LAKE EUFAULA SP, Checotah, OK

LAKE EUFAULA STATE PARK

RUN BY:   State of Oklahoma

LOCATION: south of Checotah, OK   (35.3992  -95.5849)

UTILITIES:  Water and Electricity

COST:  $28

DISCOUNTS:  Senior ($2) and Disabled ($7)

OUR RATING (1-5): Category I.  Rating 4+

NOTES:  This is a lovely park in eastern Oklahoma. It is about half way between Checotah (north) and Eufaula (south), both communities of about 3,000 people. The lake is quite large.  There are several COE camping areas on the lake. None of them were open when we arrived on Dec 3^rd.  This campground is very wooded with large sites. Each site has a picnic table, fire pit and grill.   Most of the trees look like oak. I would imagine that it’s pretty shady here when leaves are on the trees. We weren’t concerned about our solar panels since it has pole power.  If you are able, sites 90 and 91 are considered the top two sites, although most of them on this loop (#85-92) are very good. We are on site 90 and are at a point on the lake (see picture) with the lake not 25 ft away and a marvelous unobstructed view.        

Environment:  A nice wooded campground on a large lake in eastern Oklahoma at an elevation of around 607 feet above sea level. The trees appear to be oaks.

Amenities:  The campground has water and electricity, toilets, trash, and a laundry at a nearby sister campground. 

Dump:  Yes.

Public Water:  Water at each site.

Toilets:  Yes.

Showers:  No

Laundry:  Yes  (at the Dogwood Campground just down 150 otherwise about 6-8 miles away in Texanna, OK there is a nice laundromat.)

Phone Service:  Verizon 4G 2-3 bars

Nearest Propane: (unknown at this writing.)

Location:  If you are approaching on I-40 from the west, exit on OK-150 south and go 5.2 miles to the road to the campground which will be on your left.  If you are approaching on I-40 from the east, exit on US-69 going south. Follow US-69 about 8.6 miles to the exit for OK-150.  At the bottom of the exit ramp, turn right on OK-150 and go about 3.4 miles. The turn to the campground will be on your right. 

The office, on highway 150, is at this corner.  35.399630  -95.605087.  During weekday business hours you register for a campsite there. After hours and on weekends you register with the camp host. Follow the signs about 1.2 miles and you will see the camp host on the right.

Proximity to shopping: If you drive south on OK-150 about 3.2 miles away you will start encountering various businesses. There is a very small community called Texanna and less than 6 miles further is Eufaula. 

Camping Population:  The most sites occupied during our time here were four sites. Three of the four of us were full-timers, but this is the season for people like us to be moving through; late fall and early winter. The campground host said that the campground is almost always full during the summer.  

Sites:   Sites are paved with easy access to the water and electricity. Most of them seem rather level. There are some pass-through. A few are short, but there are quite a high percentage of excellent sites with good views. Very roomy with picnic tables and fire pits.

======================================================================

RATING KEY:    category - score 

Categories:  I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

                    II -  boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

                               one might choose to stay for more than a night.

                    III - over-night areas 

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service 

* There are people who are not full-timers and van-dwellers by choice. We try hard not to be demeaning or assume that they are bad people but sadly, as you find in the poorer parts of a city, there seems to be more crime. Many call these people van-dwellers. That isn’t really accurate even though they do often live in vans. We know quite a few van-dwellers who have good incomes, are full-timers by choice and prefer a van to other types of vehicles. To try to show some respect for people who have a difficult lot in life, I’m calling them ‘residential campers’.  It is only when you get a high proportion of residential campers in an area that you find an increase in petty theft, etc.