Bull Shoals Lake - Mountain Home, Arkansas - Mountain Resort

Bull Shoals Lake is in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri with Mountain Home one of the main cities near the lake. It is man made with hundreds of miles of lake arms and coves and is a popular area for boating, water sports, swimming and fishing. Nineteen developed parks around the 700 mile shoreline provide campgrounds, boat launches, swimming areas and marinas.

A dam was built here to impound the White River with construction beginning in 1947 and it was completed four years later. It was the fifth largest dam in the United States and consumed enough concrete to build a wall six feet high and one foot thick, running the entire length of the West Coast. Visitors can take a twenty five minute tour of the dam free of charge during the summer season.

The lake boasts several marinas and boating is a big attraction here, although there are numerous hazards in the water. Visitors taking boats out on the lake should be careful of submerged stumps, logs, fences, and other obstructions particularly in shallow water and along the shoreline. Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock offers boat, scuba and houseboat rentals as well as guided fishing trips.

Fishing is very popular here and anglers will be able to purchase bait and fishing tackle from the convenience store on the Boat Dock. Numerous varieties of fish are to be found here including various types of catfish, bass and trout. The spear fishing season is open from mid June to mid March during light hours only.

The lake is well known for being very clear with visibility 30 to 60 feet underwater in some areas. For this reason snorkeling and underwater photography is often done here and many dive shops and clubs do their qualifying here. Swimmers need to beware as this is a deep lake, and it is not unusual to be in 50 feet of water when no more than 20 feet from the bank.

There are numerous places to stay overnight or longer near the lake including Bull Shoals Lake Resort, which is located at Westview Road in the Ozark Mountains one and a half miles north of Highway 178. Other nearby accommodation at Bull Shoals includes Brass Door Inn& Suites, which is on Central Boulevard and Evergreen Resort at Evergreen Cove. There are also numerous campgrounds and RV parks in the Bull Shoals area such as Buck Creek, Dam Site Park and Lakeview Park as well as many others in the Norfolk Lake and White River areas.

Bars and restaurants are plentiful in this neck of the woods with food to cater for all tastes including local, Italian, Chinese and Mexican cuisine. Mountain Home in particular has many casual style restaurants and cafes such as Arena Sports Grill, Blu Pig Restaurant, Fred's Fish House and Western Sizzlin. Visitors looking for more established fast food restaurant names will find Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's, Subway and Wendy's amongst others in Mountain Home.