Featured amenities
Pet Friendly
River Access
Available sites
39 total sites
Tent Sites
About Steel Creek Campground
Activities & Attractions
Nearby
Hiking
Horseback Riding
Year-round
Hiking
Horseback Riding
Seasonal information
2026 Season availability
Campground Amenities
Most popular amenities
Pet friendly
River Access
Water Access
- River Access
Pets and Policies
- Pet friendly
Rates, Sites & Availability
39 Sites Available
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Site Details
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39 Sites Available
No available sites
All sites are booked for your selected dates. Try showing all sites to see booked options, create an alert to be notified when something opens up, or adjust your dates.
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.
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
tj g
VerifiedOctober 5, 2026 • Stayed at: 26 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop
Steel Creek Campground is an excellent place to stay if you enjoy remote, backcountry-style camping. The lack of cell service and its secluded location are honestly part of what makes it so great—it feels peaceful, quiet, and far removed from everything.
The campground itself is very well maintained, and the bathroom facilities are surprisingly good for a campground this remote. Everything felt clean and taken care of.
The remoteness definitely won’t be for everyone, especially if you want reliable service, nearby stores, or more amenities. But if you’re looking for a beautiful, quiet campground that actually feels like an escape into the backcountry, Steel Creek is hard to beat.
Lauren G
VerifiedOctober 4, 2026 • Stayed at: 21 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop
Beautiful campground with great access to the Buffalo River for fishing, swimming, hiking and exploring! We love the dark night skies and peaceful mornings walking along the bluffs. Even though the campground was full it didn’t feel that way, everyone else around us was respectful and treated the campground with the care it deserves! Best spot to camp on the Buffalo!
CLINTON C
VerifiedOctober 4, 2026 • Stayed at: 03 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop
Steel creek is always one of my favorite spots. The views are incredible and the camp sites are clean and level.
Bethanie A
VerifiedOctober 4, 2026 • Stayed at: 10 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop
Nice, beautiful area. Bathroom on site but no showers, which was very disappointing. Big open area. Cannot drive up to your camp spot, so if you are not right by the road, then you will want to bring a wagon to pull all your gear in. Lots of fun wildlife! We saw Elk, and had armadillos visit are campsite!
Katie D
VerifiedOctober 4, 2026 • Stayed at: 12 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop
Great campsite with enough space between other campsites. A bit noisy at night but otherwise loved the access to the river, cleanliness, and overall safety of the campground.
Jhonatan S
VerifiedSeptember 20, 2026 • Stayed at: 21 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop
Need more shadow
Oscar B
VerifiedSeptember 9, 2026 • Stayed at: 26 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop
Very clean and well maintained. Will definitely be returning soon.
Erica J
VerifiedSeptember 4, 2026 • Stayed at: 26 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop
Camping next to the Buffalo River has been on our bucket list for years now. The camping site was slightly tucked into the woods, allowing for much needed shade and distance from the next site. Bathrooms/grounds were clean. Very short walking distance from tent to river access. New ranger station the friendliest ranger on duty. Great stay.
Jordan W
VerifiedAugust 24, 2026 • Stayed at: 06 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop
The campsite was beautiful, lots of areas to camp that are shaded so you’re not out in the sunshine all day, easy access to the river and to a very nice little swimming hole. There’s also lots of hiking nearby, and the kayak/canoe rental about a mile or two from the campground. We’ll definitely be back
Mary P
VerifiedAugust 17, 2026 • Stayed at: 17 - Tent Site, Loop: Main Loop
Though we love the Buffalo, it's been years since we've been able to stay at Stee lCreek. So this was special all the way around. I turned 61 that weekend and wanted to do it with my feet in the river.
We enjoyed it immensely, despite the elements conspiring against us. A storm took out our tent the first night (fortunately we weren't in it at the time). Somehow it was an appropriate welcome back. We learn something important every time we stay there.
But the storm wasn't the lesson. It was the neighbors who rushed over to help. I like to camp when the campground is empty (or nearly so). But I'm glad we weren't on our own that time. They covered the tent with a tarp to protect our belongings.
We had to go to a motel that night, bought a new tent, returned and put it up, and enjoyed the rest of our weekend.
For the first time ever a raccoon chewed a hole in our new tent while were sleeping. And it somehow dragged hamburger buns that were in a box through the hole before I woke up and chased it off. Having them be that kind of pushy surprised us.
We patched the now properly aged tent and got on with our weekend.
On a side note, we were really happy that the bathrooms were back in order. We'd been braced to use the pit toilets. And as always, the campground was clean.
Steel Creek will never not be special to us.
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...
From Fayetteville, Arkansas 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 State Highway 43. Here, take highway 43 East for about 5 mi (5 mi) to the intersection of State Highway 74. Here, turn right onto highway 74 and drive about 2 mi (2 mi) to Steel Creek Road. Turn left and drive approximately .5 mi (.5 mi) down into the campground. At the bottom of the hill the main campground will be to your left and the horse camp will be to your right.
From Little Rock, Arkansas take Interstate 40 West for approximately 93 mi (93.2 mi) to Exit 64. At Exit 64 take Business Highway 64 west through the town of Lamar for about 4 mi (4 mi) to the intersection of State Highway 21. Take Highway North for about 48 mi (47.8 mi) to the intersection of State Highway 43. Here, take highway 43 East for about 5 mi (5 mi) to the intersection of State Highway 74. Here, turn right onto highway 74 and drive about 2 mi (2 mi) to Steel Creek Road. Turn left and drive approximately .5 mi (.5 mi) down into the campground. At the bottom of the hill the main campground will be your left and the horse camp will be on your right.
From Springfield, Missouri take US Highway 65 South for approximately 70 mi (70 mi) to the town of Harrison. In Harrison, take State Highway 7 South about 1 mi (1 mi) through downtown Harrison until you come to the intersection of State Highway 43 on your right. Follow highway 43 for about 25 mi (24.9 mi) until to get to the intersection of State Highway 74. Turn left onto highway 74 and drive about 2 mi (2 mi) to Steel Creek Road. Turn left and drive approximately .5 mi (.5 mi) down into the campground. At the bottom of the hill the main campground will be your left and the horse camp will be on your right.
Policies & Rules
General
- Sites 27 - 39 are our Equestrian Camping Sites only for campers with horses.
- 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.
- 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 & 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.
Nearby Campgrounds
Last updated: October 21, 2026
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Explore Jasper, AR
Population: 453
Elevation: 850 ft
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