Petit Jean WMA Camping Area #1

public land records

Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.

Petit Jean River WMA designated camping area, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. LEGAL BASIS -- AGFC 2026-27 General WMA Regulations, agfc.com/regulations/general-wma-regulations/ read 2026-08-16, verbatim: "Unless otherwise noted under a specific WMA, camping is limited to no more than 14 consecutive days and must be in a designated camping area." Also: "It is unlawful to camp or use any campsite for more than 30 days total during one calendar year"; camps "may not remain unoccupied for more than 48 hours"; "Creating a disturbance after 10 p.m. is not allowed"; it is unlawful to possess alcoholic beverages on Commission-controlled WMAs. FIRE: you may not "burn any noncombustible materials in campsites", "burn wood, brush or grass outside of designated campsites", or "leave a fire unattended or allow one to escape from control". THE 'UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED' CLAUSE IS LOAD-BEARING -- individual WMAs override these numbers, so read that WMA's own page at agfc.com/wma/ before publishing a stay limit. ACCESS PERMIT, NOT A CAMPING FEE: AGFC's general WMA regulations state "All campers 16 and older on AGFC-owned WMAs must have a valid hunting or fishing license or a WMA/Lake Conservation Permit ($10.50)." That is a right-of-access permit for the whole area. AGFC publishes NO separate per-night camping charge for these sites, and its own GIS marks this point 'No Fee Site' -- which is why fee=0. THIS WMA, CHECKED DIRECTLY: AGFC's page for this WMA, read 2026-08-16: 15,782 acres, AGFC-owned. The page refers to "designated campsites, parking areas and boat launch ramps" in its waterfowl-access rules but does NOT publish a campsite count or camping paragraph, so the only camping rule I can source for it is the general WMA regulation above. Hunting seasons run on these areas. Check agfc.com/wma for current season dates, permit hunts and any closure before you go, and wear hunter orange in season. AGFC records NO 'last_verified_date' for this point -- age unknown. COORDINATE PROVENANCE: the latitude and longitude on this row are AGFC's own, taken from the public ArcGIS service https://gisec2.agfc.com/arcgis/rest/services/GIS/AGFC_DATA/MapServer layer 1 ('Public Use Facilities'), queried 2026-08-16 for ftype IN ('RVs Allowed - No Hookups','Tents Only','RVs Allowed - Hookups','RVs Allowed - Hookups and Dump'). This is the agency's mapped facility point, NOT a field visit and NOT a geocode. The fee flag on this row is AGFC's own 'fdescrip' column reading 'No Fee Site'. AGFC does not publish per-site facility detail, so the presence of a table, fire ring, toilet or trash service is UNKNOWN and is not claimed here. NO WATER SOURCE IS CLAIMED -- treat any lake, river or bayou nearby as NON-POTABLE. AGFC's facility type for this point is 'RVs Allowed - No Hookups'. Nearest town: Ola ~5.0 mi. 'Nearest town' is STRAIGHT-LINE distance to the nearest OpenStreetMap place=city/town/village and is NOT a driving distance; in the Delta bottoms and the Ouachitas the road in can be far longer. Ingest 2026-08-16. STATUS=pending: this is a lead for review, not published. --- NIGHT-SHIFT REVIEW 2026-08-18 (reviewer=nightshift-verified) --- RE-CHECKED 2026-08-18. I re-queried AGFC's live ArcGIS layer 1 today -- the source that produced this row -- and this point is unchanged: same objectid, same name, same 'No Fee Site' flag, same facility type, and its latitude/longitude match this row to within a metre, so nothing has moved or been retired. Its 'Associated WMA' field still names this WMA and its owner field still reads AGFC. I ALSO OPENED THE WMA'S OWN PAGE TODAY, https://www.agfc.com/wma/petit-jean-river-wma/, which the original note said had not been checked. It carries NO camping paragraph, so I cannot quote a campsite count for it -- but it does confirm, in its waterfowl access restrictions, that designated campsites exist on this WMA, verbatim: "Closed to all access (except in designated campsites, parking areas and boat launch ramps) from 2-4 a.m. Nov. 22-Jan. 31 and Feb. 7-8 (except in the Petit Jean River, Keeland Lake and Kingfisher Lake)." Read together with AGFC's general WMA regulation that camping "must be in a designated camping area", and with AGFC's own GIS naming this specific designated camping area, that is two agency sources agreeing. The page gives 15,782 acres, Yell County, ownership AGFC, phone 833-356-0871. WHAT THE PAGE ADDS THAT THE ORIGINAL NOTE DID NOT: "Valid Hunting or Fishing License or a WMA/Lake Conservation Permit is Required for All Users", and -- important for anyone driving in -- "Portions of this WMA, including roads, are subject to severe flooding." Free georeferenced maps for this WMA are at https://apps.agfc.com/maps/ . BE HONEST ON THE PAGE about what is still unknown: AGFC publishes no per-site detail, so claim no table, fire ring, toilet or trash service, and claim no potable water. NOT A DUPLICATE: I compared this row's coordinates against every camp we already publish or have approved nationwide and the nearest is well over half a mile away. VERDICT: approved.

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.

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.