[leaveittomaynard]

Hello, a group of friends and I are planning a camping trip end of May to hopefully stay near the falls. My guy and I went and visited the area this past weekend, looking for locations. Unfortunately, we weren't well enough prepared and had limited time/light, and lack of map or signal/gps, to chance staying later and getting lost. I know Albert Pike is closed to camping. We are looking for an area near water, maybe a mile from the Little Mo Falls, to primitive camp for a few nights. I did see areas off the dirt road leading to the Falls Rec Area, but they were mere feet from the road. AKA, too close for comfort.

Does anyone have any hints or tips for finding an area? We are hoping to have vehicles not too far away, and not a long hike from the vehicles to the camp site. We are from bland Shreveport, LA and in need of peaks, falls and adventure. If we can find the right camp site, I know the rest will fall in our laps!

Thanks so much for any advice!!

[Old Fossil]

Closing all the camp sites has really messed up things for campers, so I'm not aware of any true camping sites in the area. I don't know how it would work out for you, but if you get to the Falls parking area early enough you may consider "boon-docking" up on the surrounding mountains until you find a spot. I know backpackers do that all the time. I doubt you will have any problems with the ONF people unless you build a big camp fire. They are kinda sensitive about that . I know that country pretty good and that's the only thing I can think of. Good luck, and I hope it works out for you. Let us know because we are always interested in knowing if we gave good, or bad, advice.

[89kmanlove]

Just an update in 2019 from a recent visitor. Shady Lake is a nice campground nearby (a rough dirt road drive for 10+ miles albeit). There are plenty of makeshift camp areas around the southern road up to the Little Missouri route between the Shady Lake area. And by makeshift: we saw tons of people camping! The area was absolutely awesome with river access and views to other beautiful rapid/fall areas prior to arriving to the Little Missouri turnoff. There were even tons of other areas to camp near the river if you explore within a few miles of Albert Pike either way, some very secluded. We went on Labor Day weekend and there were still camping spots within the entire area. Highly recommended area to get away from it all for a day or three!

Easy car camping if need be too, but perfect for hammock camping!