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Recreation Closures

Covid-19 - The safety and welfare of our staff and visitors is of the upmost importance.  As such, the Tulsa District would like to remind our visitors that social distancing and other restrictions required by local, state and federal authorities to include the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will be in place during the epidemic. If these restrictions cannot be followed recreation areas could be forced to close again. 

Day use areas, group shelters, swim beaches and all common use area openings will be based on local health conditions and are up to the discretion of the local project. Please call the local project for the latest information.

Facility Closures – Weather is a major closure factor in our district. Flooding of the parks create an unsafe condition for our visitors and staff.  Park’s may be fully or partially closed, other facilities, such as, swim beaches, boat ramps and docks may also be closed for safety reasons. Please references our Reservation Cancellations information below if you have reservations which are cancelled due to facility closures.  Other factors in which parks may be closed is construction in or near the park.  Although this information is included within the document posted if it is also posted on the projects News and Notices page we have provided a link to that information below.

Campground reservation and fees must be paid in advance at www.recreation.gov.   

Kansas Area  10-13-2021 (Big Hill, Council Grove, John Redmond, Fall River, Marion, Elk City, Toronto)

Kaw & Keystone  11-18-2021

Tenkiller  Snake Creek closed due to tornado damage, Elk Creek open.

Ft. Gibson  9-13-2021

Oologah Lake

 

 

Responsibe Recreating

Reservation Cancellations

For those whose camping reservations are cancelled due to flood closure or Covid-19, please give the Recreation Reservation System time to process cancellations. 

The lake offices are working to process refunds as quickly as they can. However, customers can also request their own refunds for any reservation through their online account and be charged a $10 cancellation fee.  Please note the call center and online chat features are not available at this time.  Rules & Reservation Polices for reservations can be found here: https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies

As park closures are often related to flooding, we recommend visiting our Water Control Data Site to check lake levels before visiting a lake. If you have concerns about flooding at area lakes please contact the relevant lake office where you will be camping or recreating before traveling. A link to the contact information for Tulsa District lake offices is available below.

Lake Office Contact Information

Seasonal Campground Closures

Peak recreation season varies throughout the Tulsa District but generally ends on September 30th of each year.  Many parks and campgrounds close in the fall and remain closed through the winter months.  Some parks may have partial openings for camping on a first-come/first-served basis.  Partially open campgrounds may have reduced services, meaning that water, sewer and/or power is not available. 

Boat ramps are typically open unless the entire park is closed.  In the event of a boat ramp closure in an open or partially open park, barricades will be placed in front of the ramp.

Campsite reservations which are reservable through the Recreation.gov website are only available during the peak recreation season.

If you have questions about a specific campground, please contact the lake office.  Email contact and phone numbers are available on the “Contact a Lake” page.