No current timetable is published by ARDOT. The only hours the department has put on ardot.gov are from a June 5, 2020 news release, and this page does not present them as today's schedule. · Departures shown by frequency — exact times from the operator. · Representative sailings only — check the operator for today's full schedule
Departures 1–10 / 10
Departures 1–10 / 10
Operator
Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT)
Map – Peel Ferry
| Fare type | Price |
|---|---|
| Vehicle and driver, per crossing | Free |
| Foot passenger, per crossing | Free |
ARDOT's Facebook post on the ferry says it carries vehicles across Bull Shoals Lake free of charge. No ticket, toll or reservation is mentioned anywhere in ARDOT material, and none was found on ardot.gov.
Peel Ferry carries Arkansas Highway 125 across a stretch of Bull Shoals Lake in Marion County, close to the village of Peel. The Arkansas Department of Transportation describes it as the last remaining ferry in the state, in service since the 1960s, and as a shortcut toward Missouri. It is a state-run crossing, and ARDOT's own Facebook account says it operates seven days a week and costs nothing to ride.
ARDOT mentions no ticket, toll or reservation. You drive onto the boat at one landing and drive off at the other. The distance between the two landings, measured on OpenStreetMap's terminal nodes, is about 1.3 kilometers, or roughly 0.8 mile of open water. ARDOT does not state a crossing time, and this page does not guess one.
The weak point is the timetable. ARDOT has put one set of hours on its website, in a release dated June 5, 2020, that announced a return to the normal schedule of 6:40 a.m. to 8:20 p.m. after pandemic restrictions. Nothing newer replaces it on ardot.gov, and a search of the department's news archive finds no other ferry notice. That is why this page lists no departure times and does not run a next-boat counter: it would be inventing precision the operator has not published.
Weather matters. ARDOT's post says service is weather permitting, without saying which conditions halt the boat or for how long. If your trip depends on being on the water by a certain hour, particularly toward the end of the day, check with ARDOT or look at conditions on IDriveArkansas.com, the traveler site ARDOT's own release points people to.
The alternative if the ferry is not running is a road detour around the lake. ARDOT does not publish the length of that detour, so it is not given here.
- Arrive at the terminal several minutes before departure; vehicle lanes close earlier than the foot-passenger gate.
- Check the operator's service alerts before you set out — weather, tides and vessel maintenance change sailings.
- Confirm accepted payment methods: some crossings are card-only and some take cash only.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. ARDOT's Facebook post on the ferry says it operates free of charge, and nothing on ardot.gov mentions a fare, toll or reservation. Cars and other vehicles roll on and off without paying.
ARDOT publishes no current timetable. The only hours on ardot.gov come from a news release dated June 5, 2020, which gave 6:40 a.m. to 8:20 p.m. as the normal schedule. Treat that as a historical reference and confirm with ARDOT.
ARDOT says it operates 7 days a week, weather permitting. The department does not publish a weekday or weekend split, a holiday list or a closed season.
ARDOT describes the service as 7 days a week and names no closed season, but it has published no current schedule or dated notice, so confirm before a winter trip. Conditions can stop it, and the department gives no list of the weather that does.
The Arkansas Department of Transportation. ARDOT runs the ferry; its pages do not say which district office handles it.
ARDOT does not publish a crossing time. The two landings are about 1.3 kilometers apart on OpenStreetMap's terminal nodes, so the ride is short, but any minute count would be a guess.
On Arkansas Highway 125 in Marion County, at Bull Shoals Lake near the village of Peel. ARDOT describes it as the last remaining ferry in Arkansas.
ARDOT does not run a ferry status page. Watch @myARDOT on Facebook, or check IDriveArkansas.com, which ARDOT's own release names for travel information.