Bull Shoals, Norfork campgrounds flooded after heavy rain

LEAD HILL, Ark. (KY3) -The Lead Hill Campground at Bull Shoals Lake is looking a bit like the discovered lost city of Atlantis.

"We've got about 750 campsites total between Norfork and Bull Shoals," said Chief Ranger Dylan Edwards. "Right now about 350 of those or so are impacted in one way or the other."

All of the rain these past couple weeks caused the lake levels to rise by several feet, and they continue to go up.

"The lakes were authorized and constructed for the purpose of holding water," Edwards said.

The chief ranger said some of the campgrounds could be flooded for weeks, or even months.

Which means some campers are out of luck.

"As a result of all the campsites underwater, we've had to cancel and close a lot of incoming reservations for the campsites," Edwards said.

The chief ranger said despite the water levels, the campgrounds are still open for business.

"We still want people to come, have a good time and enjoy what we have to offer here," he said.

“I’ve never been here so I didn’t know what to expect or what we were seeing,” said Joel Miller, a visitor from Wisconsin. “It’s hard to imagine what it looks like otherwise, but the playground underwater was the thing that got me for as far away as it is.”

But rangers also want people to be cautious while boating out on the water.

"With all the rain that we've had there's going to be a lot of debris possibly floating in the water," Edwards said.

Those officials also ask people to wear life jackets and to have kill switches attached to them if they're on a boat.

"We make sure our son is keeping his life jacket on," Miller said. "I'm going to be with him in the water probably at arms-length at all times probably because we don't know what it's like out here."

Visitors said the flooded campgrounds are not stopping them from having a good time.

“The area is beautiful and we really enjoyed our time here,” Miller said.

For Bull Shoals Lake levels: http://www.swlwc.usace.army.mil/pages/data/tabular/htm/bulsdam.htm For Norfork Lake levels: http://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/pages/data/tabular/htm/norfork.htm