The Farm - Eureka Springs Campground & Events — Hotel in Eureka Springs

This was our first Bikes, Blues and BBQ and since The Farm was advertised as the “official” site for the event, we figured it was the place to be. While I’m accustomed to primitive camping and can handle rough conditions, I expect advertised amenities to be available and functional. Unfortunately, we were disappointed.

The entrance to the campground is up a steep hill, which caused our RV to drag both on the way in and out. The gravel road leading to the campground is quite long and extremely dusty. As an experienced rider, I can manage gravel, but being a 5’0” female, it was challenging and unpleasant. The dust quickly dirtied our bikes, and incoming traffic kicked up even more dust into the RV sites. Treating the roads to reduce dust would be a significant improvement.

To camp at ‘The Farm’ during this event, we had to purchase a 5-night pass from September 17th to 21st, with checkout by 2 pm on the 22nd. However, the event didn’t start until the 18th. The ticket promised access to all music, vending, and activities, but there was no music on the 17th and no activities during the day on the 18th. The evening of the 18th only included an invitation to the usual Wednesday night potluck and local jam session, typically attended by the full-time residents.

The area where full-time residents live was quite shabby, with old, broken-down trailers and lots of junk around. We chose a 30-amp site to leave the 50-amp sites for those who might need them, but this was a mistake. Each site is advertised as 50 ft x 20 ft, but ours was no more than 37 ft, with the back portion unusable due to a berm, (picture for reference). We barely managed to get our 31 ft RV off the "road" and into the spot. Additionally, we were placed among the vendors, with a food truck right next to our site. The 'lay-out' needs improvement.

Regarding the vendors, there were few. One food truck sold carnival-style snacks like funnel cakes and cotton candy, which didn’t appeal to most bikers. I'd be surprised if they made enough money to cover the cost of their site. Another food vendor was more popular, offering breakfast and other meal options. The remaining vendors sold items more suited to a Renaissance or music festival, such as candles and rocks, except for one vendor who washed bikes—a service rendered pointless by the dusty roads.

The advertised ‘General Store’ resembled a church rummage sale, though it did sell ice, which was convenient given the remote location.

The shower houses were small and dirty.

The advertised 'dump station' did not have any water at the sewer hole, (which is usually the norm) so that things can be washed down after dumping.

The property itself has potential, surrounded by mountains with beautiful views, but it needs significant upgrades and cleanup.

We’ll return to Arkansas for its stunning outdoors, but we won’t stay here again. As a matter of fact, we left the rally ‘early’ because of...

Went back and forth on making a review.

The Bad:

The camp site is all dirt roads (not good for most bikes especially any bikes that people have a lot of money in)

They advertise as the best venue and music for Bikes Blues & BBQ……Never seen any BBQ,never heard any blues (they played terrible blue grass…..THATS NOT BLUES….)

Our camp site was in what everyone called Meth Lane…..they have someone living in a ragged ugly old school bus. A shack made out of pallets. And some other long term “campers”…. Honestly looks like a homeless camp!

On a Friday night when that “awesome” venue and music was playing there was a total of 7 people watching…

Was told a couple vendors packed up and left because nobody was there and they weren’t selling anything. There is no way in hell they even covered their costs to get there from sales (even the two food vendors)

If you want to go ride motorcycles on all the awesome mapped rides THIS IS NOT THE PLACE TO STAY!!!!You are at least an hour and half from any mapped ride. Which means if you want to ride the pig tail you will spend an hour and 40 min just to get to the start of it the. However far you go on the ride. So look to spend 6-8 hours for a simple 2 hour ride or less.

They are very deceiving on their advertising. It’s not a very maintained property and no flat or level sites.

The good:

It’s peaceful……

Update (responding to the response to my review)

Let’s be clear about a few things…

I’m not the one that called it “Meth lane” that’s what it was referred to by everyone out there so I guess you are calling everyone that was there shallow??

I’m sure they are great people but surely you are smart enough to realize how people could feel having expensive vehicles and bikes and like us 3 French bulldogs worth over 20k dollars and not what kinda people live in those shacks and they just watch you put them up in a camper then watch you leave?? My wife didn’t even want to leave on the bike because of this!

And when I called 4 different places trying to find somewhere else to stay to feel more comfortable with our surroundings every single one said the same thing when they asked where I’m staying now. “Ah man say no more” they all said that so don’t act like it’s just me that’s a bad guy because of speaking facts

Second thing is the advertising you guys have as the best music venue for the rally is just a flat out bold lie. There wasn’t even blues played at a blues rally and had 7...

This was our groups last year coming to the Farm for bikes, blues, and barbecue after coming for the past 3-4 years.

We paid $100 for primitive RV camping for 2 nights this year. (No electricity/water hookups.) The entertainment (music) isn’t great truthfully. The food trucks are nice and the bike games were fun. (The Ornery One is a fun time!)

I do wish the vendors could have set up closer to the stage. It would have made more sense for them to be close to all the action rather than clear across the field. Please consider this for next year. I’m going to assume that your vendors paid a fee to be there and I highly doubt most of them made back what they paid to be there.

We came with a large group of people and a few of them had electric RV campsites. Unfortunately, they were stuck in the middle of what does appear to be a homeless camp. I’ve included photos of the “permanent residents” for context. It’s really a turn off to have to camp next all that. Moving forward, it would be nice to see a bit of segregation between normal campers and the permanent residents.

In another review from a man named Mike McMullen, the Farm responded pretty unprofessionally in my opinion. Just because you have good reviews does not mean that THIS particular event is done well. A lot of improvements for bikes blues should be made or you’ll continue to lose large groups of people like you just did.

The price for what you get is too high. $100 for two nights is a joke for primitive RV camping. Especially considering the amount of space on this property. It could have fit 20,000 more RVs easily… nobody was fighting for space. On top of that, what else really were...