DeGray Lake, in Southwest Hot Spring County, is perhaps the state's most popular state park destination, with a maximum surface area of 13,400 acres. The lake was created in 1967 when a dam was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Caddo River. The dam is part of the Corps' network of hydroelectric generating dams.

DeGray Lake State Park hosts vacationers from states throughout the southwestern region of the United States, with lodging, camping, two marinas, an amphitheater, beaches and great fishing.

Nestled in the natural beauty of the Ouachita Mountains on 1,940-acre Lake Catherine, one of the five popular Diamond Lakes in west central Arkansas, Lake Catherine State Park features CCC/Rustic Style facilities constructed of native stone and wood by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s.

Lake Catherine was created when the Remmel Dam was constructed in 1924 to provide Arkansas with its first hydroelectric power source. Lake Catherine provides camping, cottages, a marina and miles of shoreline with some of the best fishing in the state, ranging from rainbow trout to bass and catfish.

Water released from Remmel Dam flows into the Ouachita River and creates more recreational opportunities, with kayaking and canoeing popular on the rapids near the Ouachita River Park all the way downstream, where anglers score with bass and other game fish.