Best Tent Camping near Midwest City, OK

the Campground at Lake Stanley Draper is Primitive.  There are no Electric or water at the campground and no dump stations.  They have started to clean the campground up by removing old brush and adding new tent pads, The only restrooms are 2 Porta-Potties at the campground so be prepared for no showers or running water.  Also there are no campfire rings provided and if you want a fire you must bring your own and it must be atleast 4 inches off the ground.  If you visit you must get a permit from the Marina office and call ahead to make sure they are open.  Because this is not on the water of the lake, you will need to drive to fish or boat.  there is alot of road noise so if you are looking for a quite place this may no fit your needs.

We were in Site# 66. We had Full hook- up with a paved pull-through.
We travel towing a 14 foot trailer and were able to fit both in our pull through site along with my jeep.

The site was easy to level. Our site was not shaded with limited trees. In eight years of RV-ing, we’ve never had such little space between us and our neighbors. We literally walk out our door into their sewer. (See pictures) My husband can touch both RVs with his arms outstretched.

The lot did not come with a concrete patio, picnic table, or a fire ring. Some lots had a picnic table. We did not request one since we’d be eating at our neighbor’s sewer.

It is an easy access to the campground from highway -(right off the highway).

There is free WiFi. They offer Cable TV and there are many local channels).

They do not sell wood here.

They do not provide garbage service at your site but there are many barrel drum trash cans that can be accessed.

You are allowed to ride personal golf carts. They do not provide golf cart rentals. There is really not a need to have a Golf cart because it is a smaller campground.

They do have a Swimming pool (not heated & freezing). They have a fishing Lake on property (it is hidden behind some cabins so you could stay here & never know the lake is here). There are two Buffalo that are owned by the owners of the restaurant and trading post above the KOA (who also own the KOA).

There is a Playground and jumping pad for kids. They have a basic general store.

There is not a snack bar/restaurant on site but there is a restaurant at the top of the hill.

The streets are paved and good for riding bikes. There is not really anywhere to ride bikes outside of campground.

This is a RV park but also have many cabins for rent and tent areas.

They have 2 shower houses. The shower house has the typical stalls. These are kept very clean.

There is a laundry facility. It is a cash only facility. You’ll need to get change in the main office while they are open (no change machine). There are approximately 6 washers and 6 dryers. It is approximately $2 to wash and $2 to dry a load.

They have a fenced in dog park.

Bugs were an issue and bug spray was definitely needed.

There were no trails to hike in the campground.

We’ve noticed that the casinos nearby mainly offer slot machines only (very few have live tables (craps, roulette, blackjack,etc.).

It is a nice little campground that has R.V. camping and tent camping. We like camping here because the campsite is next to the shore. There are some nice camping spots under shade trees. When you want to cool off you can just walk from your campsite to the water and get in and cool off. However don't wear white when you go swimming because after you go swimming white cloths turn orange. It does have a swim beach but we like to swim privately at camp. The fishing is pretty good. There is a playground and restrooms with showers. They only have about 25 campsites that are 1st come 1st serve. Getting a campsite near holidays like the 4th of July is almost impossible unless you go days early to get a spot. The campsites have picnic tables, grills and a fire ring. They also have trails for riding horses. Camping with electric is $18.00 Senior citizens (55 and up) and disabled citizens is $15.00 Primitive camping is$8.00

We had a great stay in Lake Thunderbird State Park near Norman Oklahoma. The park has 11 campground areas situated around the 6000 acre centerpiece lake with many tent, RV sites and some of those have full hook up; our choice was the Little Ax campground on the southern end just off Oklahoma 9. In addition to water activities the park offers hunting, horse rental and boarding, equestrian trails, hiking, mountain biking, nature trails, a nature center, and an archery range. Our lakefront site#37 was nice and shaded with a gentle lake breeze offering a concrete pad, water, 30/15 amp electric, concrete table, lantern holder, fire ring and grill at site. The campground has an entry station, camp host, picnic shelters, playground, bathhouse and laundry, beach area, common fire pit, Verizon 4 bars, dump station, trash receptacles, interior roads are paved, with many sites waterfront. RV sites are close quarters. Tent sites are amazing...pads, concrete table, fire ring, grill, water spigot dispersed, waterfront sites. The town of Norman has all the amenities: shopping, dining, groceries, fuel and yes, Walmart. The area is home to local wineries and breweries and also the hometown to actor James Garner. WARNING: Oklahoma State Parks charge a daily parking fee per vehicle of$10 in addition to the camping fee and they enforce it...just saying from experience...read the information carefully! 13101 Alameda Dr, Norman, OK 73026 GPS- 35.234940,-97.219224 for the Little Ax Campground.

Visiting this campground so was expecting similarities between it and the Guthrie Lake campground as they are both maintained by the City of Guthrie. But I was pleasantly surprised as the road turned to packed rock and dirt and started to get more and more remote in appearance. I noticed equestrian crossings and trails and also signs marking arc access points before entering.

When arriving to the lake itself traffic splits off into one way lanes. You pass a house like structure which serves as a paystation for entry, though when I visited no one was there to accept my money and I didn’t see a self pay area.

The boat ramp and fishing pier is the first thing you see when entering the park with large parking and easy water access. There are a few picnic tables at this point to enjoy the day use space. Just beyond that a swimming “beach”. This was a little perplexing to me because there was less than a foot of red dirt sand then water which was marked as appropriate. The beach itself was tiny but it was nice to see they had created a space unique to swimming in the area for safety. No also noticed an abundance of naked signs about life jacket safety which I thought was great!

As you continue to drive away the more commercial day use area there are 7 campsites each with large parking areas, grills, fire rings, picnic tables and plenty of room to spread out in a tent or RV. These sites do not have hook ups but what they lack there they make up for in lake views. Each site had a clear view of he lake and water access only a short distance from your parking area.

Restrooms are only port a potty units and with recent winds some of these had been knocked over or damaged by tree limbs, so that is something to consider.

I really liked that this location by far seemed more established than the other city maintained option and also had more privacy overall.

Tips:

• Call ahead if you want to stay here on a weekend since there are limited sites and reserve in advance

• Check weather before traveling, it is very common for bad weather to roll through this area and with all of the trees you want to make sure you are safe.

In a pleasant change of pace for camping I pulled into this location to check out the options which exist in this region for camping in a tent. Wow was a pleased when I discovered that this location was designed for tents only!!

The pros were great water access, flush toilets, great parking and access to a self pay station. The cons, completely primitive and the roadway is pretty close to the camping area.

This location is maintained by the City of Guthrie. They have nice parking lot and boat ramp at this location in addition to a fishing pier. A lot of people choose to pull off into the zone deemed camping however for a more shaded coverage when fishing. With that being said there is still plenty of room to have you own little piece of comfort.

You are supposed to park and walk in the 100 yards to the campsites however I did notice that locals drive into this area. It is pretty open and the main concern is that you pay for day use or overnight uses.

There are some scattered picnic tables and trash cans however only one are which has bbq grills and this are is pretty removed from the designated camping zone.

I noticed when I was visiting a lot of traffic down the access road which wasn’t loud really but could be distracting if trying to relax. The traffic was mainly from the residential area which also surrounds the lake.

Overall I really liked this area for day use but am not completely sold on it as a camping area.

Had friends come to town with an RV and we decided to do a last minute camp out.

After finding out all of the RV and tent camping areas around OKC were at capacity we gave Bell Cow Lake a shot and we were not disappointed. We stayed in Camp Area B, Friday night there were a handful of RV spots still available and we were the only tent campers. Saturday a few more tent campers arrived but there was still open sites between us. 

Our friends in the RV stayed in RV site 1 and we stayed directly across from them in tent site 3. There was some small trash, cigarette butts and such around the site, cans in the fire ring adjacent to us (site 2) but over all it was a nice spot with ample room to put tents. 

The tent area is on the water with water access through the grass along the shoreline. Swimming was great with a sand bottom once you got past the grass along the shoreline. There were tons of fish hitting the surface in the evening but I was unable to catch any. Each tent site had a table but it either had a fire ring or a grille (alternating) it would have been preferable if each site had both. 

The bathrooms weren't the cleanest but were what I would probably expect for a camp ground owned by a smaller city. 

Bell Cow lake may become one of our go to places as it is still within an easy drive from OKC and half the price of the next closest lake to camp at (Lake Arcadia).

Tent camping is $10 a night, RV is $20. 

One of the only things we did not like was with the campsite being 2 miles from I-44 you could hear the highway traffic all night and there was not fire wood available to gather or purchase (perhaps in town) so though it is generally frowned upon to bring your own you won't have a fire otherwise.

I just spent the weekend in the South camp site but ventured to the North campsite on my way out to look around for a future stay.

There are no facilities so best to bring your own, or plan on driving out and into the main campground to use the restrooms there.

North: Large campsite with both tree shaded and open areas, larger access to the water. Area is large enough for multiple vehicles, though only 2 vehicles are allowed to stay at the campsite it would a nice site for others together if they were camping in the nearby primitive sites. Fire ring provided. The main road in isn't bad, but the Y to the North camp site does have a bit of a rock ledge to drop off of and a bit of an off camber section. 

South: Nice primitive campsite with water access. Plenty of room for a couple of vehicles and tents. Mostly tree shaded with one small area open to direct sun. Fire ring provided. The water access in this site is a path through the grass that grows at the edge of the water, the bottom is sandy. Heard/saw fish hitting the water often was not able to catch any. The road all the way to this camp site isn't bad.

Should it rain while you are staying in either spot, the roads out could change quite a bit especially due to the sandy soil. The Lake states 4wd is required to stay at the sites and while it's not necessary when dry, I can see it being needed during/after a storm.

One thing I did not like about the primitive sites is that the hiking/biking trails come right by the campsite within a few feet, so I had people all weekend practically coming into my camp. I prefer primitive for a reason and that is to get away from people not have them coming through my campsite. There is more than enough room between the campsites and the main road to have adequate space between the trail system and the campsites as not to disturb the campers.