Agency-listedAGFCFree
Prater Camping Area
Drive-up · Arkansas Game & Fish Commission · AR · 36.15650, -90.58026
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 →Arkansas Game & Fish Commission lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Prater Camping Area
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 526 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Prater Camping AreaNIFC · 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 Prater Camping Area · Arkansas Game & Fish Commission · AR
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- @Mail2 mi
- FFuel7 mi
- GGrocery7 mi
- HHardware8 mi
- OOutfitter8 mi
- RxPharmacy8 mi
- LLaundry9 mi
- MMechanic11 mi
- WWater11 mi
- EVEV fast charger12 mi
- +Urgent care17 mi
- ShShower27 mi
- DDump56 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 7 mi out.
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 — Prater Camping Area
Access
Drive-up
Land
Arkansas Game & Fish Commission
Elevation
526 ft
Ground slope
3.7% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~8.2 mi · main line
State
AR
Coordinates
36.15650, -90.58026
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Prater Camping Area · Arkansas Game & Fish Commission · AR (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLocust Creek · ~0.5 mi · USGS: intermittent stream
- Nearest townBeech Grove · ~2.4 mi
- Nearest rail line~8.2 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelExxon · ~7.3 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesALDI · ~7.4 mi
- PharmacyCorner Drug · ~8.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicArkansas Methodist Medical Center · ~8.6 mi
- HardwareBaker Farm And Hardware Inc · ~29.4 mi
EV charging — from Prater Camping Area · Arkansas Game & Fish Commission · AR — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger12.2 mi straight-line S — 6345 US 49, Paragould, AR · EV Connect · CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach2 within 25 mi · 8 within 50 · 77 within 100 · 177 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)26.2 mi — Jonesboro, AR - Tesla Supercharger, Jonesboro
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO42.7 mi — Vine Street Parking - Poplar Bluff, Poplar Bluff
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)7.7 mi — PARAGOULD PG ROT PARK · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports 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 352027 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Prater Camping Area · Arkansas Game & Fish Commission · AR — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- No mapped restroom within 30 miles — plan to pack it out.
Coming out here — Prater Camping Area · Arkansas Game & Fish Commission · AR
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Locust Creek as an intermittent stream, ~0.5 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as intermittent — expect it dry for part of the year. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 3.7% — 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 ~8.2 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. 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.
- 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 Prater Camping Area elsewhere
Other camps near Prater Camping Area
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Crow Tract Camping Area~3.7 mi
- Hubble Bridge Access Camping Area~11.7 mi
- Brookings Camping Area~12.1 mi
- Mill Lake Camping Area~12.8 mi
Who holds the land at Prater Camping Area
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as William Brewer/scatter Creek, manager on record: a state fish and wildlife agency. That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
How we know this — Prater Camping Area
Fire rules
On property owned, leased or cooperatively managed by the AGFC, you may not: burn any noncombustible materials in campsites (glass, nails, etc.); burn wood, brush or grass outside of designated campsites; leave a fire unattended or allow one to escape from control.
Permit
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).
Area rules
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.
Source
public land records
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
W. E. Brewer Scatter Creek 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. I did NOT open the AGFC page for W. E. Brewer Scatter Creek WMA this fire -- only the general WMA regulation above and AGFC's GIS support this row. Read agfc.com/wma for that area's own camping paragraph, stay limit and seasonal closures before publishing. 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's own 'last_verified_date' for this point is 2019-02-20 -- the agency has not re-checked it since, so treat it as possibly stale. 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: Oak Grove Heights ~4.6 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. | auto:agency-trust 2026-08-18: state agency GIS record with a source URL and coordinates, confidence not low. Fee value is the agency's own, not field-checked. Not field-verified -- confirm access, road conditions and fire rules before you go.
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 Prater Camping Area
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 the fire rule stated above still stands today — what we have is a dated reading of the agency's listing, not a live restriction feed
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- 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 — Prater Camping Area
Water on public land →Dumping grey & black →Fire rules & restrictions →Power off-grid →All field notes →