Best Tent Camping near Guymon, OK

They have a great nature walking trail that is well mowed. Good for young kids. Go here to get away. There is no cell service unless. You drive up to the top of the dam. We camp behind the dam. It is quiet and has good patches of grass on most sites for tents. The showers and bathrooms are well maintained and always clean. I wanted to deduct a star for lack of swimming area at the lake but this isn’t really their fault; the drought has been rough. Bring baseball equip if you are staying a while, or frisbees. They have a frisbee golf course and lots of room for baseball or other sports.

The Cimarron Grassland is an amazing part of the Great Plains ecosystem and definitely worth a look when driving through the southwest corner of Kansas. It will not be what you’re expecting! The sunrises alone are worth the price of admission, which was just $7 per night.

Just off the park driving tour road, this little campground sits between small ponds in a larger wetland area within the Cimarron River. Each site is spacious with the usual picnic table, fire ring, and tent pad. Vault toilets and potable drinking water are available all year round, we just had to wait for the faucet to thaw after freezing up overnight.

The area is fantastic for bird lovers, and we watched flocks of Starlings tuck themselves into the marsh grasses for the night. Raptors, warblers, and many other bird species use the area as a fly-over stop during migration. Hiking is close by on the Sante Fe Trail which follows the original path of the old wagon trail through the plains, biking and other motorized recreational vehicles are allowed in certain areas. While the terrain might not be challenging, the sandy soil makes any long walk or ride just a little bit more difficult.

The nearby town of Elkhart affords the usual amenities for groceries, gas, and a few restaurants. The National Grassland office is also in town if you want more information about the area. Check out our blog about our time traveling through southern Kansas...and unexpected treat!

Great small campground / rec area. It was clearly very popular among hunters/fishermen during season as we were the only campers there that were not hunting or fishing. It’s a day use area, too. There’s only vault toilets but there is drinking water available. No power or dump stations, but generators were welcome for the RV folks. Fires are allowed when there are no active fire restrictions and they have great fire pit rings. Pay attention to fire restrictions on the USDA campground site. No fire wood for sale, so bring your own. The sites are first come first serve since they’re non-reservable according to the USDA website. I had heard there were great trails on the grasslands but it was hunting season when we were there so I recommend researching that first before coming here and expecting to hike safely. The grounds are kept decently well. There’s no camp host but when we were there all the other campers were very quiet / chill. In fact we were alone on the whole grounds until the hunters rolled in for the evening. The sunset & sunrise were gorgeous here. It’s buggy of course because you’re in the grasslands and near ponds, so be prepared for insects as well. We heard a pack of animals loudly roll through in the night, pretty sure they were coyotes. Trash cans available, and great picnic tables available.

All in all, this was a wonderful site and we’re glad we made the drive. It’s a lovely campground with the grasslands’ nature surrounding you on all sides. We camped in a Roof Top Tent (RTT) and the lot was level, decently private. We camped in #6. People clearly like to spread out here when it’s not crowded, that was nice.

Word to the wise: if you’re traveling here on Stevens County roads with gravel and 65mph speeds, sloooooow down and get off to the side as people approach you from the opposite direction. Those “Stevens Co not responsible for broken windshields” signs are there for a reason.

Website for info on this park: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/psicc/recarea/?recid=12413