Central State Park Campground

First come first serve sounds great until you realize you won’t get a spot. People pay weeks at a time to keep these spots. I’ve spent two months trying to get one weekend. Nothing lake is okay, bathrooms are gross, but you are camping ya know.

We stayed in the Bobcat loop which is considered dispersed. Lots of shade and the lake is pretty. There was trash here and there on our site…not very clean. The bathrooms were old and not well-kept. FYI, there is a sign that says the brain eating amoeba, although rare, may be present in the lake.

General: There are three separate parks around Arcadia Lake; two of them have one campground each and Central has three different campgrounds. Bobcat and Kingsnake are primarily for tents and have no hookups while Cottonwood has full or partial hookups. We were surprised when we arrived at 2 pm on a Wednesday in May to find Cottonwood full. However, we discovered later that an entire section of lakefront sites was closed; I am not sure if this was because of flooding or renovation. We chose a site in Bobcat. While you cannot technically reserve a site, you can call ahead and have a site put on hold; the catch is you have to pay for each day it is on hold until you arrive. The rate for non-hookup sites is reasonable at $15. 

Site Quality/Facilities: The sites in Bobcat vary; some are walk-in with parallel parking spots while others have short driveways. None of these sites would be suitable for large RVs but worked fine for our camper van. Some have direct water views and/or access. Each site has a paved driveway, a large concrete picnic table, utility table with lantern hook, a bbq grill (which hadn’t been cleaned in a LONG time), and fire ring. Be aware of many ant hills (at least in May)! 

Bathhouse: The restroom facilities can be optimistically described as rustic but really, they were pretty gross. Dated and not very clean, with no soap dispensers and I didn’t even try to use the air dryer. Two stalls and the latch was missing on one and not working on the other. Showers only in Cottonwood and I’d have to be desperate for a shower to use them. No showers in Bobcat or Kingsnake. 

Activities/Amenities: Many things to do: fishing, boating (both require permits 24 hours/day), water skiing, swimming, volleyball, hiking, and multi-use trails. Technically the beach is within walking distance, but most people would probably drive. In the summer, a store is open. I can only imagine how different this place would be on warm weekends and during the summer. 

Despite the sad state of the restrooms and our obnoxious neighbors who gunned their engines late at night, we enjoyed our overnight stay on a site that backed up to the water.

We really enjoyed our stay at this park on Lake Arcadia, a man-made lake.   We were camped near the lake on site 117.   There were lots of birds and animals.   It's a pretty place.  Lots of trees. 

The system for getting a campsite is first come, first serve.  There was no one in the office when we arrived.  I had called ahead to make sure there were sites available.  

Their system is confusing.  We paid by dropping an envelope in a box at the office.  

Also there is not water on every site.  There were 4 trailers hooked up to the water spigot by our campsite.  2 campers had their water hose strung across the road!  It worked out ok and everyone was cooperative about it, but be sure you have extra water hoses.  

We did not use the bathrooms or showers here because they were not very clean and the building was not warm.

Central State Park is a clean, well maintained campground. We arrived late, so we had to self check-in. The spots are well spaced, giving campers a nice amount of privacy. There are full, partial and primitive spots available. All are nicely wooded and have public bathrooms nearby. All-in-all, a nice area.

I’m not much of a lake swimmer but it’s ok. The water is a bit sandy and turbid but the place we had was on the water and was great! Spring Creek is for RV’s only and over-flow camping. There was a constant breeze which made fires tricky but very cool even when it got into the mid-90’s. Water hookups were spaces between primitive camp sites on Bobcat, but the water was nice and cold! We stayed at 224, it was mostly shaded but a bit far from the restrooms. Restrooms were gross, there was a large group staying near them and bugs were everywhere and they were trashed. But fun little trails everywhere! Could buy firewood! But found lots of kindling lying around!

I’ve stayed here twice now, and I love the rural, rougher campsites. This area is much more wooded than Thunderbird, and the views of the lake are obstructed by trees, so don’t expect to get a lake view in front of your tent. Payment sucks, as you have to shove money into an envelope at the entrance and is just a hassle. The City of Edmond could improve this by allowing reservations online just like the Oklahoma State Parks.

I love a good lake side camping site, nothing better than being able to set up with a great view and the sound of the wakes rolling in with the breeze when in my tent. But what happens when your perfect setting becomes your worst nightmare?

On a recent trip to Oklahoma I got a good glimpse of just what that would be like as a slightly unexpected rain flooded this campground miserably. Driving through the RV loop waters were right up to some of the pull throughs, tables in some areas were underwater and this was the better of the camps. The tent sites were nearly all effected by the flooding because of their location and even the road was cut off and closed.

Now is this typical of the camp? No. But however this is a scary reality you must consider when choosing your site at this or any lake. I have many times experienced overnight rains unexpectedly, however usually choose a site slightly elevated from the waters, however at this camp many of the sites are level to the water and more susceptible to rising waters.

As a location as a whole, it was nice and facilities were very well maintained, but because of the issues with flooding I would not want to imagine the stress low laying campsites could hold.

Prices are reasonable, the staff was friendly and the lake was large (larger of course because of rains…lol) but all in all this has a lot of features which make for a great location.

TIPS:

• If reserving online, look carefully at the map for your site, choose something a little further back from the water, you will still have a great view but will avoid possible fear of unexpected rainfall.
• Check out the sites just up from the camp on Route 66 including POPs (a multimillion dollar retro style cafe and gas station boasting over 700 different types of soda) and the Round Barn, a staple of the original Route 66.

We stayed at this camp ground last night and found it to be really beautiful and a great place to stay. Our only qualm would be that there was not running water in the sinks of the bathrooms. We're very grateful for state parks allowing camping. Thank you.

We have been here many times and will definitely be back. Always easy to get to and a very enjoyable time. Camping sites are away from the day use areas, keeping traffic by the site to a minimum.

Arcadia lake is an absolutely beautiful area but central state park is overpriced for what it offers and trying to find whether a site was already rented is almost impossible.

Nice campground. A little trashed but we helped clean that up. A fun night with friends.

Nice park a fun camp out .

Stay with some friends here for a festival in Oklahoma City. The campground was easy to find and very close to Oklahoma City but it was dirty and the fire in the fire pit was still going from the people that have been there the night before.

Staff was friendly. Very clean. Nice neighbors. Would stay again.

It’s been so great to get out of the craziness of life and go camping with some great friends! The bathroom sinks didn’t work, but otherwise, no complaints.

The lake is nice and has a swimming area (no dogs allowed at the swimming beach). The campsites are in a different portion of the park than the day use areas, which helps minimize traffic driving by your site. Several tent sites are close to the bathrooms and most are fairly private. We have been many times throughout the year and will definitely go back again.