If you’ve ever been to Arkansas, or if you’re lucky enough to live in this beautiful state, you know that the Buffalo National River is one of our crowning jewels! We had some friends invite us to go on a Buffalo River Float Trip, so we all made our reservations at Gilbert RV Campground and brought our canoes and kayaks.
That trip happened a couple of weekends ago and really had a great time!
When you camp at Gilbert RV Campground, you’re also about an hour away from one of our favorite places, Mountain View, Arkansas. Check out this post for things to do there, or check out some other top Arkansas RV destinations!
Let’s get to the review.
GILBERT RV CAMPGROUND REVIEW
One of the main things we loved about staying here, was that it was so close to the Buffalo National River. The week we visited, historic flooding was taking place on the Arkansas River in Little Rock and we thought that would impact the Buffalo River. Since the Buffalo isn’t fed from the Arkansas River, it was safe to float.
Gilbert RV Campground is, for all intents and purposes, right on the Buffalo National River.
Aside from the campground, a general store and outfitter, a teeny tiny post office, and some rental properties, there is very little to see in Gilbert!
GILBERT RV CAMPGROUND FEATURES:
- 17 grass and gravel lots
- 20, 30, and 50 amp electric hookups
- Full hookups (water, sewer, electric)
- Bathhouse
- Wi-fi
- Picnic tables
- Dump station
- Grill
- 8 tent sites with firepits, picnic tables, and a bathhouse
- Glamping sites available for rent (fancy tent camping, I think)
- Cabins available for rent
- Rafts available for rent
- On-grounds general store with basic camping supplies
- Walking distance to Buffalo National River
- Pavillion rental available
CAMPGROUNDS/CLEANLINESS 9/10
Not the best quality pic, but gives you an idea of the campsite size.
This place was immaculate when we stayed there! The grass was mowed, the empty sites were clean, and they were ready for campers to come on in!
We had a little confusion about which water supply was ours, but we came in late and didn’t have a chance to speak with the owner before hooking up.
The only reason I gave it a 9/10 instead of 10/10 is because the campsites are a little bit small. I will also add that we prefer to stay in state parks where you have GINORMOUS campsites, so this may or may not be a fair rating. It’s purely subjective, for sure! If you were to put campers side by side, you could probably fit 1 to 1.5 between yours and the next one…so a little small for us.
The thing about that is…when you spend the day on a Buffalo River float trip, you need room to sprawl out. Most people there had at least one kayak or canoe on their campsite, so that stuff takes up room.
BATHHOUSES 8/10
If you’ve been with me for very long, you know this is my weakness…I just don’t like going to campground bathrooms. I’m going on my husband’s opinion here, but he said the bathrooms were fine. One nice feature is that the door had a security lock with a code that you receive when you check in.
The bathhouse was clean and served its purpose, apparently! 🙂
CAMPGROUND AMENITIES 6.5/10
Another shot of a campsite in the background.
Campground amenities is what the park has available to do inside the park.
As I’m thinking about this, 6.5 seems low, but I want to be fair. I also don’t want you to get me wrong about this one, there’s plenty to do at this park, even though there aren’t a lot of things like pools and hot-tubs.
Gilbert RV Campground has cable tv, full hookups, so this is nice, and it also has tent sites, cabins, a bathhouse, and a pavilion. Did I mention that the Buffalo National River is a stone’s throw away? Literally…if you’re bored, take a walk to the river and enjoy the cool, refreshing water on your feet, or go fishing!
One of the negatives for me is that a lot of the trees have been cut down so there’s no shade, there’s no playground for small kids, and the roads are gravel, so if your kids want to ride bikes, they’d best not fall.
That being said, we were there for our Buffalo River float trip, so we didn’t care about amenities.
TECHNOLOGY USE 8/10
We have switched our cell carrier to Verizon (can I get an AMEN?!). Anyway, I switched this category last time I did an RV park review and I think this reflects more of what we are all looking for, which is…does my tech work when I’m at this RV park.
The answer is a resounding yes! Our phones got great signals, and so did our AT&T friends. Another friend had his satellite receiver out and got his signal just fine!
We never were able to make the cable tv work, but that has more to do with human error than anything else, I think. We’ve had problems with that since we got the camper. It’s so infrequent that we use it that we forget HOW to use it! 🙂
But it would’ve been nice to be able to sit and veg on some tv after a day on the river! Buffalo River float trip
NEARBY ACTIVITIES 6/10
Again, this is a purely subjective list…so take this with a grain of salt! It’s purely my opinion.
If you are looking for a place to camp that is clean and near enough to do a Buffalo River float trip, that IS your nearby attraction, and I’d give this park a 10/10 for that. It’s EXACTLY what we came for, so I was SUPER happy and LOVED the campground.
That being said, I know a lot of people are looking for nightlife, family things to do nearby, etc. There is one restaurant where there was live music one night, but we left early. The food was lackluster and so was the band.
There is another restaurant near the main highway (about 10 minutes away) called Ferguson’s. I’ve never eaten there, but hear the food is decent. They have a cute store there.
If you’re interested in smoked meats, stop in and get some at Coursey’s Smoked Meats. They supposedly have some of the best smoked meats around! One of our friends got some of their ham and bacon. It was DELICIOUS!!!
Other than that, there are no karaoke places, no movie theatres, no watering holes (it’s a dry county), not even a town bingo parlor! So be sure to bring your Yahtzee or cards to stay occupied!
I will add to this section that there are plenty of outfitters nearby who will provide just about any service you will need to do a Buffalo River float trip. They can rent you canoes, kayaks, rafts, life jackets, etc. We even found one service where you could pick up an employee to drop you off at your put-in location, then return your car to your endpoint location! That’s pretty neat!
STAFF 10/10
I can’t say enough about the people at Gilbert RV Campground! These were some of the sweetest people I’ve met! I had a chat with the owner about how to start an RV park for myself and he asked me to call him anytime with any questions I had!
The staff checked on us the day after our late arrival to make sure we had everything we needed and honestly seemed to care that we enjoyed our stay!
When most of the other campers left on Sunday evening, the owners had their cleaning crew (free range chickens) come out and clean the campsites! LOL!
PRICE 10/10
When you’re planning on a Buffalo River float trip, it’s just hard to find a place to stay for much less than $50 per night. The RV sites start at $38 per night…how do you beat that?
Their prices on their tent sites and cabins are equally affordable.
BUFFALO RIVER FLOAT TRIP
I just wanted to add a quick note about doing a Buffalo River Float Trip.
Arkansas gets extremely hot in the summer. Floating the Buffalo is how many Arkansans cope with the heat.
The most likely route you will take if you stay at Gilbert RV Campground will be for you to put in at Tyler Bend State Park (has RV camping, but you’ll be dry camping there), and end at Gilbert.
When we went, the river was so high that the float only took us about two hours. The next day, the water had gone down enough that it took about 2.5 hours.
As a word of warning, be sure to check water levels before you leave for your Buffalo River float trip. Here’s a great link for that. The Tyler Bend is the St. Joe water level reading.
Also, you’ll need a life preserver for each floater, and a mesh bag for trash, no glass on the river (no bottled drinks), and remember its all dry counties up here…you can’t buy alcohol there.
That’s all I’ve got for now.
Don’t forget, if you found this post useful, be sure to pin it on Pinterest! 
Pros
- Super close to the Buffalo River
- Clean campgrounds
- Nice staff
- Store in campground
- Full hookups
- Cable connection
- Beautiful scenery
Cons
- VERY small town
- Not a lot to do outside of the campground
- Not a lot to do inside of the park
- Campsites close together
- Gravel roads
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