The Shady Grove — Tenkiller State Park

We’ve camped at Tenkiller State Park once before and stayed in Shady Grove (rv area). This time we camped in Blue Jay on top of the hill. There was an issue with the power on the side of the loop we were on and we were not informed before we got there. They did offer to let us stay and refund our money which was nice. Thankfully, the weather cooled down at the time of our stay. The pool was not open when we went this time and it didn’t look like it would be opening any time soon. We stayed in site 131 ( water and electric only) and it was nice. We had tree line behind us and shade for some parts of the day. We don’t have a boat but we have kayaks and we went and put in on the north side of the lake and went out to goat island. The nature center and the gift shop are both small but nice. There is a walking path through the park and we hiked the overlook trail which is just outside the park. If you have small kids it might be more convenient to stay at one of the campgrounds closer to the pool and park.

We stayed here for just one night in Shady Grove area on the top of the hill. Sites were tight and we were clearly placed in a bigger pull through site that was split in two sites. We arrived later in the evening and people in other half of site had already taken over forcing us the back into site pad up a steep incline in the dark under a tree. We made it, but not easy. For distanced dispersed camping, look elsewhere.

Camped in Tenkiller back in August 2018.

Got to the campground around 2pm after a long drive from northern Arkansas.  I had a reservation for a tent site, but when I got there, the rangers asked if I wanted to have a room in the Courtyard Cottages for half price since a very bad storm system was blowing in, and they were nowhere near full.  I was going to only be there for the one night, and had camped in storms the night before, so a chance to have a real room for the night was too good to pass up.

I chose the room, and was able to get everything in pretty quickly.  It was great to have a place to lay out all the still damp equipment on the porch area, as well as do some light clothing wash in the bathroom.

It turned out that the storms turned away and never materialized, so I had the late afternoon free to explore the park.  I rode my bike through all the camping and RV loops, and met quite a few people camping.  I was even able to take a little time in my hammock by the lake in the tent site I had reserved...It was a great view and I would have really loved to have tented there.

After the ride, I spent some time replacing a headlight in my Jeep and then ventured to explore the area.  I drove over to Soda Steve's for dinner...and IT WAS GREAT!  All in all, the area was quite nice.  After dinner I did a full drive around the southern end of the lake, to the marinas...then had a nice beer at Big Daddy's Right On The Dam Highway before heading to bed for the night.

The room, showers and location were all great.  Next time I hope to actually camp in the area.  I highly recommend taking the time to drive around the whole lake if possible.  The area is beautiful and the drive is very relaxing.

This was our first camping trip in Oklahoma and we stayed in the shady grove rv campground. There are a few sections for Rvs and I think this is one of the nicer ones. We had decent shade and it was nice and peaceful. The bathhouse nearby was locked up and practically abandoned so the nearest bathrooms were up on the hill at another campground. The lake is big and beautiful and very busy. We don’t own a boat but we kayak and while it’s a nice lake it is a bit overrun by the bigger boats. The pool was open for registered guests only and that includes people who are camping. The pool had a nice area for the kids with a slide and my kids really enjoyed it. They can’t wait to go back, mostly for the pool. We stopped at the Pine Cove Marina and it was nice and had some drinks and other small things that you might need for camping.

Tenkiller is a nice little park for camping, but it is a great park for boating and fishermen. The park is very large and spread out over a large area along the shore of Tenkiller Ferry Lake. The lake is beautiful and it is a very popular lake for scuba diving due to the clear water and frequent certification classes given there. The marina is extremely large as many locals from the Tulsa area visit the lake on the weekend. The park itself leaves much to be desired. It is overgrown, and generally appears somewhat neglected. However, in fairness, we visited during the COVID crisis and most everything was not accessible. I have been told by many that the nature and cultural center on site are great. From what I could see, the pool area also looks very nice. There is a disc golf course on site, which I wish was more common than it is. The camping at the park is primarily geared toward tent campers, and the premier Lakeview sites are all reserved for tent campers. The rv sites are generally within three areas, Blue Jay Knob, Shady Grove, and Fox Squirrel. While it is nice and there is sewer in Fox Squirrel loop, it is wide open and minimal trees. It is also furthest away from the lake. We stayed in Shady grove (#84) and I believe it is either the best or one of the top 3 sites in the whole park. With that said, I also like the Blue Jay Knob area as well bc it is elevated above the lake, the views are fantastic and the sites seem to have more green space for kids. The bathhouse in that area is also preferable to others. The cell service was great and there is WiFi at the nature center. Also noteworthy is the fact there is a great restaurant at the marina in the heart of the park and another (Big Daddy’s right on the Dam Highway) right at the entrance to the park. The bait and tackle shop at the marina is also fantastic. Overall, it’s a nice little park for weekend camping, but a phenomenal park for a fisherman or anyone wanting to be on the water for several days. Despite the beautiful water and scenery, I wouldn’t want to plan a trip that was longer than a few nights. Its definitely not the best place I’ve camped, but it’s a solid park