Looking for a place to camp N.E Ok. and Eastern Ks.

TyroneandGladys wrote:
On another subject we loved Petit Jean State but the location of the water for the sites is wonky make sure you have a LONG hose if you want water.

We will be there for 2 days and Ive been thinking of calling and making it a 3 day stay.
We will be on one of their full service sites near the lake, hopefully its worth the extra $$.
Is there plenty to do around there?

On another subject we loved Petit Jean State but the location of the water for the sites is wonky make sure you have a LONG hose if you want water.

We spent Labor Day last year at Honey Creek State Park and it was a really nice little campground and easy to get in and out of. It's right off 59 highway in Grove, OK. I'd definitely go back!

Amazingly, I don't have any easy accessible pics. My wife probably has them on her laptop.

There's a Honey Creek State park in Grove, OK that we've stayed at, room for big rigs, elec & water at your site with a dump onsite. We stayed at Natural Falls several years ago and it was nice. If you will be traveling I 49 there are 2 Corps of Engineer parks that are about 7 miles east of I 49, closer than either of those OK state parks. You didn't say when you were traveling but both have sites open year round, Prairie Creek and Horseshoe Bend, both in Rogers, AR. Both have big rig access, elec & water at site and dump onsite. Prairie Creek is off Highway 62 to 2nd St, then Hwy 12 to the park, Horseshoe Bend if off Hwy 94. You should check if Devils Den can accommodate a bigger rig, if you have one. There is also a private park in Cave Springs, AR, look at www.rvparkreviews.com for the name, it's pricey but not far off I 49

Thanks all for the replies. Looks like I'll be busy looking at all your suggestions.
We will most likely be traveling I-40 out of Ark. into Ok. or shoot up I-49.
Route is yet to be determined depending on where we stay in Ok./Ks.
Might even make a stop at Devils Den in Ark.
And as far as Corps. campgrounds, I dont think you can beat them!

73guna wrote:
...Prefer to stay east of I-135/Hwy81 in Kansas...

There are a number of Corps of Engineers parks East of I-135. We have not stayed at all of them, but have never had a bad experience at a Corps park.

Have not stayed at Natural Falls. What is your route?

If US-59, I can recommend Honey Creek SP in Grove, as well as Cedar Oaks RV Resort (our usual place on Grand Lake). Grove has several other commercial RV parks.

Also on Grand Lake but a bit off the route for US-59 are Bernice SP on OK-85A (west of the lake), and Twin Bridges east of 59 on US-60. Both are somewhat remote from local attractions or amenities, compared to Grove. I've stayed at Twin Bridges a couple of times, and visited Bernice SP several times taking a "shortcut" into Grove (coming from the northwest). Campsites at Bernice are on the lake, while Twin Bridges has a small "fisherman's camp" on the lakefront with the rest of the campgrounds up on the bluff.

If you use OK-10 to go north from I-40 there is a really nice SP at Greenleaf Lake (between Gore and Braggs), a nice Corp Park at Strayhorn Landing on Tenkiller Ferry Lake (a bit east of 10 on 10A), Sequoyah SP (to the east of Wagoner on OK-51), then ultimately you connect with US-59 going into Grove.

Basically, the whole area between US-59 and US-69 is filled with reservoirs on the Arkansas River system, each with several Corps parks and in many cases state parks. This thins out as you get into Kansas, but there are still places to stay. Along US-169 there is the Walter Johnson (municipal) Park north side of Coffeyville or the Santa Fe municipal park at the south edge of Chanute. The first is about $10 a night, the second was free for your first night, last time I checked.

The other big section of camping in Oklahoma will be where the Arkansas River swings west and north out of Tulsa, going toward Wichita. Most of these are west of US-75, east of I-35, on Keystone Lake, Skiatook Lake, and Kaw Lake. Headed toward Omaha, however, I would consider these areas to be well out of my way.

I've not checked out what might be along US-75 in Kansas, as my usual route north is 169. My experience is that most counties in Kansas have a small fishing lake, at which you might park an RV, but will have no designated campsites or utilities.

Along US-75 in Oklahoma there are state parks at Okmulgee Lake and Dripping Springs Lake, a RV park in Bartlesville (full of snowbirds just now), and a Corps park on Copan Lake (which has a small non-reservable year-round RV section at Washington Cove.

There is also a question of "when" because on some of the possible routes there are a number of nice Corps parks, but those are mostly closed to camping until the volunteer hosts start showing up in March. At the state parks in winter you might find campgrounds open but water may or may not be turned on. The commercial parks in Grove stay open through the winter.

If you access Oklahoma state park information on travelok.com you will see a green button "Book RV Campsites." That will usually lead you to believe there are no campsites available. What it really means is that there are no campsites to be reserved, because in most OK SP campgrounds the RV sites are all "first come, first served."

We go to Natural Falls 2-3 times a year. Beautiful park, great hiking, 80' spring fed water fall, great park.

One of our favorites is Twin Bridges State Park near Miami. From I-40, take I-49 north to Springdale, US 412 west to Kansas (that's the TOWN in Oklahoma), US 59 north to US 60, east to Twin Bridges. It's first-come, first serve, rarely completely filled.

Another is Keystone State Park west of Tulsa. A third is Sequoyah Bay State Park near Muskogee. I like to visit the submarine (!) at Muskogee. (That's right, a WWII submarine, the Batfish, in Oklahoma. I've visited four submarines and the Batfish tour was the best of the four.)

All of those would be possible, being north of I-40 and east of I-35.

Riverside Park in Baxter Springs.