Doris Campground

Doris Campground, Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, OK

Site 26 

• Reservations only through Recreation.com Varying costs but $8 gets tagged on by Recreation.com. I miss the days of paying by cash in person. 
• The Good: •Beautiful surrounding area                                                                                             •No Cell service                                                                                                             •Abundant Wildlife                                                                                                       •Great hiking trails                                                                                                         •Very scenic                                                                                                                   •Great local history                                                                                                      •Great gravelbiking/mountain biking trails                                                           •Several nearby historical landmarks 
• The Bad:                                                                                                                             •Still no potable water(Mid-Oct 2021)                                                                           •No showers                                                                                                                 •Online Reservations only                                                                                                 •No cell service                                                                                                         •Doorless pit latrines                                                                                                   •Occasional road noise                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Heavy cloud cover and a light mist welcomed us for the night and did not relent until after noon the following day. The night life was busy and vocal from dusk to dawn. Bull elks bugling, mule deer snorting while running through our site, either the free roam longhorn or the bison called out to each other, the coyotes yipped and yapped, and the raccoons tried their best to scrounge up a feast. Early evening and early morning traffic noise is minimal but can be heard in the campsites. 

Only a random artillery boom was heard in the distance.

Prairie dog villages are a great way to spend some time enjoying their comedic antics and tight family structure.

Trails abound, both from within the campground and nearby. We walked a few in late afternoon and the bull elk bugled relentlessly…obvious signs of rut. We did not realize how close to a lone bison we passed until we heard a noise and looked back. How a large beast could go unnoticed in the low scrub was amazing.

We were fortunate to secure a midweek campsite but the weekend was sold out.

Temps were in the high 40’s overnight but climbed during the day to 70’s with a beautiful breeze.

The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center was still closed. Both in June and October it was closed with varying explanations why. If you go onto FWS.gov it still has it closed from November 2015-January 2016…so that certainly isn’t current.

Would I camp here again? Yes, However, I will research when school kids have Fall Break and avoid that weekend because it does sell completely out.

Incredible scenery and wildlife.

We were in site 47-B, which is an area that is near the lake and has electrical.  This particular site has the lake just a few steps from the camp.  These are electrical only sites.  And the water available at the campground was not potable and has been this way since 2017 per a sign.  During reservation, it was noted that bathrooms were not operational, and only self contained RVs were allowed.  That said, there were tent campers when we were there.  Note there is no cellular service in the campground.

We found the sites to be very quiet and spread out.  There are many great sites along the lake edge beyond our loop, but these offered no electrical.  Longhorns were evidenced in our area.  We enjoyed driving over to Prairie Dog town and spending time laughing at their antics.  Since our last visit, their area has really grown and continued to spread out.  We also enjoyed visiting the Environmental Education Center for its trails and pier, as the Center was closed due to COVID.  I think our favorite area is around Rush Lake for its views and waterfalls.  Don't miss the views from atop Mt. Scott.

Absolutely wonderful camping and hiking!! Lots of camping spots - and most were well distanced for plenty of privacy. Due to COVID all spots require pre-registration online and only self contained vehicles are permitted (all bathrooms are closed). There is no service in the park, but about 2 bars next to the Visitor’s center (which is also closed), so be sure to reserve a spot before you get close to the park. Some sites are dry and some have electric hookups. No water available due to an ongoing E. Coli issue. The camp host was really nice and stopped by both nights we were there. There were lots of hikes and we are looking forward to coming back for an extended stay. For hiking, we loved 40 foot hole (nice waterfall) and Little Baldy for sunset. Wish we had been here a couple weeks earlier because I bet the trees would have been at peak fall foliage color. We saw long horns and bison several times, but unfortunately didn’t see any prairie dogs. We heard this park is mostly used by locals (~80 miles from Oklahoma City), and not many long distance travelers hear about it. Also heard there are great mountain biking trails.