Lake McMurtry West Campground

Lake McMurtry West is a small campground with nearly level sites. Sites offer electricity and water. Make sure to have a 50 ft water hose as the water spouts are on the opposite side of most camper locations.

Stayed here a lot have an annual membership

Once you get to the campground, it is peaceful with no traffic noise, light pollution or other distractions. The view of the lake is fantastic and it’s easy to relax here. The space between campsites is significantly less than I would prefer but manageable. The maneuvering space needed to back a large trailer is more than sufficient.

However, the road access to this campground is probably the worst that I have experienced. I don’t know if it is an Oklahoma thing or I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, but the last several miles to this campground are incredibly rough. We are pulling a 34 foot fifth wheel and the slow speed required adds another 30 minutes to what should be a five minutes. To top things off, there is a cross country run event this weekend which has drawn many visitors to the campground, who decided to park on both sides of the already very narrow roads leading to and from the campground area. It is nearly impossible to make turns and pull a trailer of any size through the congestion. This is probably a rare occurrence and I would not hesitate to stay here again, but you would be wise to verify there are no events planned for the duration of your stay before booking your campsite. Clearly this would have been a four star rating for me except for the points that I’ve noted above and five stars if there were more space between campsites.

Pretty empty for a Friday but it’s late in the season. This location allows you to pull straight into the tent spots. Not like others where you park and pack in so great for car camping. Online reservations are easy. No one around to check in when I arrived and no camp host present but no big deal. Water is turned off for tent spots 1-4.

This side offers many of the same amenities as the east side. Camgrounds are very clean, quiet, and offer privacy. Close to hiking/mtb trails and the west side has showers.

Nice and quiet. Had a relaxing stay. The trail to the water was pretty rough, but made it down and got the kayak in the water with no problems. There were several fishing boats out, but no wakes or issues riding in the kayaks. Spot #8

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.

I reserved a water view RV site at Lake McMurtry and 

their office gave my space away to another camper 

We arrived late to the campgrounds (due to their faulty web site directions) and backed into the only space available a couple of sites down 

I informed the store of their mistake and they sent over

 a gal who told me they would “credit back my stay”

When I didn't see my credit almost two weeks later I called again to ask about it

They then informed me that all they would do now is credit my “next stay”

I won’t be staying at Lake McMurtry again so this is of NO value to me 

Their staff is clearly unreliable and unprofessional and I do not recommend them to other campers

Grew up going here with my parents now we take our kids.. Hubby lives to kayak here..

We really love the long, relatively private sites on the west side. Each campsite is somewhat screened from the neighbor by brush.

Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring, water and electrical hookups.

There is a dumpster on the circle. There is a shower and a toilet at the bait shop. Each (west side) campsite has access to the lake.

Our favorite campsites are #11 and #12, which are a little more private, and because we can easily launch our kayaks from both spots and they have nice areas to fish.

There are many nice hiking trails.

The west side is our favorite place to camp within 60 miles of Stillwater.

The cons - ticks are very plentiful, and we have heard that copperheads are plentiful in the camping area. I personally haven't seen one, but camping neighbors are always happy to let us know when they have! Might take a weed eater and clear the brush on your path to the water!

The road to the campground is fairly long and winding, but easy to make with the trailer as long as you obey the speed limit.

The only other con is it is hard to get reservation. They have a very nice online reservation system, but the campsites fill up quickly and pretty far out date wise. I wish they had twice as many campsites!

Here is the main website: https://www.lakemcmurtry.com/

Here is their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lakemcmurtry I highly recommend their facebook page and their youtube videos. They are really funny.

Regarding boating (Taken from the website):

• The following are prohibited: activities that involve towing a person behind a boat, sea-doos, jet skis, or any similar personal motorized watercraft. 
• Boats of any kind are not allowed in the swim area. 
• Watercraft must be properly registered by the state of Oklahoma before entering the lake.
• Designated boat ramps are for “launching” only.
• Maximum speed is 25 mph. No wake at boat docks and ramps.
• Water skiing, jet skis, sea doo’s, water bikes, and any other related water sports are prohibited.

Stillwater isn't the most... scenic place in the US. Trust me, I went to school there for 5 years. Lake McMurtry is the perfect little escape though, taking you through winding mountain bike paths and down to the water. I've had some of my favorite camping experiences there, not because it's the most beautiful or wild place, but because its a nice escape.