Oklahoma Camping Guide

The Brushy Lake State Park and adjoining Sallisaw State Park envelope the eastern shoreline of beautiful Brushy Lake. Brushy Lake is a 33-acre lake South East of Marble City. This is a wonderful camp site for anyone who wants to get away from the crowded and the busy streets of the city life. It is also located in the scenic wooded Cookson Hills of eastern Oklahoma.

Brushy Lake State Park offers visitors a quiet, secluded recreation destination that is fit for campers and nature lovers to just have a peaceful and relaxing day outdoors. The area provides an ample amount of shade so you can feel cool and fresh even in the summers.

The park’s facilities include eight day-use picnic areas with tables and grills which is perfect for group activities or just the plain old family tradition of bonding out with nature. You do not have to really stay the night to enjoy the place. But if you are interested in camping out, the state park is also quite a great place to set up camp and circle around a great fire.

Brushy Lake State Park provides group shelters with electricity where you can camp out with your friends or families. There are 23 concrete camping sites all near a lighted boat ramp. Electric service, water service and comfort stations with showers are all available in this wonderful park.

During the day, you can enjoy fishing or swimming in the lake. The park offers boat and fishing docks for the avid fishermen and kids. You can also rent an electric or manually powered boat where you can enjoy around the lake. There are bass and bream fish found in the lake. If you are not too fond of the water, there are hiking trails available for the experienced and the beginner hiker.

You can take along the kids for a short hike and see animals and birds. If you are into professional photography or scenic photography, take out your camera and start collecting photos of the wildlife and the beautiful foliage. The kids are not going to be hiking much so the park has a playground accessible for them. They can also enjoy swimming, accompanied by adults since there are no life guards available near the lake.

There is also an available RV camping at Brush Lake for those who would want to bring the comfort of modern times with them in the outdoors. There are no hook ups for electricity and hot shower, so you can either boil water outside or just use cold water from the showers or the lake.

Brushy Lake State Park is open 24 hours, 7 days a week all year round. The normal camping fee is $10-15 but they offer senior citizen discounts. You will certainly enjoy the area since it is steeped in history and beauty. Go visit and enjoy nature with the Brushy Lake State Park!

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The Okmulgee Lake State Park has two great lakes: Okmulgee with 672 acres and Dripping Springs which is 1050 acres. That is why this state park is also known as Dripping Springs State Park. It is famous for being a place where a rare coral called “button” is found. The park has a gift shop where visitors can only view sample fossils of this rare coral.

200 to 350 million years ago, this state park was part of a shallow, muddy inland sea. The rock formations throughout the park were formed during the Pennsylvanian Period of geologic history. This is why the rare coral can be found in this area. The name Okmulgee means “bubbling spring” named by the Muscogee nation that settled during the 1830’s after they relocated from Alabama and Georgia.

Okmulgee State Park was developed in 1963 when the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department took over management of 535 acres of parkland from the City of Okmulgee. The park expanded in 1988 when the 245 acre Dripping Springs Lake area was leased from the City of Okmulgee. Dripping Springs Lake was designated Oklahoma’s first “Trophy Bass Lake”.

The park offers recreation facilities such as camping grounds and picnic sites ideal for families and friends to enjoy. They offer a wide space for group activities as well. The State Park offers more than 195 beautiful campsites in five different campgrounds. All of them are lakeside which makes it a perfect place to enjoy the outdoors and the water. Plus there are 5 comfort stations located around the park for your convenience. So you don’t really have to worry about taking a break for a call of nature.

If you want to bring along your tent, Okmulgee Park offers 6 tent sites in the Hickory Point area; 15 fin Red Oak Camping Area; 30 tent sites at Blackjack Area and the Dripping Springs offer 3 tent sites in the Clovis Point area. There are also 16 more tent sites in Garyito Point Area. All tent sites at Okmulgee/Dripping Springs State Park are unimproved, so you should better be prepared to rough it out with nature.

But, if you are not the type to “rough” it out, then bring along your RV. There are 18 semi-modern (water & electric) sites in the Hickory Point Campground and 28 semi-modern sites in the Red Oak Campground just for RV’s. The Dripping Springs has 28 semi-modern sites in Clovis Point Campground. You can also invite your whole neighborhood and relatives to take their RV’s since the group RV area at Clovis Point can accommodate from 48 to 150 RVs, with electric and water hook-ups.

The group picnic pavilions at Okmulgee Lake State Park are perfect sites for your family or office picnic or reunions. All feature electricity, running water and grills which are all conveniently located near comfort stations.
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If you haven’t been to Lake Tenkiller, then you’re truly missing one of Oklahoma’s top camping destinations. In my opinion, this is one of Oklahoma’s most beautiful lakes. It’s a deep, clear mountain lake that is fed by the cold and clear Illinois River. Lake Tenkiller offers something for everyone; water skiing, fishing, camping, swimming, boating, scuba diving, hiking, exploring and much more. Out of all the places to camp on Lake Tenkiller, I prefer Tenkiller State Park. This is a 1190 acre park located just north of Vian Oklahoma.

The Tenkiller area is known as the “Heaven in the Hills”. Many people choose to stay at one of the many Cabins at Tenkiller State Park and then plan their activities accordingly.

Tenkiller State Park Cabins

There are 39 cabins at the State Park. These cabins range from 1 to 3 bedrooms. The cabins are equipped with just about everything a camper will need including dishes, linens and eating utensils. They are also equipped with heating and cooling as well as hot water and even satellite TV! Some also have fireplaces, so you might request one of these in the cooler months.

If you really want to rough it, Tenkiller State Park even has courtyard cottages for those who want to be pampered a little!

There is also Tent sites as well as RV sites with full hookups for you RV’ers!

Tenkiller Camping

All told, there are 39 Cabins, 10 Cottages and 10 Camping areas with 221 campsites ranging from modern to primitive. If you can’t find a place that you like to camp with all of these options, you’re not trying!

The Park is defineately a family oriented vacation or weekend get-away spot. Some of the more popular amenities include;

• Amphitheater
• Campsites with full hookups with 30 amp electric
• Grills at the campsites
• Lake/River Views
• Marina
• Meeting Space Available
• Onsite Naturalist
• WiFi in areas
• Park Ranger
• Pets Allowed
• Picnic Area
• Childrens Playground
• Scuba Diving Park
• Outdoor Pool
• Restaurant
• Golf Carts
• Horseback Riding
• Restrooms
• Showers
• Swim Beach
• Water Hookup
• Community Building
• Group Rates Availabe
• Senior Discounts
• Credit Cards Accepted

Things To Do Around Lake Tenkiller State Park

No matter what your taste, chances are you’ll find something to do around Tenkiller State Park that you’ll enjoy.

Fort Gibson is just up the road. This is a historic Fort that played an important part in Oklahoma’s history including the Civil War period.

To the North, you have Tahlequah, the Capital of the Cherokee Indian Tribe. The area is rich in Cherokee Indian history. Just East a little ways in Sequoyah County, is Sequoyah’s Cabin. You can also find a Historic Cherokee village, just the way you would find one in the 1800′s. It’s a really cool place to visit to see a working Indian village the way it was hundreds of years ago.

Muskogee is just a few miles West of Lake Tenkiller and is full of history itself.

Directions To Tenkiller State Park

It’s easy to find Tenkiller State Park. It can be reached off of I-40 by exiting at Vian and traveling North on Highway 82. Then turn left on Highway 100 West.  Then go 3 miles to the park entrance which is on the right hand side of the road.

Lake Tenkiller State Park Contact Information

Here is the information to contact the State Park:

• Tenkiller State Park -
• HCR 68,Box 1095 – Vian, OK 74962
• 918-489-5643/Park Office
• 918-489-5641/Cabin Office

Conclusion

To me, the Tenkiller State Park is one of the best and finest camping areas around. If you’re wanting a place you can camp and enjoy a huge variety of events, then you’ll be hard pressed to find another destination as unique as Tenkiller State Park.

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