★ Field-verified · Dave's ownFederal · dispersedFree
Garland County
Drive-up · public land · Garland County, AR · 34.66308, -93.28722
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 →Dave's been here. A spot from Dave's own travels on public land — free to camp. Conditions still change, so confirm access, stay limits and fire rules before you go.
A primitive grassy area adjacent to Lake Ouachita, not far from Hot Springs, Arkansas. This is a popular, free camping area for RVs, boaters, and fishermen. It's spacious and serene, however prepare to listen to generators running in the distance throughout the night. Beautiful lake. Fun for boating, and Ouachita wilderness ripe for exploration. Recommended. Some cell service.
A night on record
Dave slept here, but his diary does not date the night: this entry carries only a timestamp it shares with 50 other entries in eight states, all written within the same three seconds — a file being saved, not a night. So it says nothing about season.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Garland County
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 578 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Garland CountyNIFC · 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 Garland County · 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
- MMechanic9 mi
- @Mail9 mi
- FFuel12 mi
- GGrocery12 mi
- RxPharmacy16 mi
- EVEV fast charger16 mi
- WWater17 mi
- HHardware19 mi
- +Urgent care26 mi
- LLaundry38 mi
- DDump41 mi
- ShShower41 mi
- OOutfitter44 mi
- PPropane45 mi
- AAir-up54 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 12 mi out.
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 — Garland County
Access
Drive-up
Land
public land · dispersed
Elevation
578 ft
Ground slope
6.3% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~8.8 mi · other track
County
Garland County, AR
Coordinates
34.66308, -93.28722
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Garland County · Ouachita National Forest · AR (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLake Ouachita · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townAvant · ~3.2 mi
- Nearest rail line~8.8 mi · other track
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelShell · ~11.5 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesJoplin Store · ~12.5 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~16.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicHospital · ~17.0 mi
- HardwareTrue Value · ~21.1 mi
From the field — what Dave saw, in person
Cell service
Had a signal
Getting there
Any vehicle managed it
Fire ring
No
Toilet on site
No
Tent friendly
Yes
Verdict
Recommended
EV charging — from Garland County · Ouachita National Forest · AR — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger16.4 mi straight-line SE — FRANKLINS 3-4 FRANKLIN HS2, Hot Springs, AR · ChargePoint Network · CHAdeMO, CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach3 within 25 mi · 12 within 50 · 45 within 100 · 97 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)16.4 mi — FRANKLINS 3-4 FRANKLIN HS1, Hot Springs
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)9.9 mi — Mountain Harbor Resort - South Dock, Mount Ida, AR · Blink Network · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- 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 253319 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Garland County · Ouachita National Forest · AR — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomComfort Station, Building 78 · ~7.7 mi N · NPS
- Vault / pit toiletHickory Nut Mountain · ~10.3 mi SW · USFS
- RestroomMens Comfort Station, Building 3-A · ~10.7 mi E · NPS
- RestroomFordyce Bathhouse, Building 105 · ~11.0 mi NE · NPS
Coming out here — Garland County · Ouachita National Forest · AR
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Lake Ouachita as a perennial lake or pond, 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 6.3% — gentle. 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.
- Rail line mapped ~8.8 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as other track. No track the atlas classes as a main line is mapped within 10 mi. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in it.
- Assume no services at all. Most dispersed camping in a national forest has none: no tap, no power, no dump, often no toilet. Everything you need, you bring.
- 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 Garland County elsewhere
Other camps near Garland County
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Garland County~4.9 mi
- Hickory Nut Mountain Campground~10.4 mi
- Bear Creek Equestrian Camp~11.1 mi
- Loop C~11.2 mi
The unit that manages Garland County
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Garland County are set by Ouachita National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Garland County
Source
Dave's own travels
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
FIELD VERIFIED by Dave Lalande -- he has stood on this site. Coordinates are his own GPX track point, not a geocode. County and state confirmed against the FCC Census Block API (Garland County, AR). Everything under 'From the field' is a direct observation; nothing here is inferred from a land record.
A night on record
Dave's own GPS diary, 2017–2020: the date of the waypoint he saved here. The timestamp is UTC, so an entry saved in the evening carries the next morning's date. An observation of one night, never a forecast.
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
Verified on the ground. Dave has stood on this one. His diary does not date the night. Conditions still change — confirm before you commit.
What we don’t know about Garland County
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.
- How many rigs actually fit
- Seasonal & winter access
- 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 — Garland County
Water on public land →Reading a forest MVUM →Dumping grey & black →Off-grid communication →All field notes →