Big Spring Campground

We went here in Dec 2024 during the off season but the hot showers building still worked. And it was very clean. We checked out the spring it was a beautiful blue. For camping loop 1 was closed only loop 2 w power and loop 3 primitive. For the hole park being so beautiful I think the campground could use a little love.

This campsite is peaceful. The restroom was close by. Short walk to a shallow creek type area of water. They offer hot water showers, which were clean and the water was hot. Only down fall to the shower is the water pressure isn't the best. We also seen the residential wild turkey. The spring is also beautiful

The good; Big Spring is beautiful, lots of deer and wood chucks, access to the river (though it is right through a campsite), pretty peaceful most nights. The bad; showers were pretty far from camp and most didn't have hot water or working lights, only reservable, so we couldn't just get one more night even though we wanted to and no water at the site only one rickety leaking faucet near the bath house that is hard to access from the street to fill your camper (stop at the dump site to get water before coming). The ugly; never saw the camp hosts do anything, trash all around camp, no soap in the woman's bathroom, one night people were loud past quiet time and no one told them to stop. Basically the hosts are just getting a free spot to stay, which is annoying.

Nice place to camp with either a camper or tent (or both as we did). Only electric at the designated individual sites. The RV campsite slips are level enough that I didn't even bother stabilizing/leveling. The camp loop 200 is all in level river bottom terrain and perfect for pitching tents. Nice restroom and hot showers house available also. The individual sites are large enough you shouldn't be crowded by neighboring campers. An unexpected bonus was the offloading trail across the river: NPS Road 123, locally known as the “Tram Road”.

This campground was really quiet and nice when we stayed here. They are in the middle of doing some major upgrades it appears so some of the amenities were not available to us. The 200 block offered electricity and that’s where we stayed in our camper. We didn’t use the bathroom facilities much but seemed adequately maintained. Each site has a fire pit and a lantern hook. Our spot was really close to the river and was just a short walk away. This campground offers a few hiking trails and the Big Spring that is very scenic. Would like to come back in the summer but I imagine this place stays pretty packed. All in all we enjoyed our stay but we had most of everything we needed in our camper. Would definitely come back again. The park ranger we talked to at the visitors center was very helpful. It is being renovated right now, but this campground offers a dining lodge that’s right on the river and several cabins you can stay in as well on top of the regular campground.

Google maps incorrectly took us to the town of Van Buren. Big Spring is on the west side of the river about 4 miles in. There is signage on the hwy and road in. We have a 42 foot 5th wheel. The road in is very narrow and roller coaster like. Thankfully, we didn't have any oncoming traffic. Once here, sites are small but it is absolutely lovely.