Campground: Petit Jean State Park
Location: Morrilton, AR
Site: 17
Hookups: 50amp / water / sewer
Cost: $44/night
Cell Coverage: good with AT&T
Overall Rating by Adults: A+
Overall Rating by Kids: A
This State Park has been one of my favorites for many years. It offers so many amenities and recreational opportunities, and has only improved over the years. The park is well maintained and manicured. It is one of the larger state parks, but its paved walking/bike trail connects the campground to the visitor center, lodge, pool, and hiking trails so you never feel cut off from the rest of the state park. We do not pull a tow vehicle, but everything in the State Park was accessible to us. While the park is large, the campground has a small feel to it without much traffic. The kids were able to ride their scooters and roller blade without much worry of vehicles riding through.
We loved site 17. It is a level pull thru site right on the lake with full hookups. It had a nice, level tent pad for the boys to set up their tent, and lots of trees for hammocks or a Ninja Slackline Obstacle Course. The kids had an absolute blast on their kayaks here. The lake does state "no swimming allowed", however, and we were not able to find out why. While they kids did not intentionally swim in the lake, this was the first place they tried out using their kayaks as paddle boards and there was quite a lot of falling into the lake. You can rent kayaks, but it is done through a private self-pay station and the cost was significantly more than we have seen at other state parks. You can, however, rent canoes and paddle boats from the small marina behind the visitors center for a reasonable price.
Fishing right here in the campground is decent (although we did get some lures stuck), but the best place for fishing is just a short walk away (you can cut through the path by the camping yurts) behind the visitors center. And while you are down that way, you absolutely should check out the brand new visitor's center.
Hiking is one of our favorite recreational activities at Petit Jean. There are many options to choose from, but because we had recently had rain we chose Cedar Falls as our first hike. From campground to the falls and back, it is a 6-7 mile hike. If you are not up for such a long hike and have a vehicle, you can start at the lodge and it is about 2 miles round trip. We have hiked this trail many, many times and it never disappoints. It is the busiest trail in the park, so be prepared to share the trail and falls with others.
If you are looking for a quieter hike, check out Seven Hollows Trail. It is a bit longer, but features a natural bridge and grotto falls. If you do not yet have Tim Ernst's Arkansas Waterfalls Guidebook, I highly recommend it.
This trip, however, we chose to bring the kids to Turtle Rocks. From the campground, it is about a 3 mile hike round trip, and definitely a big hit with the little ones. They run up and down the turtle rocks pretending they're on America's Ninja Warrior and have a grand ole time. It is a great spot to have a picnic lunch! You can walk just a bit further down to Rock House Cave and check out the ancient pictographs.
I'd say that the only negative to the State Park is that there is no swimming in the lake. There is a pool, but it costs an extra $5-$6 per person. Still, there is plenty to do here and overall it is one of our favorites! And if you are looking for a luxury weekend of camping, you could even skip cooking and eat your meals at the Lodge Restaurant. I highly recommend Petit Jean bacon and their burgers are the best! And of course, don't forget to collect your Petit Jean souvenir to commemorate your trip or one of these handpainted Arkansas magnets.
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