Dates we camped there: July 5 – 7, 2019
Location: Waurika Lake Kiowa 1, Hastings, OK 73548
Website: https://www.recreation.gov/camping/gateways/573
What we Paid: $100.00 per night for the Group Campground – 8 RV sites and a Pavillion.
Reservations: Yes, they take reservations, they are part of the Corp of Engineers sites, so you reserve on the Recreation.gov site: https://www.recreation.gov/search?q=Waurika%20Lake&inventory_type=camping
We were able to secure sites the week before we were going, which is hard for a 4th of July weekend. You pay online at the time of reservations. There are no extra fees for boats when you reserve a site. There are two areas on the lake; Kiowa Park 1 on the west side of the lake and Chisolm Trail on the East side of the lake. We stayed in Kiowa Park 1.
Who we went with: 3 other groups of friends: (JP & Jackie and their granddaughter, Leea & Wes and their 2 children and Kayla, Athena and Brandy) in their RV’s. Mike and Tammy came down for Dinner on Saturday night and Lisa and Melissa came down for dinner and to spend the night Friday night.
Since both Mitch and I are both off on Friday’s we headed out about 8 AM and met JP and Jackie down there within about 30 minutes of each other. After getting to the site and setting up, we headed into Wauirika JW’s Travel Stop for lunch, so the RV’s could cool down and we could find a nice place with air conditioning…it was a hot and humid day! It is along Highway 81 just outside of Waurika. They had an amazing lunch buffet that included a salad bar and hot foods (Fried Chicken, Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Cord, Carrots and Greens) and rolls….the food was very good and the sweet tea was amazing on the hot humid day we were having.
The Sites: The sites we stayed in were in Kiowa 1, Group Site 1. This sites are pull through sites and have plenty of room and very far apart. They form a circle and there is a Pavilion with a large grill, electrical outlets and lights. Made for a great place to have dinner and fellowship on Saturday night. There were allot of mud dobber and wasp nests in the pavilion and at the sites.
Each Site had their own electric, however only every other site had water, so you had to share. Since the sites are so far apart, you need to make sure you bring allot of hose…it took 3 for us to get to the water.
Bathroom Facilities: The Restrooms are within walking distance of the sites. They are just 2 flush toilets and 2 sinks, no showers at the restrooms close to the camping. There is a shower house over by the swim beach.
Swim Beach: We didn’t use the swimming beach this time, however we have used it before. Just a warning, if you are going to use it, wear a swim suit you don’t mind getting stained. The lake is very muddy and your swimsuit will be a tinge of brown anywhere there is white. We had brought a blow up swimming pool for the kiddos, which some of us adults go in as well to cool off, as Friday was very hot. You will not be able to walk to the swim beach from the group site, it is about ½ mile away in a different loop. At the swim beach there is also a volley ball court on the sand and daytime picnic tables.
Fishing & the Lake: Mitch brought his bass boat and fished with JP on Saturday morning and Noah on Sunday Morning. Each morning they caught a few hybrid fish. The lake does allow skiing and jet skis, but there are allot of stumps at the north end of the lake, so I would only recommend doing water sports near the damn.
Wildlife: We saw quite a few deer, rabbits, geese and lots of birds in the area.
Things to do: On Saturday to beat the heat, several of us went into Duncan to the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center. It was a very good museum and a must see if you get down in that area of the state. It was very hands on and my 8 year old and 4 year old grandchildren had a good time. The fee to get in was $17.00 for a family of 4 or $6.00 for an adult and $4.00 for children. There is a small gift shop there that was very reasonable, the kids found something inexpensive and they had authentic Oklahoma Rose Rocks. The Experience show was very entertaining, don’t want to spoil it for you, but make sure you go to it! Noah came out knowing exactly what the Chisolm trail was and how it got it’s name…so it must have impressed him to remember that. There are picnic tables under a pavilion right in front of the Museum that would make for a great place to have lunch. We took a quick visit at the park next door as well, it was very nice and shady and lots of things for the kids and adults alike to play on. There was also a frisbee golf course and a booking trading box as well. There was a virtual geocaching at the museum, so make sure you go for that while you are there.
No geocaches in the park, since it is a nationally run park.
As we were driving around, we noticed there were allot of sand plums and blackberry bushes along the roads. Friday evening and Saturday evening after it cooled off a bit, we took the kids out to pick sand plums and blackberries. There were not too many blackberries ripe, so those were eaten pretty much as soon as they were picked. There were a lot of sand plums, so each couple was able to get about a gallon bag, we are planning to make sand plum jelly in the next few weeks. Brought back memories of picking sand plums with my Grandmother back in the 70’s.
Pros about the campsites: They are very large sites, the pavilion is nice for a group gathering, the playgrounds in the area are well kept (however they are not shaded), the swim beach is nice and the showers are nice. Each site has it’s own covering over the tables. (However, there are allot of wasp nests and mud dobber nests; I went around and sprayed all the sites we were going to use and the pavilion on Friday when we arrived and that took care of them, we didn’t see them the rest of the weekend, but I went through 3 cans of spray).
Cons about the campsites: The Group sites are not close to the water, the individual sites are all pretty close to the water. There are very few to no trees at each site making them very hot, there is only water at every other site, the lake is a muddy lake. (The lack of trees is for both individual sites and the group sites). This is probably a better lake to go to in the spring or fall when the temperatures are milder.