Skip to content
Lake Fort Smith State Park, Mountainburg, AR

Photo: Doug Wertman from Rogers, AR, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & Outdoors

Lake Fort Smith State Park

A lakeside state park in the Boston Mountains offering camping, cabins, fishing, kayaking, and hiking.

15458 Shepherd Springs Road, Mountainburg, AR 72946-0004 · Mountainburg, AR

About Lake Fort Smith State Park

This scenic park sits on the shore of Lake Fort Smith in the Ozark region. Visitors can camp, stay in cabins, fish, paddle, and hike. It marks the western end of the long Ozark Highlands Trail, which appeals to backpackers. The visitor center displays a replica pioneer log cabin and covered wagon with exhibits on local history. Park interpreters lead nature hikes and lake tours through the year. Swimming, water skiing, and jet skiing are not allowed on the lake. The park reopened in 2008 after a dam project required closing it in 2002.

  • #lake
  • #camping
  • #cabins
  • #hiking
  • #mountain biking

What's around here?

The closest stops to Lake Fort Smith State Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Outdoor Adventure

    Devil's Den State Park

    No admission fee

    Hike, bike and ride horses through sandstone crevices and bluffs in a 1930s CCC-built park in the Boston Mountains.

    9.1 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums

    Arkansas Air & Military Museum

    Under $25

    Aviation and military museum at Drake Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with aircraft, vehicles, and artifacts.

    21 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sightseeing
    Outdoor Adventure

    Western Arkansas' Mountain Frontier

    No admission fee

    Regional tourism association covering six Western Arkansas counties of mountains, rivers and small towns.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    28 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Museums

    Fort Smith Museum of History

    Check prices

    A downtown Fort Smith museum that presents the history of the city and its surrounding region.

    28 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Fort Smith National Historic Site

    No admission fee

    Walk through Judge Parker's courtroom, the old federal jail and a rebuilt gallows on the Arkansas River frontier.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    28 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Outdoor Adventure

    Natural Falls State Park

    Check prices

    Look down on a 77-foot Ozark waterfall from the rim platform, then walk to the deck at its foot where Where the Red Fern Grows was filmed.

    45 mi awayMore like this