Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Bard Springs
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · AR · 34.39118, -94.00847
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →U.S. Forest Service lists this as a developed campground. Expect marked sites, a fee station or a reservation, and the usual campground rules. The dispersed-camping freedom of the surrounding forest does not apply inside it. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Bard Springs · Ouachita National Forest · AR
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 501 (Bard Springs Camping), 20 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as crushed aggregate or gravel surface and maintenance level 4 – moderate degree of user comfort.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 501 (Bard Springs Camping), 20 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 501 (Bard Springs Camping): “01/01-12/31” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
From the Forest Service's own Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW, Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026), straight-line from the pin to the nearest mapped segment. The nearest segment is not necessarily the way in, a maintenance level is the agency's class and not a report on today, and a road's season is the road's — it is not a campground order. What the levels mean → What an MVUM is →
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Bard Springs
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,251 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Bard SpringsNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Bard Springs · Ouachita National Forest · AR
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- ShShower2 mi
- DDump2 mi
- @Mail8 mi
- FFuel18 mi
- RxPharmacy18 mi
- GGrocery18 mi
- HHardware18 mi
- MMechanic35 mi
- +Urgent care36 mi
- LLaundry36 mi
- OOutfitter46 mi
- EVEV fast charger49 mi
- WWater54 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 54-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 18 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 49-mi run (and back).
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Bard Springs
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
1,251 ft
Ground slope
16.8% · steep
State
AR
Coordinates
34.39118, -94.00847
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Bard Springs · Ouachita National Forest · AR (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBlaylock Creek · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townBoard Camp · ~10.6 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelExxon · ~18.2 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~2.1 mi
- GroceriesShell · ~18.3 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~18.2 mi
- HardwareCoast to Coast Home & Hardware · ~18.5 mi
EV charging — from Bard Springs · Ouachita National Forest · AR — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger49.2 mi straight-line SW — James Hodge Chevrolet, Broken Bow, OK (at a car dealership) · EV Connect · CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-07-15 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 1 within 50 · 40 within 100 · 112 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)54.2 mi — Hope, AR - Tesla Supercharger, Hope
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO53.9 mi — Walmart 1065 (Hope, AR), Hope
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)20.2 mi — Mountain Harbor Resort - Boat Ramp #1, Mount Ida, AR · Blink Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast charger$3 per kWh (as listed by AFDC)
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 461315 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Bard Springs · Ouachita National Forest · AR — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Flush restroomShady Lake · ~2.1 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWolf Pen Gap East · ~4.4 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletAlbert Pike · ~7.5 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWolf Pen Gap South · ~9.2 mi NW · USFS
Coming out here — Bard Springs · Ouachita National Forest · AR
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Blaylock Creek as a perennial stream, under 0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 16.8% — steep. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Bard Springs elsewhere
Other camps near Bard Springs
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Loop C~2.0 mi
- Shady Lake~2.1 mi · fee
- Loop D~2.1 mi
- Loop B~2.2 mi
The unit that manages Bard Springs
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Bard Springs are set by Ouachita National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Bard Springs
Source
U.S. Forest Service recreation data
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
Developed FEE campground (not free) - review | auto:usfs-fee 2026-08-20: US Forest Service developed campground, agency coordinates, agency states a fee. No dollar amount in the agency record -- expect a charge and confirm the current rate before you go. Not field-verified.
Nearest MVUM road
US Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW_MVUM_01, layer 1), Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026. Straight-line distance from the pin to the nearest mapped segment within 1 mi; surface type, maintenance level and open dates are the agency's own values for that segment, expanded from its codes and otherwise unedited. Nothing here says which road reaches the site.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Bard Springs
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Whether that MVUM road is the way in, and the last stretch beyond it
- Whether the site itself closes on its own schedule — only the road's season is on record
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Bard Springs
Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Gear & rig loadout →All field notes →