Best Glamping near Sardis Lake

McGee creek State Park is a beautiful state Park. It has beautiful campsites nestled along the lake shore. Their campsites can accommodate big RVS. The lake is beautiful. The fishing is great from boat, shore or covered fishing dock. I love swimming and kayaking in the cool water. They also have campgrounds for people with horse. The lake is surrounded by the kiamiche mountains. There is no lights around the lake except at the park. Star gazing is amazing. The lake has 2 dams. The park has beautiful hiking trails going through the Pines. If you like to hike you can choose the type of hiking you want to do from just a few minutes hike or carry gear for camping in the forest. You have to sign in when you go hiking back country. I went hiking in the winter and because I took a trail that was new to me I was 5 minutes late getting back to the Ranger Station and when I came out of the Forrest their was a search team assembling. Very embarrassed but it felt good to know if I had been lost or injured they would have found me. The state Park also have 8 camping huts that are air condition and heated that have a fireplace, screened in porch that you can relax and look out over the lake. They are nestled in the Pines along the shore at Potapo Hill.They are unique. They were built back in the 40s I believe by WPA. The huts have a set of bunk beds, picnic table, heat and air, fireplace, fireplace, barbecue grill. The huts do not have bathrooms in each hut but have shared bathrooms outside that are clean and kept up. The huts are not equipped with refrigerator, cook stove or bed linens. So if I'm going for a few days or longer I take a mini fridge, hot burners for cooking. Basically this is camping with the luxury of having a roof over your head with the comfort of heat and air without bugs bitting. The huts have plenty of room for 2 queen size air up mattresses. They also give good discount for vets, military and disabled.

We stayed in the non-electric sites (North Shore loop). Campgrounds were incredibly peaceful and quiet. There is running water and bathrooms which were relatively clean.There was no campground host and nobody came to check our reservations, but it was not crowded so that could be why. There is a fishing dock and a trail that goes around the entire perimeter of the lake. Each site has a tent pad, picnic table, grill, lantern poles, fire pit, parking spot and small counter-like food prep area. The setting is absolutely beautiful with tall pines, rolling hills and a gorgeous lake. Saw a ton of wild turkeys and two cottonmouth snakes.

This campground is one of my all time favorites!! It has everything you want in a campground and more. Hiking here is definitely the best, because the views are amazing!! The campground is always really well kept as well which I appreciate. The campsite spots themselves are pretty big in size and are separated by trees and bushes. Feels very private. They do have a quiet hour which is after 10pm. This is nice because there aren’t people partying all night long. There are tent spots and also RV. We camped, so I’m not sure if th RV spots are set up for electricity. The lake nearby is great. We brought our kayaks and had so much fun hitting the lake in the morning. It does get busy as the day goes on, especially in the summer on the weekends. Hiking is great, and there are multiple good spots nearby. Again, go early to beat the crowds! Dogs are welcome but must be on leash. Vaulted toilets on site and a place to fill up your water! Can’t wait to come back.

I had never heard of McGee Creek State park but had a blast here last weekend! We stayed right on the water at Potapo Landing. Definitely the nicest campsite I’ve seen. Aside from electricity, water, picnic table, fire pit and grill, each site also had their own deck! We got lucky as our site was not directly next to other campers, however most sites were pretty close together. It seemed like many of the RVs that were parked were there permanently (or at least for a very long time). Every now and then we’d catch a whiff of sewage smell but other than that it was very quiet and peaceful weekend.

• April 1 to Oct 30

• 73 sites with electric(50 avail)$20-$24

• Reservation accepted 877-444-6777 or recreation.gov

• Check In 6 pm• Check out 4 pm

 Boat ramp drinking water dump station marina playground flush toilets showers fire pit/grill picnic table pet friendly 

Brooken Cove is blessed with several beautiful water sites. Very impressed with the games that were arranged and on a beautiful well maintained grassy area. They had cornhole, volleyball, horseshoes and many more.

 There are several water sites and most all are good sites. Gates open 6 am close 10 pm Quiet time 10 pm to 6 am Stay 14 consecutive days Don’t move firewood buy locally This is an very nice COE campground and very well maintained all round. It is in a very rural setting and is an area you should plan to stay once you have arrived. Fall colors will be amazing. 

LNT

 Better than when you found it 

Stay safe Happy travels

Our first Oklahoma camping trip lead us to Robbers Cave State Park in the southeastern portion of Oklahoma. It is located on more than 8,000 acres in the San Bois Mountains. The parks claim to fame is outlaws such as Belle Starr, the Dalton Gang, and Jesse James used it as a hideout from the law. This was going to be our first full week of vacation spent in the popup, and our first camping trip outside of Missouri. We selected Robbers Cave State Park for two reasons it’s distance was a little over 4 hours away, and the number of amenities it offered for our 4 year old on our extended outing.   

 The first thing this park did was challenge my perceptions on what the Oklahoma landscape is. This is a park is located in an old growth pine forest, located in the rocky terrain of the Sans Bois Mountains. The park is split in half by Hwy 2 with the east side of the park consisting of the RV campgrounds, cabins, and Belle Starr Lodge. The west side of the park includes Lake Carlton, the equestrian camps, swimming pool, miniature golf, and nature center. This layout was negative in the fact that we could not walk between two sides with my son because of the distance and elevation change, you could rent golf carts if you would like. The positive was that it kept traffic down in the campground from the day use visitors of the park. We booked site 23 in the Old Circle Campground, when booking on the Oklahoma state park website there are no photos of the sites, only short descriptions…sometimes. I will let you know there is a youtube video that someone made driving around the old circle campground. I used this to take a look at our site after booking it.  Site 23 was a pull through site with full hookups located only about 5 feet off the main campground road. This could be a problem if the park was busy and there is a lot of traffic. Lucky for us we were camping through the week and this was not an issue. The site then on the opposite side held our own little secluded spot surrounded by pine trees down a slight slope from camper. We had a fire circle, picnic table, grill, and lantern post. We loved this site for this very reason. I will post pictures of both sides of our site below so you can get a visual. The bathroom and shower house is located in the middle of the old circle loop. The structure is very old and very dated stone structure, where you might find frogs sitting on shower curtains, spiders, and lizards (Those are just the ones that I witnessed). There is a newer shower house located outside of the Whispering Pines campground, next to the campground office and store. If you go to the newer one to take a shower make sure you have some quarters, or some dollar bills, because the showers cost money. Four quarters will get you 6 minutes worth of shower time.   

 When we were not at camp we spent most of our time exploring the west side of the park. We spent two afternoons swimming in Lake Carlton. The designated swim area has a very rocky drop-off for an entrance, but once out it was very nice swimming.  There is a concrete pier that is located along the swim ropes that you can climb up and jump off of. Besides swimming you could rent peddle boats, canoes, and paddle boards to go exploring. There was a pool with two water slides and a splash zone, it is $5 dollars to enter for the entire day. My son also got to play miniature for the first time at the course located next to the pool. One word of warning the golf course is very dated with carpet ripped or completely missing in spots. This did not slow us down at all, it just needs a little work.  They also sell shaved ice at the miniature gold building.    

The Oklahoma Park staff were very knowledgeable, friendly, and willing to answer any of my questions. Also when you get to camp they will give you a schedule of all the events that are going on throughout the week you are staying. We did a hayride that lead us through the park to the stables where there is a petting zoo, we saw the second largest pine tree in Oklahoma, and drank water from anartesian well. They also had a campfire with stories and smores one night, a cane pole fishing class, and even a tour of Lake Carlton by canoe. Just make sure you have cash because each item does cost money. 

The last thing we did before leaving Robbers Cave State Park after our three night stay was to go and search for the outlaws in the cave ourselves. I will give you a spoiler alert, the hiking trail to the cave is steep and rocky with big drop-offs, so be careful with small children. It is a ¾ of a mile trail that my son absolutely loved. He was trying to find the robber that was hiding out. The hike was worth every hair raising nervous parent moment.    

It is a consensus with my family that we will need to return to this park again. It has so much to offer, and we did not even touch on the many miles worth of trails to hike or go for a horseback ride on.  We look forward to our return to continue the exploring and searching for the elusive robbers.

We met the camp host who assisted us in finding our spot. We had a site far from anyone else and had a lakeside camp spot. This made our site feel huge. My favorite moment was when I was able to strip bare in the moonlight and dance on the shore. It feels very private & peaceful

The sites themselves were awesome. We opted for a site with electricity and our site had a newly built & paved platform/deck with the picnic table, grill, and light hook. The camp host suggested we pop our tent on the pavement but we found a suitable spot so we could stake our tent in.

The bathroom were clean and easily accessible though depending on where your site is you may end up wanting to drive to the bathroom. Lol

I almost for got to tell you that there are cabins here. Very basic simple structures with bunk beds, a table inside, a fireplace, & screened in porch. On our way out of the campgrounds we drove by to take a peak & saw a ranger there who allowed us to pop in to see. She recommended a visit to McGee Creek during winter. Less visited & they get snow. How peaceful!

We stayed at Bob Cat crossing, and it was fine for the most part. There’s a campfire ring, a table, and a double lamp pole at each site. The campground is close to a pavilion with lots of tables and grills, and some pretty clean bathrooms with hot showers. It really was beautiful out there and there were a million things to do that were close by; we really enjoyed our stay for the most part. There is firewood for sale at the office, but word to the wise, bring your own wood because they charge $6 for 4 really pathetic twigs.

The biggest problem I had was with #004. It’s on a horrible slope, and so is the picnic table, which caused our food to continually roll off our plates. There is no flat ground for a tent, so we would wake up in the night from sliding off our sleeping mats. It’s also really close to the road and the RV campground, so we would get woken up by cars and golf carts going up and down the road at night. Other than that, we had a pretty good time.

We learned about this campground through the owners activities with Veterans. We stayed for 7 days and we were able to have totally relaxed days as well as very active days. Right next to the river for kayaking, canoeing or just relaxing. Off-road vehicle trails a petting zoo on site. Check the web site for activities, there may be live music or a large gathering scheduled which may or may not be your thing. The only reason I rated it 4 stars is that it’s a work in progress. New cabins were being added and more trails were being cut while we were there.