Spring Creek Campground (Buffalo National River, Lower District)

public land records

Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.

NPS Buffalo National River. FEE: nps.gov/buff/planyourvisit/camping.htm read 2026-08-16 says of the Middle District, verbatim: "No fees are charged for any camping area in the Middle District except for the Tyler Bend Campground." STAY LIMIT: nps.gov/buff/planyourvisit/backcountry-camping.htm, read the same day: "No person or party is allowed to camp at Buffalo National River for more than 30 days in a calendar year" and "A backcountry permit is not required within the Buffalo National River." Also: "No camping is allowed within 1/2 mile (805 meters) of any National Park Service developed area unless it is in a designated campsite", and camping is barred in historic areas, hayfields, pastures, abandoned buildings and all Boxley Valley fields. COORDINATE PROVENANCE: the latitude and longitude on this row are the GPS coordinates NPS itself prints for this site on camping.htm -- not a geocode, not OpenStreetMap. FLOOD WARNING: NPS notes the river "regularly floods so some areas may be too soft for vehicles" and advises campers on gravel bars to "be sure you have an escape route to higher ground in case the river comes up at night." WATER: NO POTABLE WATER IS CLAIMED AT ANY OF THESE SITES. The Buffalo River is NOT a claimed potable source. THIS SITE is in the LOWER District, not the Middle, so the Middle-District blanket sentence does not cover it -- NPS states its fee separately, verbatim: "Campground is open year-round and all sites are first-come, first-served. There is no fee to camp primitively." Facilities, NPS verbatim: "Tent camping only. Camper trailers, motorhomes, RVs, and camper vans are not permitted." "12 tent campsites", "Each site includes a picnic table, fire ring, and lantern hook." "A vault toilet remains open during winter months with limited servicing." "There are no water, flush restroom, or shower facilities available." NPS also notes "The Spring Creek Landing has been closed to vehicle-assisted launches." TENT ONLY -- this row is NOT usable by anyone in an RV, van or trailer. Nearest town: Marshall ~8.7 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-fetched https://www.nps.gov/buff/planyourvisit/camping.htm today. NOTE A CORRECTION TO THE NOTE ABOVE: Spring Creek is in the LOWER District, not the Middle District, so the 'Middle District' fee sentence quoted above is the wrong citation for it. The right one is the page's own Spring Creek Campground block, read today, which says verbatim: "Campground is open year-round and all sites are first-come, first-served", "There is no fee to camp primitively", "Tent camping only. Camper trailers, motorhomes, RVs, and camper vans are not permitted", "12 tent campsites", "Each site includes a picnic table, fire ring, and lantern hook", "A vault toilet remains open during winter months with limited servicing" and "There are no water, flush restroom, or shower facilities available." The GPS coordinates printed on the page (36.0285289,-92.5800835) match this row exactly. Also on the page: "The Spring Creek Landing has been closed to vehicle-assisted launches. Watercraft may still be put in and taken out at this point, but must be hand carried to and from the parking area." NOT A DUPLICATE on coordinates against anything we publish. VERDICT: approved -- free and tent-only, with the citation corrected.

Read from the agency's own season / closure text in this record (data/conditions.py) and checked against the calendar. The words we read are printed under the verdict at the top of the page.

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.