Best Campgrounds near Bethel, OK

Great little spot to visit. Private, safe, clean.

Broken Bow area is nestled in and around the beautiful lake that supports many types of activities. The grounds are wooded, hilly and forestry - the campground areas are set up to maximize the areas available for camping - thus they are all close quarters. Be aware, there are 2 separate camping areas with 2 separate entrances and live help was not available - at least when we were there. The facilities are clean and modern but not centrally located within the camping areas.

Quail circle is a nice spot with lots of trees and nice areas to hike and explore. The lake is beautiful. The facilities are a little dated, but generally clean. The showers have plenty of hot water. The RV spots have 30 amp hookups and water. No sewer.

After driving 4 hours to one of our favorite campsites in this area we arrived to find it closed until May 2025.  No explanation why.  We have camped here in winter several times before.  Disappointing!

Stayed here in early November the creek was dry but beautiful. We pulled of the highway and wend down deadman’s trail about halfway and pulled into a very secluded camping spot with a good amount of space with an established fire pit.

My buddy and I read the other reviews and decided to give this site a go. Someone was camping at the main site just off the park road, and honestly, I’m glad they were there, otherwise we wouldn’t have found the great alternative spot. As the gentleman in the other review said, there ARE three alternative spots back North a little ways on the park road. As you pull off the little turn off just before (or after, depending on which way your going) the bridge of the creek, you’ll find the first spot. It’s nice with an established campfire ring, etc. further down (you definitely want a higher riding vehicle, no sedans down this road) about 40 yards maybe is the second site. This is a great little site as well, again with an established fire ring. Go another 40 ish yards and there is the end of the side ‘road’/stone path and you’ll find the site we stayed at.
There is a great fire pit and a well established site. As was mentioned in the other review, there was some trash about, but we cleaned it up. If you go here, practice leave no trace. Don’t be a jerk. Even if you never meet another person who camps there, if everyone treats the site like garbage it will be no good for anyone in a short amount of time.
We noticed that there wasn’t much wildlife about and guessed it was because the creek bed was bone dry and a bunch of smoke in the are might have made them leave (there were a few wildfires in SE Oklahoma when we visited). We’ll probably find another place next time for the sake of adventure, but I could see myself coming back someday.

Really enjoyed the Acorn campground - south end of park. There are many to choose from in this large state park, but I would return here. Site was level with the usual amenities all in working order and not too close to neighbors. The river ran directly behind the site and I was entertained by an otter family and ducks daily. There is a water release siren that sounds occasionally and it is loud, but it doesn't happen frequently, or at night, at least not during my stay. 

Enjoyed the hiking in this park. Lots of great cleared trails. Often times I was the only hiker. A real gem is the COE access road that runs along the river past the spillway. If you walk far enough down you can view the real "wild" river with the islands of cypress trees and boulders creating eddies and the relaxing sounds of the river spilling over and around. 10 out of 10 stars

No Verizon service except at the nature center (definitely worth a visit especially if you have kiddos, and the ranger here is fantastic!!). You can jump on their wifi, or if I walked to the pavilion behind the store I could get one bar on my phone. Note off season store hours in photo. Not much in the store. The BBQ at the Lookout restaurant is the draw.

This spot I found already had a man built fire ring made from rocks. Small peaceful pond and is right off the Deadman South Trail.

We stayed at AD10. It was a back in spot with an extremely high break over angle. The spot itself was fairly level but getting in and out is a pain. I recommend AD12 which is almost a direct back in from the road. The campground itself is very nice, but it is very winding with all the trees and spots slotted together. If you get a spot in the front near the road, there is a lot of through traffic for people going to or leaving the lakeside. The back of the campground was much quieter near the pull through sites. The dump site was directly across the street from the campground but you have to go down the road and either make a tight left turn or go further down and turn around. Bathrooms were not too far away, they were private, clean and AC. Not a lot of street lights throughout the campground made things nice and quiet at night. The site had okay Verizon cell service, around 10-20 mbps. The T-mobile service was much better around 50-60 mbps. Lots of activities to do around the park, there is the lake, plenty of hiking trails. The parking pass situation can get a little confusing at other areas of the park, but basically if you register your vehicle plate when you make the reservation, you are all set for your stay. It's a quick drive to Hochatown where there are things to do but depending on when you go it can be extremely busy. Broken Bow itself was about a 30 minute drive depending on traffic and there were more things to do, eat, and see. The traffic going back and forth between Hochatown and Broken Bow is quite busy and almost makes you not want to go anywhere. It causes a pain point when trying to get from the Stephens Gap area of the park to the main area of Beavers Bend, where you have to leave, hit 3 lights, wait 30 minutes, just to go 5 miles.Overall it’s a good campground but I might recommend staying at the other area of the park just for convenience sake, getting in and getting out.

Right off of Forest road51220, large area to park and camp all by yourself. stream is 40 feet away with a swimming hole. Very private

With so many trails that you can access just by walking out of the camp site. This is my favorite spot to camp in Oklahoma

Beautiful and lush and QUIET. I love it. Asphalt and gravel sites. Clean bathrooms. Water and electric only. Gorgeous 3 mile hike around the lake. I hear it’s a fishing lake but we don’t fish. Enjoyed the scenery and peace. Would come again and again. Don’t forget the ice, there’s nothing close. Site 33 looks to be my fav.

The River front sites are the best with FHU's. Taking advantage of the river is the most popular thing to do. There is a golf course nearby too. On site museum at the park visitor's center. I enjoyed the Beaver Creek hike. My biggest complaint would be they put the campsites directly on the river, so if you want to walk along the river, you feel like your in someone's site.

I did not stay at this campground (I was driving the scenic byway), but I stopped for "scouting purposes". It seems very nice, the vault toilet was locked? But otherwise, a well kept dry campground with many sites and good views. Also, the pricing on here is incorrect; USFS website says $8/night for singles, $14/night for doubles (can't beat those prices honestly). Will stay if I pass this way again!

We only stayed one night enroute home to NW Arkansas. We had stayed at one of the sites on the river side of the park, but this was our first on the lake side.

We had a pull-though site with full hookups. As we were only one of three campers, the campground was very quiet. The pull-through sites are fairly close together and I wonder how noisy they would be during peak season.

The facilities were nice, but no hot water in the showers...brisk!!

Lots of deer (friendly...I would guess the guests feed them). We would stay here again as a short term solution...probably not a long-term option for us.

We loved this park. It was beautiful, but the signs were a bit confusing and we came in the dark so we parked where we thought our spot was. Well, it wasn’t our spot and we had to move at 8:30 at night. There’s also no service (at least for T-Mobile). Loved the trails and the restaurant.

Could not find. find. The grid cordinates lead to someones private cabin. Tucked in middles of residential cabin colmunity. It is national forest borders but private lots.

This park is awesome for multiple reasons. The lodge is fantastic, great food and great views with a friendly welcoming staff. The views (worthy of mention again) are top notch, with some incredible sunsets. The mini train and mini golf were closed for the season but it looked like a great time. The bath house was clean, warm (it was cold AF outside), and had great water pressure. The town of Mena was a short scenic drive away, with a brewery and a couple restaurants worth checking out.

Now, the reason for the downgrade to 4 stars. The campsite layout is…weird. It’s like most of the sites were designed for a motorcoach to drive into, not for a travel trailer to back into. For example most of the camp amenities are on the utility side of the trailer when backed in, as opposed to the party side. Some of the sites are reeeeeally close together, as others have mentioned. I might even go so far as to say that if we would have kept our original site it might have garnered a 3 star review. The back rows have the amenities on the rear of the rv, which I actually kinda liked. Yes there is no sewer…but it’s a state park that’s expected.

Pioneer Campgrounds has hosted 8 family reunions and 7 Boy Scout / Girl Scout Troops in 2023. Great place to camp. Clean cabins, brand new bathrooms, large dining hall and kitchen area.

We camped at Fern Circle. It was a lot people going to the bathrooms. Too touristy they also need to be educated about copperheads in the area . Watched a lot of people walk there in the dark without lights with their kids. Found a copperhead near campsite 12 A lady almost stepped on it and didn’t know what that it was poisonous or a copperhead. Other than that we had fun!