Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Mountain Park, OK

A nice KOA right off I-44. Its far enough from the highway to not be bothered by the noise. Nice and grassy and large trees around the campground just not near the RV spots. Nice salt water pool and a little store with sundries. The cabins look very nice as well. It appears they are expanding and adding new sites and renovating as well. Playground for the kids and dog park for your pup. Expect to pay about $45 a night for an RV site. You can save 10% with your KOA membership.

The Wichitas are (in my humble opinion), by far the best place to be in Oklahoma. When my boyfriend took me camping there (he's an OK native), I was pressed to the glass looking at the buffalo. AMAZING. So much wildlife (make sure you stop to see the prairie dogs), and the mountains are amazing. There is no bad place to camp here, just make sure you go for a hike!

This park was turned back over to the state in 2020 and is exactly how I remembered it from the 80’s. Tucked down in southwest Oklahoma in the Wichita Mountains, it’s a small park but has LOTS of options. There are RV and tent Campgrounds, cabins, a very modern lodge with 96 rooms, group pavilions, and a dormitory. There’s a full restaurant, ORV trails, hiking trails, a river and a lake. Something for everyone.

We stayed in the Mountain View campground which has concrete pads and didn’t have to level our rig at all. Electric and water and steps to the flush bathroom that has a shower in it. It backs up to the lake berm and has a view of one of the mountains. Not much cover but we didn’t need it as it was cloudy during our stay. LOTS of stickers. Beware especially if you have long haired dogs.

From when I was younger I remember going to the Wichita Mountains to see the Holy City and the prairie dog city. It has always been a place of fond memories and a lot of fun for not only myself but the entire family. It wasn’t until more recent years however that I was aware that there was a camping area there right within the wildlife preserve itself.

In the footprint of the mountains this campground welcomes both tent and RV campers looking to enjoy an overnight stay or more lengthy stay.  Primitive camping is available with a park and walk through a short trail or in camp there are both electrical and non-electrical sites with prices ranging for these from $8 to $20.

I noticed that the in campground sites are pretty typical in that they offer both fire rings and picnic tables.  They do have a shower and restroom which is available during non-winter months and other toilets for usage during the cooler months.  They do have drinking water available here which is also nice considering distance to nearest stores.

The best feature of this campground is not the campground itself it is the access you have to the refuge area where you can on any given day see herds of deer, buffalo, long horn cattle, turkey and of course prairie dogs.  A lot of times you will find these wandering around into camp itself.  

The area has become more and more popular for rock climbing and hiking with several people setting up basecamp at this campground.  This campground does have posted closings of gate hours so you cannot explore in the area past these posted times (during summer 10 during week or 11 on weekends).

TIPS:

• Check into the visitor center for lists of guided tours for Bald Eagle spotting and other tours.
• Take a drive up Mount Scott for some of the best views in the area.
• Listen for barking of the Prairie Dogs, this is how they warn one another of people in the area, it is very interesting to hear and if you drive by the sites where you see their mounds, pull off and roll down your windows you can watch and hear them.

This is a great park in far western Oklahoma! Not very much shade but Glen Creek is a diamond in the rough! Fun fun fun to paddle in the kayak!

This location is an Oklahoma Wildlife Management Area, not Great Plains State Park. These coordinates get you close to the road where the WMA begins. Look for the OK WMA sign and turn. The road gets rough and has low hanging limbs that will hit tall vehicles. You can get close to the Tom Steed Reservoir with some decent views. Quiet and secluded.

Military CG on Fort Sill's base. Spent 5 weeks here. Scenery and base is beautiful. It's in the Wichita Mountains near Mt Scott and Medicine Park. Clean lake with paddle boat and kayak rentals. Mini golf, beach and water slides. Nice museum and Indian Cemetaries on base. Saw geese, fox, Coyotes, Buffalo, prairie dogs and rattle snakes. All sites are pull through and fairly level. Full hookups with 30 & 50 amp service. Laundry room with 4 washers & dryers, $1 (when working). There is also a laundrette by the Commissary. Didn't use showers or restroom but checked them out. Ladies room was very dated and needs a really good cleaning.
There are a lot of long term rvs. Some not stayed in by the owners the entire time we were there. We didn't have any issue getting the site we reserved as someone mentioned in a previous review. The staff was nice when we asked to change our site to one with a better view. Biggest con was absolutely no warning on their site that there is training going on all around the CG. If you have a Veteran with PTSD like I do prepare him/her that they shoot howitzer rounds at any given time. We had no clue and the 1st week there was a rough one for my DAV. Do not use Letra Gate. It's closed. Ignore GPS and go to Apache Gate. Better yet set GPS for Apache Gate. It's the quickest route and you won't have to drive through the busy base and narrow roads.

What a beautiful, well kept campground!! The grounds are very clean and so are the bathroom/showers. Lot's of hiking/biking trails. Gorgeous view of the lake! Looks like a fun place to go fishing. I was impressed with the number of ADA/handicap sites. Thank You!! You make "everyone" feel welcomed! Plus they make it very easy to go online and make reservations! Great work Oklahoma State Parks!

Also very close to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Great places to hike and see Bison!

Doris Campground, Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, OK

Site 26 

• Reservations only through Recreation.com Varying costs but $8 gets tagged on by Recreation.com. I miss the days of paying by cash in person. 
• The Good: •Beautiful surrounding area                                                                                             •No Cell service                                                                                                             •Abundant Wildlife                                                                                                       •Great hiking trails                                                                                                         •Very scenic                                                                                                                   •Great local history                                                                                                      •Great gravelbiking/mountain biking trails                                                           •Several nearby historical landmarks 
• The Bad:                                                                                                                             •Still no potable water(Mid-Oct 2021)                                                                           •No showers                                                                                                                 •Online Reservations only                                                                                                 •No cell service                                                                                                         •Doorless pit latrines                                                                                                   •Occasional road noise                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Heavy cloud cover and a light mist welcomed us for the night and did not relent until after noon the following day. The night life was busy and vocal from dusk to dawn. Bull elks bugling, mule deer snorting while running through our site, either the free roam longhorn or the bison called out to each other, the coyotes yipped and yapped, and the raccoons tried their best to scrounge up a feast. Early evening and early morning traffic noise is minimal but can be heard in the campsites. 

Only a random artillery boom was heard in the distance.

Prairie dog villages are a great way to spend some time enjoying their comedic antics and tight family structure.

Trails abound, both from within the campground and nearby. We walked a few in late afternoon and the bull elk bugled relentlessly…obvious signs of rut. We did not realize how close to a lone bison we passed until we heard a noise and looked back. How a large beast could go unnoticed in the low scrub was amazing.

We were fortunate to secure a midweek campsite but the weekend was sold out.

Temps were in the high 40’s overnight but climbed during the day to 70’s with a beautiful breeze.

The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center was still closed. Both in June and October it was closed with varying explanations why. If you go onto FWS.gov it still has it closed from November 2015-January 2016…so that certainly isn’t current.

Would I camp here again? Yes, However, I will research when school kids have Fall Break and avoid that weekend because it does sell completely out.

Inside the wildlife preserve there are not a lot of camping options as the attempt to keep the wildlife wild is the primary focus. However if you are looking to stay inside the area, you will want to check out Doris Campground, located centrally in the property. 

Camping options at Doris vary with both primitive and improved options. 47 sites without electricity offer only shaded retreat, regular sized pull ins and basic amenities with picnic tables and fire rings. However the improved sites offer electricity and larger pull ins for mid to large sized RV units. There is an additional set of camping options which are hike in style sites with a common parking area, these are a little harder to get to as the area is overgrown. 

Sites range in price points from$12 to$24 and all have access to common spigots and restrooms. 

One restroom is a bit more updated but offers only restrooms no showers while the less updated offers showers but is a bit creepy. 

Something you will want to be mindful of staying at this site is wildlife. While many campgrounds often experience a wild animal or two, the raccoons here are quite menacing and snakes are very common. 

If you do decide to come out to the Wichita Mountains, I suggest checking out some of the many hiking options and view points. The tower trail is a great one for views of the lake and terrain with minimal challenge and only some slightly uneven spaces from weathering and wash. Mount Scott is the highest point in the park and can be accessed through an invigorating hike to the top or through the scenic drive which features several pull offs and a parking area at the top. 

Prairie Dog town is one of the more unique features of the park with dozens of colonies visible from several view points and pull offs. Being able to see the critters up close and personal will leave you smiling for hours. Walking throughout the preserve are buffalo and longhorns. 

An extremely unique feature is the park’s Holy City, an area which was designated for use in the 20s and at its peak welcomed up to 250,000 people per year to an annual program performed on the hillside. This feature is unique in that it is a rock city constructed on the hillside which includes the story of Christ and also is the home of a chapel modeled after one that George Washington once attended in Virginia. A very unique piece of history.

For improved campground I have always found KOA to maintain a certain level of consistency so when I went on a fun trip with some friends to check out the “rumored Texas Chainsaw Massacre” community just north of Wichita Falls we wanted to check out the KOA there. Now while you are reading this and probably thinking, “WHY WOULD YOU GO THERE??” Keep in mind it is the rumored house and there is no factual proof that it actually is there, instead we found some really interesting other creepy things to go check out, because why not.

Anyway, back to the campground itself.

I was very impressed with the green space, a lot of this area was already starting to brown because of the heat, but they were still looking fresh and soft and that would make for a much better location for our tent. The site itself was just under $30, one of three options they offer which are all only about $4 in difference in pricing. We sprung for the middle option with electrical hook ups, not because we needed them but because after driving around we liked the look of that site a bit more. The deluxe sites they offered were taken but they had bbq grills and a more private tent area, this has been my favorite at several other KOA locations because of the amenities however this again was taken so that wasn’t an option.

We settled in and noticed that there were very nice amenities, the pool was amazing and perfect for a cool down on the warm day. KOA usually has this kind of amenity available as well as some outdoor activities you can enjoy like playground or sports courts. We were told they do observe quiet hours however if we wanted to swim a bit later as long as we were not loud we could do so. I would ask if this is ok before just getting out there and doing it however!!

The shower area was very close to the tent space we had selected and as often is at a KOA, one of my favorite features because they are more home like than a typical National or State Park campground. The water was warm and the pressure was very good!!

I noticed there were several what looked to be long term campers there in RVs. While I personally am not effected by this, it did make the area they were staying in a little less kept looking. They were not over by the cabins and tents however so it wasn’t that off-putting to me, but I could see how if that is an RV stayers view it could be kind of annoying.

I used the WIFI here and it worked great, sometimes the campsites are a bit to far away and thus don’t get good connection, however I was able to use wifi for typical functions, although I did not fully test it with uploading anything major.

TIPS

If you are interested in a Deluxe site book in advance there are very few and they go fast during heavy traffic seasons. Usually at this campsite there are tent sites which are walk in ready however.

Explore around the campground because they have some very interesting items if you are willing to just walk around and see them which are unique to this campground.

• Be careful for stickers. While the area we were in didn’t seem to have them we did notice when walking around especially near the dog walk area they seemed to be pretty bad.