Prairie Creek is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers park on the western shore of Beaver Lake, about three miles east of downtown Rogers in Benton County, Arkansas. The Little Rock District runs it from the Beaver Lake Project Office at 2260 N. 2nd Street in Rogers, and the park address is 9300 North Park Road. The designated swim beach sits in a sandy cove inside the day use area, west of the boat ramp, with the swimming zone set off in the water by a floating buoy line. It is one of about a dozen Corps parks on the lake and one of the Beaver Lake beaches the Arkansas Department of Health samples for bacteria during the season.

From Rogers, take Highway 12 east, which becomes Prairie Creek Drive, for just over three miles, then turn left onto North Park Road and follow it to the day use parking area. Day use is $5 per vehicle for anyone not registered in the campground. The Corps also sells an annual day use pass, and holders of the America the Beautiful Senior and Access passes pay a reduced rate. The park phone is 479-925-3957. The project office answers Beaver Lake questions at 479.636.1210 extension 1710, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the duty ranger line is 479.512.3575 outside those hours.

There is no lifeguard. Corps swim beaches on Beaver Lake are unguarded, so everyone is swimming at their own risk and children need an adult watching them. The buoy line is what separates swimmers from boat traffic, and it matters here more than at most beaches: Prairie Creek has a five lane launch ramp and a private marina in the same cove, so powerboats move through the area all summer. Stay inside the buoys.

Water quality is tested several times a year by the Arkansas Department of Health, usually timed ahead of the busy holiday weekends. When E. coli comes back above the state threshold the Corps closes the beach, and it stays closed until two consecutive samples pass. That happened at Prairie Creek in mid August 2026, and the beach reopened in early September. Resident Canada geese in the park were named as a likely contributor. Closures are announced by the Little Rock District, so call the project office before driving out if you want to be certain.

Beaver Lake is an impoundment of the White River at river mile 609, built between 1960 and 1966, with a conservation pool at 1,120 feet above sea level and 449 miles of shoreline. It also supplies drinking water to most of Northwest Arkansas, which is part of why the bacteria monitoring is taken seriously. Lake level rises and falls with rainfall and releases, so the amount of exposed sand changes through the season.

The park has 112 campsites across two loops, plus a bathhouse, flush toilets, drinking water, a dump station, picnic areas, a playground, a sand volleyball court, and group shelters. Campground check in is 4:00 p.m. and check out is 1:00 p.m., with a 14 day limit in any 30 consecutive days. Prairie Creek Marina, a concession operating here since 1966, rents boats and sells fuel next door. Wood burning fires have been under restriction recently, so confirm the current fire status when you arrive.