Best Tent Camping near Yukon, OK

This place was such a disappointment. I don't often pay for campsites that aren't inside a National Park, but this place looked so pretty and it was in the location I needed.

I should start by saying that if you book an RV spot (I think they cost around $30) and whatever you're staying in has a toilet, your experience will probably be a lot better than mine. Although very close together, the RV sections seemed fairly nice.

My experience, however, was a little different (if you don't want to read all about my experience & just want the basics, scroll down to the section "the campground"):

I booked my tent site ($20) on their website a few hours before I arrived. I arrived well before sunset, and there was a sign up that said the office closed at sunset. No one was in the office and there was another sign that indicated they would return at 10AM. This wasn't a big deal.

When I booked my site online it told me to select an area (there's three different sections of the park), and then once I arrive I could choose any available campsite. I chose the Walnut Grove area. They have a map on their website showing the areas where there is tent camping. What they fail to mention on their site, is that there isn't any obvious parking for most of these sites in the Walnut Grove area. A couple of the campsites on the map were in what was signed to be a "day use only" area, a couple of the sites on the map looked like walk-in sites, but I had no clue where to park my vehicle, a couple of the sites I just couldn't find, and most of the sites were on the main road that goes through the canyon and had no obvious place to park (I looked for dead or trodden grass near the sites to give me a sign that people were just parking in the grass & didn't see any.) Also, at first it was hard to distinguish between which sites were day use picnic sites and which were campsites, because the website told me the campsite area I chose didn't have fire rings.

I finally decided to just pull onto the grass, but I noticed that multiple campsites had trash at them (most likely from guests using the park during the day). Nearby a dumpster was overflowing with trash, and I eventually saw that every section had one or two dumpsters either filled to the brim or overflowing.

I decided to stop off at the toilets in the Walnut Grove area. To get there you cross a wooden bridge that has wood planks laying over the original structure, which seems a little hazardous for navigating after dark. I could smell the bathrooms (an actual running water bathroom) from the bridge, not a great sign, but it appeared to be coming from the men's. In the women's side were two spiders the size of my palm, one in each stall. (Yes, I am afraid of spiders. In most circumstances I can get over it, but a spider of this size, that didn't seemed particularly frightened by my presence, hanging out close by while I sat on a toilet was a little too much for me in this moment.).

Between the frustration of trying to find a campsite/parking, the overflowing trash, the horrible smelling bathroom, the giant spiders, and the trash at the campsites, I finally decided to check out another area. Despite finding another overflowing dumpster, this area was a little better. The campsites were on a gravel loop, with a cleaner, but still not great bathroom at the front of the loop. At this point, I was hungry, tried, and frustrated, so I just stayed there. The office was still closed when I left in the morning.

I'm not a particularly fussy camper. I don't mind picking up a little bit of trash at a campsite. I frequently camp in areas that don't have toilets or any amenities. But when I pay $20 to camp in a tent, I do expect to have the campsites, the toilets, and the overall campground maintained and cleaned to some acceptable degree.

The campground: You drive down a short, but steep and curvy hill to get into the canyon. The red rocks of the canyon wall give off a pretty glow, especially when the sun is lower in the sky. The park is labeled into three different sections; if you are tent camping I would advise going for the first campground called Canyon Campground. Also, unless you're concerned about it filling up, I would go down and look at the areas before booking one. There are three bathrooms with running water throughout the canyon; the toilets themselves look clean, but the bathrooms as a whole don't; also lots of bugs and a couple large spiders inside. There was trash at many of the campgrounds and most of the dumpsters were overflowing with trash.

The area: If you are coming from highway 40 you'll pass through a small town that has a Sonic and a local restaurant or two. Watch your speed here, there was a police officer every time I drove by. Otherwise there's not much nearby.

Booking: You can book online, but they did have envelopes & a drop box by the front office.

Cell service: I could call out, but couldn't text or use internet.

This is a tent camping area only state park that is on the banks of Lake Thunderbird. There all types of water sport activities are at the lake; there is a marina available on the lake and all other services and gods are available within a thirty minute drive. Being a tent camping area only, there is typically not as much pressure and tent campers get to have more of a "quiet" setting. The area experiences heavy use during holiday weekends and the first weekends of summer but typically drops off after that time. Summer temperatures will be hot and humid so prepare to enjoy the water.

This park was saved by a local who has leased it for the next 50 years! Oklahoma was going to close it down! Great RV and tent sites! Very family friendly , pool, camp store, playgrounds and numerous rappelling sites. Also bathhouses! Great hiking on the red Rock! Good karma like Sedona!

Stayed here on a meandering trip from Tennessee to Utah. Tent Camped on lawn. Site was $10, shower and laundry (with dry) $3 each. Tiny, quiet, well-maintained, with great owners and a short drive to town for meals. Great Route 66 stop.

This was my last stop on a 2 week road trip and it was a cool find close OKC. After spending a couple hours driving through TX and OK, this spot doesn’t even feel like Oklahoma. It gets very hot during the day but the canyon tent sites have a good amount of shade and are a lot cooler. There are also some great walking trails since it used to be a State Park.

Stayed in site 27 for one night passing through. Last minute stop and several sites available. Beautiful sunrise and sunset over the lake. Sites close together and a bit loud, but we were there on a Saturday night. Walk-in tent sites looked great.

This campground rocks. It is camping made easy. The views are the best I have seen around the lake and this park area is much cleaner than others. The fire ring is awesome as it is waist-level and has a grill. Definitely worth the 21 bucks. The best tent campsites are 17-20

some of the sites are tent sites with no area to pull up to with a car. you have to park in a lot. and they tell you you can’t stay in your van unless you’re in an RV site. to avoid this just stay in a pull up tent spot. $16 is a lot a night for the basic spots. think i saw a cougar so be mindful at night. hot af but the lake is cooling. good shade. bathrooms and showers have AC!

Lake Thunderbird is always a go to fun spot! We spend most summer days here swimming and relaxing. There are so many great spots for putting up a hammock and enjoying the great outdoors. We stayed at Hog Creek Campground for our Questival 2017 challenges at a tent site. There were a ton of deer, fox, squirrels, and other wildlife to help us complete our quest challenges. The park ranger was very helpful in finding us a last minute late night camp site.

Was passing through the area and needed a place to land since I couldn’t find any BLM out this way. I paid $16 for a tent site at Hog campground, which had a fire ring and picnic table. Pulled in at night so it took me a while to find it but all tables note the campsite which helped. Bathrooms were meh, but worked. Didn’t use the showers but they aren’t free. They are quarter showers. Clean site and felt safe. Had 2 bars of LTE AT&T service.

Showers and toilets were under construction so a car ride was required to reach the next closest. Tent sites were overgrown with grass and ticks were abundant. Signage was not good. Good luck finding your site if you arrive after dark. Lots of traffic once it got dark with people circling to look for their sites. Boat traffic in the lake plays loud music late into the evening. Voices carry throughout the campground. Be aware that the park address might be far from your camp site....check your area before plotting your course.

Owners are very nice and there are cute cows nearby. 2 “tent” sites (with water/outlets) that are perfect if you’re looking for a safe place to sleep in your car/truck. They only charged me $10 since I wasn’t planning to use the showers. Lots of families and older couples in the RV spots even in February plus thoughtfully placed lighting made it feel very safe. Small enough that it’s pretty quiet. The main building is very clean and has several toilets/showers and coin op laundry machines. Very strong Verizon signal plus decent wifi.