With nearly 40,000 acres of boating and fishing waters and rimmed by choice picnic and camping areas, it is the ideal leisure-time destination. Lake Dardanelle spreads westward behind Dardanelle Dam into Pope, Yell, Logan, Johnson, and Franklin Counties. Two miles wide in places, it reaches 50 miles upstream to the Ozark-Jeta Taylor Lock and Dam and has 315 miles of shoreline.
Parks on Lake Dardanelle offer many recreational opportunities. Each has drinking water, toilet facilities, and picnic tables. Several have boat launch ramps, trailer dump stations, electrical sites with water, and group picnic shelters. Public boat docks offer boat and motor rental services, fuel, food, and other supplies and services.