Piney Bay is easily birded around the entire section of the lake but especiallyat the main Recreation Area. The campground area offers a host of birds year-round and birders often find ducks, geese, pelicans and gulls on the lake in the winter. There are multiple access points to the lake which provide open areas for viewing waterfowl and other avian species on and near the lake. 

Bald Eagles can be found here as well as wintering waterfowl such as Canvasback, Redhead, Common Goldeneye, Horned Grebe and various gull species. The park itself has many pine trees, providing homes for a variety of songbirds. There are several access points around the lake with a mixed variety of habits for rails, woodcocks, woodpeckers and wrens. 

The main recreation area is primarily designed for camping, fishing and swimming. For birders, this section is good during the off season, and the surrounding portions of the lake are good year-round.

Lake Dardanelle (34,300 acres) was formed by a dam on the Arkansas River. It is managed as a navigable waterway by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The 240-acre Lake Dardanelle State Park, managed by Arkansas State Parks, offers various recreational opportunities. Much of the area is interspersed by river channels of the Arkansas & Piney Rivers and the Illinois Bayou. Shoreline, island, and upland habitats vary from pine to hardwood forest. The dam, state park, Piney Point, and Delaware Recreation Area are among the often used viewing areas.

There are a few trails in the Rec Area and also along the upper edges of the lake.