Cameron Bluff Campground

October 25th, 2019 Cameron Bluff Campground, Mount Magazine State Park

Donna and I decided to return to Cameron Bluff Campground at Mount Magazine State Park for a fall foliage trip like we did two years earlier. Similarly, when we arrived at the top of the mountain we were again socked-in by the low cloud cover. We stopped at the Visitor Center when we arrived to register but were told that their internet was down. They said that we would have to go to our campsite, drop our trailer, then go to the lodge to register. So we poked through the fog to our campsite and setup. We had stopped at the New Blaine General Store on the way for beverages where we picked up some homemade tamales and verde salsa from a Mexican man in he parking lot. We decided to have our tasty tamales for dinner before going to register. After dinner I got in the truck to go to the lodge. I drove about 75' into the fog where I found myself unable to navigate the one lane road and had to backup to the trailer. Luckily I had left on the front courtesy light at the trailer so I had something to aim for when I got within a few feet of the trailer. We were in for the night! The picture below was taken from the Visitor Center while it was still daylight and before it really got foggy.

Homemade Tamale with Verde Salsa

Fog / Clouds Moving Outside The Camper Door

Saturday morning I went to register.  Behind the camper and on the road to the lodge I saw deer everywhere. Three different groups of 4 to 5 deer.

Later Saturday morning Lynda and John arrived to stay with us for the next three nights. We hung out at the trailer until the fog cleared. Later in the afternoon we drove to the Skycrest Restaurant bar for cocktails and to watch the Razorback football game against #1 Alabama. At least we enjoyed the cocktails and bar food.

Sunday morning John and I walked the trail from our campsite to Cameron Bluff Overlook Drive. We took a few good pictures of the fog settled in the valley toward Paris.

Sunday afternoon we all packed up for a tour of the mountain. We stopped at overlooks including the hang glider launch area and the visitor's center.

Sunday evening was for relaxing and a campfire in the damp night air. 

Monday's itinerary took us to Paris and Eiffel Tower Park.

Leaving Paris we headed back to the clouds at Cameron Bluff Campground.

Below is a compilation video I made of our return trip from Paris. 

(This is what I do when I have too much time on my hands.)

Campsite #9 was at the farthest end of the loop with neighbors on only one side. Cameron Bluff campsites are well spaced and private. Maybe it was the lack of a moon or the fog, but this seemed like the darkest campground I have visited. I left the bathhouse walking without a flashlight one night and got disorientated. I turned on my cell phone light and found myself standing in a vacant campsite driveway. Cell service (AT&T) was sketchy at best from the campground and texting seemed to work somewhat sporadically. Cell service was fine from overlook drive and the lodge. About a dozen over the air digital TV channels were available. 

Cameron Bluff Campground

November 1, 2017 Cameron Bluff Campground, Mount Magazine State Park
Donna and I took a four day trip to Mt. Magazine State Park staying in the Cameron Bluff Campground. We had site #17 reserved for about 8 months anticipating the campground being packed with campers there to see the fall leaves. The campground was in fact completely booked.

At over 2700 feet the climate can change dramatically on top of Mt. Magazine. Driving up on Wednesday afternoon we had a partly cloudy sky at the base of the mountain in Paris. By the time we reached the visitor center we were down to about 50' visibility.  We had to creep into the visitor center parking lot without the building or the parking lot visible. We saw two white lines that said RV Parking on the asphalt and pulled straight in. From across the parking lot we could barely see the visitor center in the clouds.

Campsite #17 is the last campsite on the outside of the East loop. This gave us an almost completely private campsite with no neighbors beside our trailer. 

Cameron Bluff Overlook Drive circles the campground.  Although you can't see off the mountain from the campground you can take the short hike through the woods to the overlooks. Trees were starting to turn. We had one of the wetest summers on record in Arkansas and were hoping for spectacular colors, but after the driest September on record the leaf color was mostly yellows. Pictures from the bluffs were never the less pretty.

 

 
Cameron Bluff Campground is on the north side of the mountain just over the peak at Signal Hill. A south wind blew over the mountain top in eerie gusts much of the time that we were camping. The Mt. Magazine Lodge is on the south side of the peak and according to the visitor's center takes the brunt of the southwest winds with the campground being more protected.

 

We took a day trip on Saturday down to Paris.  Donna always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower.

On Sunday our final day camping I had to take a hike to the top of Signal Hill. The trailhead is across the road from the campground. Only about 0.7 of a mile up to the top of Signal Hill where there is a stone monument. As described in the park brochure "The monument is an approximate 400 square foot map of Arkansas made of stone and mortar. It was built to the scale of one foot = 13 miles. The survey marker represents the location of Mount Magazine, between the Arkansas and Petit Jean Rivers. The map also shows the six natural divisions of Arkansas. It was constructed by state park personnel and members of Americorps Team Silver Seven in May 2003. The round trip over the top and down to the Lodge, then back around the north side of Signal Hill is about 1.5 miles.

Had to add this picture to prove I made it to the top of Signal Hill

The Lodge as seen form the north trail head of Signal Hill