Petit Jean State Park

Great hiking in a beatiful setting

The 4 campground areas are very large, about 125 sites in total. We stayed in Loop A which offered a full hookup site. The Loop A sites are all paved asphalt with picnic table and fire ring. Some leveling will be required at nearly every site. We needed a sewer extension at our site so be prepared if needed for sewer and/or water. There are a few sites here where satellite reception works well, ask for some suggestions when making your reservation. There is no cable service but all network channels were available using the rooftop antenna. The channels are broadcast from the LIttle Rock area and can fade somewhat during bad weather or late evening hours. There is no wifi service in the campground but complimentary wifi is available in the Mather Lodge lobby area. Cellular service was very good in the campground but not so much on the hiking trails.

The hiking here is excellent as long as you are doing so during a cooler spring/fall time of year. Over 20 miles of trails, some short, some long, some easy, some difficult - something for all. The visitor's center or Mather Lodge can provide a map and overview of each of the trails, it was very helpful in not only planning the hikes but also while hiking. While the Cedar Falls trail has a beautiful waterfall and should not be missed it can be crowded especially on weekends. If you are able to set time aside for a longer hike such as the Seven Hollows Trail it will be much less crowded (you may be alone!) and offer plenty of interesting scenery and unusual rock formations.

A few previous reviews mentioned the spectacular mountain views and there are several. The best is about 4 miles east of the park near the gravesite for Petit Jean. Take a short drive and be rewarded.

We stayed here 5 nights in a travel trailer and would stay again, although the nightly rate for a full hookup site that does not include cable tv and wifi is high.