with full hookups on a beautiful lake! Hope you are able to get your inflatables out. We have a couple of inflatable yaks that we love. I will be sure to put this park on my list.

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    1. We hope to get the Sea Eagle Paddleski out sometime this weekend. Will shoot some pics.

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  3. If you like small festivals, the Yell Fest is going on right across the river from you today, Sat May 11th. It is in Dardanelle on the left just after you cross the Highway 7 bridge. You can see it as you are driving over the bridge. Enjoy your stay in the Russellville area. It is beautiful this time of year.

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    1. Thanks for the info. We'll try and check it out if we make it back from Petit Jean SP in time.

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  4. If you like small local festivals, the Yell Fest is in Dardanelle today, May 11th right across the river from you. Cross over the Hwy 7 bridge into Dardanelle and you can see it on the south side of the bridge. Take the first left and have fun!

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