Rent-A-Yurt at Petit Jean State Park
Looks like I missed my chance to rent a teepee at Petit Jean State Park, located near Morrilton. But now I can rent a yurt, which sounds better anyway.
For many years, the park offered teepees for rent during warmer months. The teepees have been replaced with similar camping facilities called Rent-A-Yurt units, available at some other Arkansas State Parks as well. The yurts provide more sleeping space, as well as provide better protection from rainfall, since they don’t have a hole in the top like traditional style teepees do. They are located along the shore of Lake Bailey near Camping Area A. A Rent-A-Yurt accommodates up to six people and includes sleeping mats, a camp stove, and other camping gear.
The yurts are great for those who don’t own camping equipment, or for those who want to find out if they like camping before they spend money on their own equipment.
The park also features 125 individual campsites (including 26 pull-through sites) offering water and electrical hook-ups. Thirty-five of the sites have 50 amp electric and sewer. All sites are reservable throughout the year. Group areas are also available. Campers can choose wooded or lake view sites. Click here for a detailed campground map.
If you don’t like to rough it, you can stay in the lodge or one of the park cabins.
One of Arkansas’s historic treasures, Mather Lodge at Petit Jean State Park has a rustic-style design. There is a 50-person room for meetings and small banquets, 24 guest rooms, and a lodge swimming pool. Public restrooms are located underneath the pool due to its proximity to Cedar Falls Trail, one of the park’s most popular hiking trails. Wi-Fi Internet access is available throughout the lodge, including the guest rooms. The lodge showcases original Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration work from the 1930s and the Adirondack-style park architecture of this mountain lodge, which underwent a renovation in 2012, is the only CCC lodge built in an Arkansas state park.
Near the lodge are the park’s 33 cabins. Some are 1930s CCC/Rustic-style, and others are modern duplex designs. Choices include one-bedroom, three-bedroom, and studio cabins. The cabins are fully-equipped, and 21 include kitchens. Most of the cabins are spaced along the bluff of Cedar Creek Canyon.
Petit Jean is Arkansas’s only state park with its own airport. The airport’s fly-in campground features five tent sites with water and electric hookups, picnic tables, grills, lantern holders, and tent pads. One site is barrier-free to accommodate visitors with disabilities. This site includes a modern bathhouse with hot showers and flush toilets.
