Lake Charles State Park — Attraction in Walnut Ridge

This was our first visit to Lake Charles, a very nice park which exceeded our expectations. We were there in early September 2022 in a van and tent. There is a wonderful lake trail that is flat and paved. This makes it ideal for seniors, families with small children, and disabled people. We walked it several times and most enjoyed the scenery. The bathhouses are modern with free hot showers. Large wooded sites that were spread out giving everyone some privacy. Some sites overlook the lake. All sites have electric and water. We were there right after Labor Day and the park was quiet and empty. We went swimming in the lake, which was a little muddy on the bottom but still delightful. The park staff were friendly and very helpful. We had wished we had time to fish since it looked very promising. There were several docks for people without boats. You will not regret coming here for the peace and quiet.

Overall, we would rate this a 5 star campground and plan to visit it many times in the future. We found the Arkansas State Parks and the US Corp of Engineer campgrounds spread out across the state to be excellent and inexpensive compared to other states. Almost all of them have lakes and modern facilities much superior to those in many other states. We especially like Petit Jean SP, Bull Shoals SP, and the Corp of Engineers Waveland campground. All were excellent and 5...

I've not been here in a few years. The park ranger was very much doing his job. Stopping speeding vehicles and walking the beach every so often. The swim area is free, however it is a swim at your own risk area as there is not a life guard on duty, and the closest ambulance is several towns away.

Molly the park interpreter was out showing animals, and pelts of animals we could see in the area. It was nice to see how excited she seemed about her job.

The park was clean, and typically is from memory. We did pick up a few things that didn't belong to us, but that's part of it right?

The camping area looked bigger than I recall it being and had two separate restrooms. I am unsure if they were bathe houses or just restrooms, but they had air conditioning. Most camp sites we found had power, and most were rented.

The park has a play ground not far from the swim beach, and several kids were using it. The park also has kayaks for rent. I don't have the schedule, but they also have planned things in the upcoming weeks

We plan to camp here in the near future! We will be renting...

This park is very nice and quiet, and the bathrooms are top notch for being clean. The downside to our stay was the site we stayed at, number 53. It rained quite a bit on one of the days and the picnic table, the fire pit area, and our rug where we step out of our camper was about 3 inches under water. Once the rain stopped it took until the next day for the water to recede. The flies and mosquitos were horrible, and we think the reason is because that site stayed so wet. We kept our food put up and everything cleaned up but that didn't seem to matter. Its summertime so I know that mosquitos are usually bad, but the flies were ridiculous. We walked across to a vacant spot by the water and just sat to get away from the flies and while over there we were not bothered by any flies or mosquitos, so I think it was just our campsite. We would go back but never at camp 53. I'm giving it 3 stars for the park and bathroom but for the campsite alone I would...