Oklahoma State Parks

12/3/20
Can't speak to most of your questions....probably the whole state is tornado-prone, and quick google search should be able to locate information re. worst weather month

Been to two OK state parks...Lake Thunderbird (just went last week) and Keystone Lake (twice)...all trips over a Thanksgiving weekend...

Both are pretty standard state parks, with the expected atmosphere and amenities.as shown by the names, both are on a lake...both also have marinas (although Thunderbird's seems to be accessible only to slip renters)

Word of caution...the reservation system doesn't make it easy to tell what's on each site...we went with the Hog Creek loop at Thunrderbird, which we discovered upon arrival (to our disappointment) had water only every other site (a shared spigot) and our particular site was basically a blocked-off space at the edge of a parking lot...the other loops were traditional and have standard hookups

Knowing that you have access, make it a "roaming" visit.
Sprend a few days at a state park or two. But then, check out the Fam Camps. Oklahoma has 7 Military campgrounds, check them out too.
Fam camps

garmp wrote:
DW & I were half planning our mid year trip for 2021 and she suggested Oklahoma as we have never really spent much time in that state. Then I looked at the weather history and they average over 57 tornadoes a year. (link) That's better than one a week average, granted they do not occur every week.
Question is which month do you feel is the safest? And what part of the state? We were thinking late July of maybe early August. Also which is your favorite state park?
thanks

I lived in Okla. for 2 yrs as a kid. Not to cast aspirations, but I would pick another state to RV in. If you bent on going to Okla. make sure you have a weather radio that gives you up to date weather conditions in your RV. For additional insurance, I would buy a good CB radio with a Wilson antenna that has Weather conditions in the area you are RVing in. Got caught in a hail storm in Texas and in 15 min. I had $15K damage to my truck and trailer:(:(:(

My understanding of big tornadoes is that they are formed when warm air from the Gulf hit a cold front. This may help: Tornado incidence by month and state

You can see which states are the worst and which months. Apr, May, Jun and the Midwest no surprise. We actually saw one when we were at an RV park in Kansas years ago, big black funnel, very impressive, off to the east but it gave us a miss. My daughter demanded a Dorothy teeshirt after that...heh.

If you want a unique experience, try a few days at Red Rock Canyon State Park. Beautiful, tranquil and the owls will serenade you every night. A bit steep on the entry road but it looks worse than it is.

^^^^^^ What he said, Red Rock Canyon is awesome.

The tornado season is basically all of May into June. That's the time when everyone has the TV on in the background tuned to a local TV station.

After the middle of June into July tornado season is pretty much over with, but there is always a possibility of tornados year around.

Oh, and BTW, tornado season means hail season. May through the middle of June is a much higher chance of hail.

I'd have no reservations (no pun intended) exploring Oklahoma until the 1st of May and after the 1st of July.

Oklahoma is a very diverse state, georgraphically speaking. Look up Cross Timbers Of America.

One very interesting place is in the panhandle, the Black Mesa area. If you want some peace and quiet in a beautiful area, go visit Black Mesa. There are not a lot of services there, so be prepared to be stocked up and provisioned. If you are into Astronomy, or ham radio, this is the place to be, it's very dark sky territory as well as low electrical noise.

Lived in the Tulsa area for nearly 2 years going to school there. Just want to say pay attention the sirens if they do go off. Don't dally in getting to safe shelter. Just keep an eye on the weather report and have the weather radar up on your phone in times of questionable weather.

While there I saw 2 tornados and they are nothing to mess with. I had a 1963 Chrysler New Yorker at the time (this was in the 70's) and it went through more than a few hail storms. One storm had golf ball sized hail and all my neighbors cars were dented up like mad. That 'real car' New Yorker not a single dent. That's when they used real American steel in cars.

Away from the tornado season, we had the same idea this summer and spent at least two weeks jumping from COE park to COE park in OK. The state has a lot of them. We enjoyed it but found the roads to be about a 4 on a 10 scale. I looked at their SP but we did not end up going to any of them. Some look very good.

I grew up along the KS-OK border. I remember as a kid standing on the front porch watching tornados off in the distance. In 2013 a tornado struck the Oklahoma Trap & Skeet grounds during the state trap championships. The area was cleared as it approached, so no injuries, but many campers and the club buildings destroyed. Pic is remains of a Class A

We moved from MI to OK nearly 30 years ago. For summer camping, OK is too hot for my taste. Shoulder seasons are better. Mid-March through April can be pretty good, and fall (Sept 20 to mid November) is even better camping weather. Peak tornado time is May, but honestly a person can find himself in severe weather just about anywhere in the country, just about any time of year. Bad weather happens. Even when a big storm spawns a series of tornadoes, the tornadoes are only affecting a tiny percentage of the state's total land area; it's sort of like being struck by lightning to be hit by a tornado. And OK doesn't have a monopoly on them, either; we hear of tornadoes tearing up places in many other states.

As for state parks, Red Rock Canyon might be the most unusual due to the reddish canyon walls surrounding the CG. Robbers Cave, Osage, and Greenleaf are some other nice ones. Don't write off the COE CGs, though, because OK has some nice ones of those. I camped twice this year at Flat Rock Creek.