View of the Steel Creek area from the Buffalo River Trail
Steel Creek Campground-4
Colorful tents seen on the green grass of Steel Creek Campground. Green trees and a gray bluff line can be seen in the background.
A dirt road can be seen on the right side of the photo with green grass and campsites on the left side.
Steel Creek Horse Camp-1

Featured amenities

Pet Friendly Pet Friendly
River Access River Access

Available sites

39 total sites

About Steel Creek Campground

Steel Creek Campground is situated along the Buffalo River under the towering and picturesque Roark Bluff. One section of the campground offers 26 walk-in tent sites and another section of the campground offers 14 sites for those camping with horses. Half of the sites in the campground are available for reservations. Steel Creek is located about 3 mi (3.1 mi) east of Ponca, just off Highway 74.

Activities & Attractions

Nearby

Hiking

Hiking

Year-round
Horseback Riding

Horseback Riding

Year-round

Seasonal information

2026 (Current year)

2026 Season availability

Current season
Upcoming seasons
Past seasons
Closed periods
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Currently open - Mar 13 to Nov 15

Campground Amenities

Most popular amenities

Pet friendly Pet friendly
River Access River Access
Water Access

Water Access

  • River Access
Pets and Policies

Pets and Policies

  • Pet friendly
Missing information?

Rates, Sites & Availability

Select check-in and check-out dates to see real-time availability for each site.

39 Sites Available

Site
Price
⛺ 01 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 02 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 03 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 04 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 05 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 06 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 07 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 08 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 09 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 10 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 11 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 12 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 13 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 14 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 15 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 16 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 17 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 18 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 19 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 20 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 21 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 22 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 23 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 24 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 25 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
⛺ 26 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop Tent
Gravel · Pet Friendly · Campfire
🏕️ 27 - Horse Site, Loop: Horse Camp Equestrian
6 guests · Pet Friendly · Campfire
🏕️ 28 - Horse Site, Loop: Horse Camp Equestrian
6 guests · Pet Friendly · Campfire
🏕️ 29 - Horse Site, Loop: Horse Camp Equestrian
6 guests · Pet Friendly · Campfire
🏕️ 30 - Horse Site, Loop: Horse Camp Equestrian
6 guests · Pet Friendly · Campfire
🏕️ 31 - Horse Site, Loop: Horse Camp Equestrian
6 guests · Pet Friendly · Campfire
🏕️ 32 - Horse Site, Loop: Horse Camp Equestrian
6 guests · Pet Friendly · Campfire
🏕️ 33 - Horse Site, Loop: Horse Camp Equestrian
6 guests · Pet Friendly · Campfire
🏕️ 34 - Horse Site, Loop: Horse Camp Equestrian
6 guests · Pet Friendly · Campfire
🏕️ 35 - Horse Site, Loop: Horse Camp Equestrian
6 guests · Pet Friendly · Campfire
🏕️ 36 - Horse Site, Loop: Horse Camp Equestrian
6 guests · Pet Friendly · Campfire
🏕️ 37 - Horse Site, Loop: Horse Camp Equestrian
6 guests · Pet Friendly · Campfire
🏕️ 38 - Horse Site, Loop: Horse Camp Equestrian
6 guests · Pet Friendly · Campfire
🏕️ 39 - Horse Site, Loop: Horse Camp Equestrian
6 guests · Pet Friendly · Campfire

Reviews (160)

What Guests Are Saying

Steel Creek Campground offers a beautiful and well-maintained location along the Buffalo River, known for its clean facilities and friendly camp hosts. Visitors appreciate the peaceful atmosphere, scenic trails, and wildlife encounters, making it a popular spot for both families and individual campers. While some experience issues with nearby noise and wildlife disruptions, the overall camping experience is highly praised, emphasizing the campground's charm and natural beauty.

Review Summary

4.5
160 reviews
5
74.4%
119
4
15.0%
24
3
4.4%
7
2
2.5%
4
1
3.8%
6

Jonathan H

Verified

May 5, 2022 • Stayed at: 04 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop

5

Great campground fundamentals. Bathrooms reasonably clean during a busy time. Thanks!

Bobbie H

Verified

April 27, 2022 • Stayed at: 04 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop

5

Love this campground. Park Ranger came to check in on us after a storm. Thought that was really nice.

Eileen E

Verified

April 24, 2022 • Stayed at: 01 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop

5

Camp grounds were clean and gorgeous views. Park attendant was very friendly and helpful. Will stay there again. Loved the place!

Alyssa M

Verified

March 25, 2022 • Stayed at: 08 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop

4

Great place, just don’t like how all the campsites are right by each other and there is no privacy. But everything else is great

Hannah D

Verified

November 19, 2021 • Stayed at: 02 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop

5

Amazing campground and experience. Beautiful scenery, especially in the fall. The drive to the site was crooked and steep but all paved and not too bad. No cell service at the site, but there is a wifi outside of a shop in Ponca about 10 mins away where you can pull your car up outside and connect to the internet. Lots of awesome hiking nearby as well and very dog friendly.

sneha r

Verified

November 11, 2021 • Stayed at: 08 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop

5

Steel Creek was wonderful! It's not primitive at all - so make sure your expectations are accurate. There's plenty of parking, clean restrooms (no showers), and easy access from car to campsite. Campsites don't have a ton of privacy and if full you'll be close to others, but we were there on a cold off-season weekend so wasn't an issue. The setting itself is beautiful, there's a trail directly from campsite that is in total >30 mi. And the location of the campground is central for many day hikes and is close to Jasper, Ponca, and Compton.

Recommend checking out JB Trading Post in Compton - they have gas, hot a la carte food including breakfast, any camping gear you may be missing, and lots of great trail info. Super helpful and glad we stumbled upon it!

Douglas T

Verified

October 31, 2021 • Stayed at: 13 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop

5

The ranger was super nice and helpful. The area and facilities were clean and in nice working condition.

Steve D

Verified

October 30, 2021 • Stayed at: 04 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop

5

We stayed at site #4 and it was fantastic. It was right along the tree line with plenty of space for our tent and canopy, a small alcove in the shade for our hammock and a path that led right down to the river - which was absolutely gorgeous!
My one concern was that the site was at the bottom of a small hill and whether that may be problematic if we got a bunch of rain, but luckily we never had to find out.
The grounds were very well kept. We saw several deer and we actually had a nightly visit from some curious armadillos.
Just a heads up that we did have absolutely zero phone signal here - which wasn’t all together a bad thing, in fact. We would definitely stay here again when in the area.

Hannah S

Verified

October 30, 2021 • Stayed at: 09 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop

2

This is a beautiful place but the first night we were there we had no water (no flushing toilets and no water at the pump). We also had a problem with someone setting up on our reserved site. The ranger was helpful but really couldn’t do much to make them move. We ended up having to share the site with them the first night. We love Steele Creek but were disappointed with our stay this year.

Joshua E

Verified

October 29, 2021 • Stayed at: 02 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop

4

The bluffs and river are beautiful and the campground is central to many great spots to hit in the Ozarks. We were there Weds through Friday night. Weds and Thurs night were great but Friday night was packed with cars rolling in at all hours of the night and many people setting up camp in areas that were not campsites.

Location & Directions for Steel Creek Campground

386 Nc 2104, Jasper, AR 72641 United States

Elevation: 476 ft

Getting There

<p><strong>From Fayetteville, Arkansas</strong> drive north and take US Highway 412 East for approximately 42 mi (41.9 mi) to the intersection with State Highway 21. Take highway 21 South for approximately 17 mi (16.8 mi) to the intersection of St...

Nearest town

Jasper, AR - 13 mi

About 20 min to downtown

Policies & Rules

General

  • Sites 27 - 39 are our Equestrian Camping Sites only for campers with horses.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
  • The facility is available for camping free of charge outside of the reservation season, generally November 15th to March 15th every year.
  • Climbing and/or diving from the bluffs is dangerous and highly discouraged.
  • Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states.&nbsp;
  • All park trails are closed to pets with the exception of the Buffalo River Trail, only on the section of trail between Ponca and Steel Creek, the Villines Homestead Trail at Ponca, the Mill Creek Trail (trailhead is at the Pruitt river access area in the Upper District), the Tyler Bend Campground trails (Spring Hollow, Buck Ridge, and Rock Wall in the Middle District), and all three Buffalo Point Campground trails (Forest Trail, Overlook Trail, and Campground Trail in the Lower District). For more information visit the Pets page on the park website.
  • Do not swim alone during high water.
  • Please be aware that some special events held at the pavilions or anywhere in the park (such as weddings, press receptions, concerts, et al) require a Special Use Permit in addition to the pavilion reservation. To obtain a Special Use Permit or additional information, please contact the Commercial Services office at (870) 365-2724. For more information visit the Special Park Uses page on the park website.
  • Please be advised that providing business services within an NPS unit is prohibited per CFR 5.3 without a written Authorization or Permit approved by the Superintendent. This includes services such as RV or tent delivery &amp; set-up, firewood sales and delivery, shuttle (transportation) services, and guided hikes, floats, etc. For a list of approved visitor services and to learn more about working with Buffalo National River, please visit the Doing Business with the Park page on the park website.

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Last updated: October 21, 2026

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Explore Jasper, AR

Population: 453

Nearby larger city

Springdale, AR

Approx. 45 mi away (straight-line distance)

Elevation: 850 ft

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