Conference Meeting Places in Arkansas State Parks
Arkansas's state parks are for more than just great vacations. They are great places for meetings and business retreats, too.
Looking for meeting places and conference centers in Arkansas? The five parks featuring one-of-a-kind lodges are great getaways for successful meetings, conventions, reunions and corporate retreats. Situated in scenic settings like high atop Arkansas’s second highest mountain or on an island in sparkling DeGray Lake, the state park lodges are naturals for great meetings and retreats. The combination of their scenic settings, access to a wide variety of outdoor activities and first-class meeting facilities make Arkansas state park lodges the natural choices for successful and memorable meetings. Facilities for group meetings range from cozy meeting rooms perfect for small groups of 35 to convention space for up to 450, or an auditorium that will hold 1,025 in comfortable theater-style chairs.
Special workshops, nature programs, entertainment and other activities can be coordinated with the park staff to custom-fit your group. Each state park lodge offers a full-service restaurant. Swimming pools are also available during the summer months at DeGray Lake Resort State Park Lodge, the Ozark Folk Center State Park and Petit Jean State Park. And DeGray Lodge features a new swimming pool, hot tub, fitness room and business center as part of its recent multimillion-dollar renovation.
The five Arkansas state parks featuring lodges are:
DeGray Lake Resort in southwest Arkansas near Arkadelphia is Arkansas's resort state park. On the shores of 13,800-acre DeGray Lake, this fishing and golf resort features a 96-room lodge and convention center on its own island in DeGray Lake. DeGray Lake Resort State Park combines resort amenities with state park outdoor offerings. Here you can enjoy championship golf, water sports, boat rentals at the full-service marina, tennis, hiking, horseback riding, camping, picnicking and sightseeing.
DeGray is perfect for meetings, conventions, reunions and corporate retreats.
Meeting facilities at DeGray Lodge include:
- a convention center that will hold up to 450 [NOTE: This convention center can also be divided into three separate rooms.]
- three meeting rooms located on each of the lodge's three floors near the guest rooms. Each meeting room holds up to 45.
- a fully-equipped business center.
- a full selection of equipment to meet your conference needs. All meeting and convention rooms have built-in projection screens and dry-erase boards. Overhead, slide, video and 16mm projectors, P.A. systems, easels with pads, videocassette players, color televisions, internet services, fax and copy services are just a few of the services available.
Visit www.degray.com.
Mount Magazine State Park in west central Arkansas near Paris is located in the Ozark National Forest atop the state's highest mountain, 2,753-foot Mount Magazine. The mountain's natural beauty, breathtaking scenery and cool temperatures during warm summer months have attracted travelers since 1900. Mount Magazine's scenic natural beauty combined with that of the surrounding national forest lands make this park a perfect getaway in which to experience the seasonal beauty of Arkansas's four seasons. The park's dominant feature is the 60-room lodge at Mount Magazine featuring a restaurant, conference center, business center, indoor pool and fitness center. The lodge and 13 cabins stretch along the mountain's south bluff so that all lodge and cabin guests can enjoy the sweeping views from the mountain. The lodge's Skycrest Restaurant features exquisite Southern cuisine in a setting that includes large windows framing the dramatic view from the mountain and a two-story, wood-burning native stone fireplace. The park also features a wide range of outdoor recreational opportunities including camping, hiking, picnicking, wildlife and bird watching, sightseeing and other nature programs and activities. Outdoor opportunities for the more adventuresome include rock climbing, rappelling, hang gliding, biking, horseback riding and riding along ATV trails.
Meeting facilities at the Lodge at Mount Magazine include:
- A 3,840-square-foot conference/meeting space that can divided into three meeting rooms (1,280 square feet each) or opened up to accommodate banquet seating for up to 192 at 24-person tables.
- Two 880-square-foot meeting rooms located near the lodge's main entrance that include hospitality counters.
- State-of-the-art audiovisual equipment and overhead projectors are located in all conference and meeting rooms.
- Banquet and catering menus available through the Skycrest Restaurant at the lodge.
Visit www.MountMagazineStatePark.com.
Ozark Folk Center in north central Arkansas at Mountain View is a unique park dedicated to the perpetuation, interpretation and demonstration of the traditional music, lore, homestead skills and pioneer crafts of the Ozark Mountains. Nested in the natural beauty of the Ozark foothills, this folksy park is a people place where you're invited to come meet the folks. You'll hear the talented music folks as they perform live on stage at the Music Theater. You'll visit with the skilled craft folks as you stroll through the 24 demonstration shops that comprise the Crafts Village. Here you'll visit with the basket maker, broom maker, candle maker, dulcimer maker and a host of other artisans while they work. The Ozark Folk Center's comfortable 60-room Dry Creek Lodge is comprised of 30 separate duplex units. The rooms, featuring large windows and glass doors with views of the surrounding oak/hickory forest, are just minutes from the Crafts Village, Music Theater and Skillet Restaurant.
The Ozark Folk Center is perfect for meetings, conventions, reunions and corporate retreats.
Meeting facilities at the Dry Creek Lodge include:
- a 1,025-seat large theater auditorium available during the off-season and during hours when the center's musicians are not scheduled for a performance on stage
- a 150-seat small auditorium with hinged desk tops for note taking
- three break-out rooms seating up to 25 in each
- complimentary audio-visual equipment
- two private dining areas in the park's Skillet Restaurant (one room seats 25 and the other seats 50)
- the main public dining room in the Skillet Restaurant during the off-season only. This dining room seats approximately 100.
Visit www.ozarkfolkcenter.com.
Petit Jean State Park in central Arkansas near Morrilton is situated on Petit Jean Mountain, a legendary mountain overlooking the Arkansas River Valley whose natural beauty inspired the creation of Arkansas's first state park in 1923. Petit Jean is one of Arkansas's five state parks featuring rustic-style facilities crafted in the early 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The rustic warmth of the park's native log and stone architecture mirrors the mountain's rugged beauty and makes Petit Jean a special park, a popular park. The focal point is Mather Lodge, the park's 24-room guest lodge that stretches along the bluff of scenic Cedar Creek Canyon. The park's 32 fully-equipped cabins are within walking distance from the lodge, and many offer a view from the bluff overlooking the canyon, too. The canyon is the work of Cedar Creek which cascades as a spectacular 95-foot waterfall. Upstream, Lake Bailey, covering 100 acres, is a peaceful setting for fishing and pedal boating. The park includes 127 campsites, an airport, a fly-in campground, hiking trails, picnic areas, playgrounds, pavilions, a recreation hall, swimming pool and tennis courts.
Petit Jean is perfect for small meetings and corporate retreats, rather than conventions, due to limited meeting space at the park lodge. The park is a wonderful setting for family reunions since the park's overnight accommodations include 24-room Mather Lodge and the 32 cabins situated near the lodge.
Meeting facilities at Mather Lodge, Petit Jean State Park, include:
- Arkansas Room: This room near the guest rooms can accommodate 30 to 35. The room's setting is a cozy study with couches and chairs.
- Civilian Conservation Corps Dining Room: Located adjacent to the lodge lobby, this captivating room features walls of native logs and stone, tables and chairs—all handcrafted by the men who served at Petit Jean's CCC camp in the early 1930s. A wood-burning fireplace makes this room especially cozy during fall and winter months.
- Restaurant Conference Room: Located adjacent to Mather Lodge's dining room, this room is created by the partitioning off of the back area of the public dining room. It can seat 45 at dining tables.
Visit www.petitjeanstatepark.com
Queen Wilhelmina State Park at the western edge of Arkansas near Mena is located high atop Rich Mountain, Arkansas's second highest mountain. Located on the Talimena Scenic Drive, this park is renowned for its panoramic scenery of the surrounding Ouachita National Forest. The park's crowning attraction is its 38-room guest hostelry, Queen Wilhelmina Lodge, Arkansas's "Castle in the Clouds." Today's lodge is the third inn to grace this same spectacular setting. The guest rooms include two Queen's Rooms with fireplaces and two Regent's Rooms with spa tubs. This mountaintop lodge high atop Arkansas's southernmost mountain range promises you royal hospitality, fine dining, comfortable guest rooms and spectacular scenery. The park also features campsites, picnic sites, hiking trails and scenic overlooks.
Meeting facilities at Queen Wilhelmina State Park Lodge include:
- Second Floor Conference Room: This meeting room has a capacity of 50.
- Heritage Room (on First Floor): This room is adjacent to the public dining room and is used when business meetings are held in conjunction with a meal. Capacity: 60.
Visit www.queenwilhelmina.com
The Arkansas state park featuring a group cabin area with dining hall is:
Crowley's Ridge State Park,
located in northeast Arkansas at Walcott, offers a group lodging facility featuring five bunk cabins, a kitchen/dining hall and modern bathhouse. Overlooking the park’s fishing lake, this cozy compound is a rustic, peaceful group lodging facility that can accommodate up to 60.
Pets are not permitted in this group lodging facility; however, service animals are welcome.
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