If you’ve never been to Arkansas and only had one week to come here, I’d have to say that Petit Jean State Park would have to be your one place to see.
Located in Morrilton, AR, Petit Jean State Park is a 3,471-acre park about 68 miles northwest the capital city of Little Rock. This makes it a SUPER POPULAR location for locals but is an INCREDIBLE find for non-Arkansans as well.
CREATION OF PETIT JEAN STATE PARK
The legend of Petit Jean is a story of a young French girl in the 1700s engaged to a French explorer who promises to marry her upon his return from the new world. She disguises herself as a young boy (Jean) aboard her lover’s ship. She’s so small, she earns the nickname Petit Jean or Little John.
Her identity remains undiscovered for the whole journey across the sea and into the Mississippi River where they landed at the foot of what is now Petit Jean Mountain. The captain and crew spend the summer on the mountain living with the native Indians who live there.
Upon their decision to leave, Petit Jean falls ill and eventually succumbs to her illness. The Indians apparently buried her there on the mountain, and many, many years later, was found and recognized as the grave of Petit Jean.
In 1923 after years of deliberation, land on top of the mountain was turned into what is now Petit Jean State Park. Read more here.
Personally, I think the story has an endearing quality, but it’s not the main reason people go to Petit Jean. So, WHY DO THEY GO? I gotcha…hang in there.
PETIT JEAN STATE PARK REVIEW
First things first, I’m doing this review from an RVer’s perspective FOR RVers, but I think it’d be useful for just about anyone looking for info on the park. Now, let’s get to work! 🙂
CAMPGROUNDS/CLEANLINESS 10/10
Our “backyard” at our campsite in the overflow lot
You guys know I love a clean RV park, this WHOLE PARK…campsites, AND trails…is AH-MAZING! It’s kept in pristine condition year round! Idk if this should be attributed to the park system, the groundskeepers, or what, but this park is immaculate!
This time we stayed in the overflow camping, which was a gigantic field. It seemed decent enough with electric and water hookups.
Most campsites are HUGE and some are even pull through if you’re lucky enough to get one. My best tip: plan WAAAYYY ahead. We already have reservations for next fall.
Not all lots are level, but most aren’t too terribly unlevel. If you’ve RVed for very long, you should have the tools to deal with this.
BATHHOUSES 10/10
While we’re talking about campsites, let’s talk for a sec about the bathhouses.
The one I went in was very decent. Utilitarian as most are, but it was heated which would make me assume it’s cooled in the summer. It had two stalls for toilets and two for showers.
They were VERY clean EVERY SINGLE TIME I went in, so there’s that!
We’ve tent camped in the B loop before, but it’s been a long time. I don’t remember the bathrooms standing out as gross or nasty. It’s just not this park’s M-O.
AMENITIES 10/10
Moving right along, let’s camp out on amenities for a minute (see what I did there…I made a punny!)
Hey guys, there is a TON of stuff to do on top of this mountain! It is pet-friendly, kid-friendly, has a 24 room lodge, 33 cabins, 125 campsites, and 4 yurts for rent. Oh…AND IT HAS AN AIRPORT!!! Yep, you can fly right in if you want. Crazy town!!!
Lake Bailey is a 100-acre lake that you can fish on, launch a boat from the boat ramp, kayak (or canoe, I suppose), rent a pedal boat or rent a fishing boat.
All goofiness aside, you can see the beautiful valley below in this shot
Petit Jean State Park also has 5 overlooks for UNBELIEVABLY BEAUTIFUL views of the river valley below. I recommend doing at least one or two of these overlooks (depending on the length of your stay) at sunrise and sunset.
I did two sunset overlook shoots while I was there this time. One at Mary Ann Richter Overlook and one at Petit Jean’s Gravesite (although this one would be best for sunrise photography.
The sunsets are STUNNING
There are 8 hiking trails of various difficulty. You can check them out here. I would recommend going down to Cedar Falls if your health permits it, but BE AWARE that IT IS PHYSICALLY DEMANDING!!!
1,000 years ago, Glynn made me hike down there to receive my engagement ring (AKA…he proposed to me at the Falls), but even then when I was fit, it was a challenging climb back up!
Here’s a link for overlooks and hiking trails.
If that’s not enough to get you out there, they also have a pool (I’d call about the status of the pool before planning on swimming, some reviews said it was closed this summer for renovations), basketball court, tennis court, picnic areas, pavilions, and playgrounds.
My point is, there is a BUNCH to do up there on the mountain!
CELL SIGNAL 10/10
We’re going to ignore the fact that Glynn & I had NO CELL SIGNAL AT ALL and still give it a 10/10. It’s not Petit Jean State Park’s fault we chose to get on the saddest excuse for a carrier in Arkansas. #savage If you watched our Gulf State Park video review, you know we DO NOT LIKE T-Mobile!
We had friends with us that Verizon AND AT&T and they had LOVELY signals all weekend. T-Mobile and Arkansas just don’t gel! We were thankful for generous friends who hotspotted to us all weekend!
If you have T-Mobile and like to be connected, this may not be the park for you, but there are several places where you will have a signal. We started getting notifications when we went to Mather Lodge to hike to Cedar Falls, and we also got a signal on the Mary Ann Richter Overlook. Weird, I know.
INTERNET/WIFI 0/10
Now, this just breaks my heart because I HATE to give them a zero on anything, but there is no wifi at all and no plans for it to the best of my knowledge.
I will say though, Arkansas is a balanced-budget state…so we have to choose our battles. Wifi for campers is not one of them. I get that. I’d rather have a balanced-budget state than have wifi at my campground.
Plan accordingly if you need internet. If I HAD to have it, I’d have gone down the mountain to regain a solid signal or find a McDonalds.
BTW, I’m leaving this out of the widget below. I can’t fault the state for wanting to be debt free!
NEARBY ACTIVITIES 7/10
Now, here’s the deal with this one…there’s not a BUNCH of stuff to do NEAR Petit Jean State Park, but you don’t NEED a lot of stuff to do near the park. There is SO MUCH to do IN the park, that you don’t need to go OUTSIDE of it!
That being said, there is still PLENTY to do nearby Petit Jean State Park.
Probably one of the nearest things to do is the Museum of Automobiles (Trip Advisor Link). I’ve never been, but there are a bunch of great reviews.
There is also a great little convenience store on top of the mountain. They serve sandwiches, burgers, scooped ice cream, and fudge. They sell all kinds of in that store including local jams and jellies, candles, items you may have left at home for camping, and a few other convenient things! 🙂
I didn’t mention Mather Lodge above on amenities for Petit Jean State Park, but we can think of it as an activity as well. It’s a decent restaurant…I wasn’t super impressed the night we ate there. We waited forever for our food, and it was expensive and not that great…but maybe it was an off night. Everybody has one, right?!
If you are a serious fisherman, you can take your boat to the nearby lock and dam for fishing. I don’t think that needs any more explaining.
There are also lots of nearby restaurants if you don’t feel like eating at the camper.
A Google search also rendered a petting zoo, but I have no idea about that at all! You’re on your own with that one! 🙂
The point is, you’re in the Natural State, it’s time to get out into NATURE and ENJOY!
STAFF10/10
The staff at Petit Jean State Park was really nice! We encountered several kids (20 somethings) who helped us get our reservations in order both coming and going (made reservations for next year).
We didn’t really have much need to talk to them a lot, but they were all very nice and helpful.
I also had a chance to talk to the camp host a couple of times. I think he was freaked out that I was parking, leveling, and setting up the camper by myself because he kept checking on me, but he and his wife were very sweet.
We actually stayed one extra night, so he came to remind us to pay the next morning just as Glynn was going out to pay, but he was nice about it.
PRICE 10/10
Here’s the best part:
Loop A which has 50 amp full hookups is only $34 per night.
Loop B has 30 amp electricity and with water hookups from $22/night.
The overflow camping area had 30 amp electricity and water hookups and was about $15 per night!
Of course, there’s a dump station in Petit Jean State Park, so no worries there.
THAT’S IT!
We made it through another review, peeps!!! Yay! I’ll be honest, we’ve been to Petit Jean State Park so many times that I wasn’t really excited about it, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVED our time up there!
How about you…have you ever been to Petit Jean State Park? When will you go if not? It’s one of my favs!!!
Pros
- Close to Little Rock
- Great fishing lake
- Plenty of hiking trails
- Beautiful views
- HUGE campsites
- Dog-friendly
- Plenty of restaurants nearby
- Great cell signal (not for T-mobile)
Cons
- Can be crowded in peak season
- Not much in town
- Cabins are small
- Mather Lodge Restaurant seemed off for us
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