RV Park Review: Catherine’s Landing in Hot Springs, AR

Brittany and I typically travel only ~250 miles every time we move our behemoth RV. There are many reasons for this. Mostly it’s about safety, exploration and rest.

But sometimes, on rare occasions, we break our own rule. Whenever we do, it has to be for a good reason…actually, a spectacular one.

Our original plan was to go from Austin, TX to Mount Pleasant, TX – a distance of 313 miles – and stay for a week. Friends of ours suggested we push further, claiming the push would be worth it. They suggested Hot Springs, AR.

We looked at the map, but it was a 492 mile trek to Hot Springs. Yuck. That would typically mean two full days of travel for us.

In order to even consider it, we’d have to be really impressed with the local area, and we’d want to find an RV park that was outstanding.

We found both.

General RV Park Information: Catherine’s Landing

• GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 34.45161 Longitude -93.00056
• Physical Address: 1700 Shady Grove Road, Hot Springs, AR 71901
• Phone Number for Reservations: (501) 362-2550
• Rate as of March 24, 2015: Starting at $39.99 per night
• Weekly Rate: Starting at $219.99
• Monthly Rate: Starting at $545.99
• Military Discount: 10%
• Other Discounts: Good Sam, FMCA, AAA also get 10% off
• Additional Information: Don’t follow your GPS to get here. When you make your reservation, Catherine’s Landing will send you an email with RV friendly directions that’ll get you right to the park. Oh, and site #102 looks like a pretty nice site if you can get it. ~hint hint~

RV Site Details: Catherine’s Landing

• Site Pad Material: Level sites with modern concrete pads
• Water: Yes, included with daily rate
• Electricity: Yes, included with daily rate
• Sewer: Yes
• Laundry: Yes
• Cable TV: Yes
• Wi-fi: Yes and free! (and really strong at our site!)
• Dump Station: All sites have sewer, no dump station required
• Propane: Yes
• Pull Throughs: Yes
• Back In: Yes
• Big Rig Friendly: Yes
• Pet Friendly: Yes (very)
• Additional Information: Each site also has a grill, picnic table and fire ring. Oh, and all roads in the park are paved. It’s things like this that you often don’t think about, but each of them add up to make the stay that much nicer.

Particulars of Our Stay

• Dates of our Stay: March 21-28, 2015
• Site Number: #92
• Cellular Coverage: 2 bars LTE on AT&T (we were able to tether and stream Netflix from our phones with no problem), 1 bar LTE on Verizon (again, worked with no problems).

• Most Memorable Moment: The RV lifestyle is not only about the things we see, but also about the folks we meet. An awesome couple named Gary and Sharon pulled in just across from us. They invited us to sit with them at their campfire and enjoy some great stories and wine. It’s people like Gary and Sharon who make meeting other RVers a joy. They also introduced us to their friends Mark and Denise who were also a blast to spend time with.
• Other Awesome Moments: One thing we noticed at Catherine’s Landing is that everyone was having a great time. Every single day. Genuine smiles, warm hellos and welcoming waves were the order of the day. Since Brittany and I take three daily walks before 4 PM, we have many opportunities to meet other awesome campers.
• Least Fun Moment: It wasn’t actually that bad, but kind of funny. We checked in after hours, so once we arrived, I tried to take out the little trash we had. It was just an empty 12-pack of Dr. Pepper. So I’m walking around the ENTIRE facility looking for a dumpster and I can’t find one. Finally, I ran into a sweet couple who saw I was obviously lost. When I asked them where the dumpster was, they replied, “You know, we’ve been coming here for years and I don’t think we’ve ever seen one. Just set your trash out on the curb, they pick it up twice a day at 10AM and 4PM.” Well, there it is. The nice part was that I met some neighbors and they were kind enough to let me throw my cardboard 12-pack case into their cozy fire.
• Fun People We Met: Debi Evans! She’s one of the folks who checked us in at the front desk, and just a pure delight to know. We’ve seen her on our daily walks with her little four-legged friend Maxie, and she always stops to talk with us and inquire about what we’ve been up to with a genuine smile. This makes all the difference in any stay, when you can tell the folks at the RV park go beyond customer service to truly caring about you as a person and not just as a customer.

Personal Reflections on Our Stay at Catherine’s Landing

We left Austin early and pressed 492 miles to make it to Catherine’s Landing around 6:30PM. That allowed for enough daylight to set up our connections and get some needed rest.

The night we arrived, I took a not-so-short walk around the campground (see above). Even though it was drizzling a little bit at the time, the scenery was too lovely not to take in. Catherine’s Landing is right on Lake Catherine, surrounded by mature trees and landscaping.

They have a ridiculous amount of amenities here! Can anyone say zip-line park and disc golf course on site? But I digress…

Let me break it down for you. We’ll start with the check-in area.

As you pull up to Catherine’s Landing, there are spaces clearly marked where you can stage your RV. You’ll see a stunning slanted-roof glass enclosed building to your right. This is where you go for check-in.

They also have a fitness room in this building with a treadmill, bike, TV and more…

And a game room, complete with projector, DVD player, Wii gaming system and books…

A sizable and CLEAN laundry room…

A guest kitchen in case you’re having a sizable get together and need a little more cooking space for your friends and family…

And finally, a sizable convenience store which features firewood, beer, wine and all the other little things you might want during your stay.

That was all inside the check-in building! Now, step outside and experience what Catherine’s Landing is really about.

As soon as you step outside of the check-in building, you’re greeted by a large non-chemical saline swimming pool. It opened for the season the day after we arrived! Good timing right?

Located just next to the pool is a playground for the little ones…

And a boat dock with boat rentals…

Of course there is propane on site…

And a nine hole disc golf course…

Just in case disc golfing isn’t enough to get your heart racing, they have a zip line adventure park with 12 ziplines on site…

For those who want to have a huge get-together or rally, Catherine’s Landing boasts a massive covered activity pavilion with a fire pit, picnic tables, giant cooking area, dance floor, restrooms and even overhead fans and lighting. They also have an ice machine at the activity pavilion, so no in-town runs are necessary if you need to fill up a cooler or twelve.

For those with four legged friends, Catherine’s Landing has a sizable fenced dog park right next to the river.

We didn’t take pictures of them, as this article is for RVers, but Catherine’s Landing also has yurts and cottages available for rent that are really pretty spectacular. If you’re interested, click here.

We did tell you they have a ridiculous amount of amenities, right?

When you’re in a place like this, it’s tough sometimes to force yourself to go out and explore the area, but you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t. There are tons of things to do in Hot Springs, and most of them are within a 10 minute drive of Catherine’s Landing.

Things to Do in Hot Springs Area

This article is long enough and we don’t want to inundate you. But we’ll add links to articles on things to do in Hot Springs as we write them. We’ve already got one up which was about our first full day here in Hot Springs:

• Day One in Hot Springs, Arkansas
• Bathing at the Buckstaff on Bathhouse Row
• Favorite Food and Activities in Hot Springs

Final Thoughts on Catherine’s Landing

Catherine’s Landing is a stunning RV Park in an incredible city. The amenities here rival those you’ll find anywhere. What you may not know is that Catherine’s Landing is part of the RVC Outdoors properties.

They have several RV parks around the country. We can’t comment on the others personally as we’ve only been to Catherine’s Landing. But here’s a snapshot of the others in case you like what you read here.

If you’ve read this far and are planning a trip to the Hot Springs, Arkansas area, we highly recommend Catherine’s Landing.

Simply put, if you’re wanting to stay somewhere that has unparalleled amenities in an amazing part of the country, Catherine’s Landing is the spot for you.

Do you have anything to add? Any other thoughts on Catherine’s Landing? Maybe you have a question. We love comments, so please don’t hesitate! 

-E

Disclosure: We didn’t know it when we checked in or started working on this article, but we later learned that Catherine’s Landing decided to host us at their campground free of charge for the week that we were there. It was a nice surprise! Having said that all opinions and experiences in this article are our own. As of this writing we don’t make money on RV Wanderlust. If we ever get something for nothing we’re happy to disclose it. And if we start making money from our adventures, well that would just rock our sox and we’ll be thrilled to disclose it!