ARLIE MOORE, Bismarck, AR

ARLIE MOORE

RUN BY:  US Army Corp of Engineers

LOCATION:  Bismarck, AR    (34.271427  -93.203285)

UTILITIES:  Electricity

COST:  $14

DISCOUNTS:  50% for Sr and Interagency passes

OUR RATING (1-5):  Category I.

NOTES:  We were here in early December. Two of the three camping areas were closed.  The area we were in was right on De Gray Lake.  It is really quite pretty and there must be stripers in the lake because we encountered a government research unit studying the stripers.  There were a couple of RVs that appeared to be here for a long time, but there is a 14 day camping limit.  The couple next to us live about fifty miles away and spend time on the lake routinely throughout the year.  We stopped here to wait out a cold front. It got down into the high teens at night, so I’m sure that limited the campers.  There is at least one trail nearby although we did not hike it.

Environment:   Heavy growth of Oak and Loblolly pines on a lake. Elevation is about 430 ft.

Amenities:  None

Dump: Yes

Public Water:  Yes

Toilets:  Yes

Showers:   No

Laundry:   No

Phone Service:  Verizon very poor

Nearest Propane:  Southern LP Gas is at the intersection of Arlie Moore Rd and AR-7 just a couple of miles away from the campground. They were a bit pricy but quite convenient. 

Location:  We avoid interstates so we approached from the northwest and came down a small country road to intersect Arlie Moore Road (which is County Rd  254). The easiest way is to take AR-7 to Arlie Moore road (34.284138  -93.163258), turn west and follow the road to the campground.   Our site coordinates are  34.271427  -93.203285.

Proximity to shopping:

Camping Population:  Normal season population is unknown. COE campgrounds are usually quite diverse with a high percentage of locals because they’re not particularly easy to find and many people do not know about COE campgrounds.

Sites:   Some are not very level, but they are all paved and quite roomy.

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RATING KEY:    category - score 

Categories:  I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

                    II -  boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

                               one might choose to stay for more than a night.

                    III - over-night areas 

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service 

* There are people who are not full-timers and van-dwellers by choice. We try hard not to be demeaning or assume that they are bad people but sadly, as you find in the poorer parts of a city, there seems to be more crime. Many call these people van-dwellers. That isn’t really accurate even though they do often live in vans. We know quite a few van-dwellers who have good incomes, are full-timers by choice and prefer a van to other types of vehicles. To try to show some respect for people who have a difficult lot in life, I’m calling them ‘residential campers’.  It is only when you get a high proportion of residential campers in an area that you find an increase in petty theft, etc.