Heyburn Park Campground

We came in after dark right before the gates were supposed to be locked at 10pm. Absolutely no one around, lights on though. Reserved site 31 on Recreation.gov but the site was lopsided and way too un-level so we moved over to site 29. Went to hook up water (the reservation confirmed electric and water with no notice otherwise) and there was no water, just a reverse hissing sound of the system turned off. Checked dump station water, other sites, no water anywhere. Checked the shower house and other restroom building and everything was locked tight. We stayed since the drive out here was horrible and the electricity worked, but after checking their web site, the reservation site, and now Campendium, there was no notice that the park was shutdown and empty but still taking reservations online...

The restroom facilities are what you would expect from a COE/state campground. The grounds are beautiful and the swim beach is the nicest I have seen as a native to this area....and I've seen a lot. Our site was quite unlevel but other sites look better. This is out in the sticks so not much in the way of grocery stores/restaurants. Some of the sites water spigot is quite far...our 50' hose barely made it.

This is a older campground. The site was a pull thru along the road but shared with another site. This made for a tricky departure as there is only one way out thru the other site. Site was lake front so pretty view. Getting there is pretty interesting - follow the directions from confirmation though it doesn’t say off of old route 66. GPS takes you on gravel roads and it is a few miles off the highway. Men’s bathroom were okay per m6 husband. I don’t know about the women’s. Also site is very uneven

Nice area would like to come back in the summer, all the rest rooms and water were shut off for the season but we did have electric so that was nice. You have to reserve on line at Recreation.gov. It’s an older camp ground but I’m sure in the summer that’s the place to be, they have a beach area, playground and pavilion area very family orientated...

An earlier reservation allowed us to move one site down and further away from our shitty neighbor across the street from site 20. This neighbor with an attitude had a pit bull and another small dog. The pit bull was tied with a long rope to a tree across from us. The rope was very long and enabled the overly-aggressive dog to lunge and bark at us when we were outside or riding by on our bicycles. The camp host had a day off from work and I did not want to bother her. But this sort of bad dog behavior has no place in any campground with civilized people in it. The owners should have been made to leave the campground. Perhaps after their angry dog that gets no exercise bites a little kid or crippled old lady the park will take care of the problem. But why does it have to come to this?

Our new site 21 was a lake-front pull-through instead of site 20 being parallel to the road. Site 21 was also not level, but new gravel had been spread and at least it wasn’t filthy. The grass leading down to the lake was quite unkempt as was the rest of the park. Maintenance is obviously at a premium here and little is done to keep the park clean. Still, a very good value at $10 per night using our lifetime senior pass.

The water spigot was a shared two-headed pipe at least two hose lengths away from our trailer. I carry one single hose length but managed to fill up my fresh water tank before we left site 20. AT&T was again a blistering three bars of great service. The restrooms remained sadly maintained and somebody had been smoking tobacco in the men’s shower room and it stunk badly. Giant black flying creatures had also invaded the vault toilet and when the toilet lid was raised the crazed kamikazes went into attack mode.

The views out our trailer windows remained beautifully serene and remarkable. The lake is quite pretty but it makes no sense that hardly anyone was using it when the summer weather was sunny with a heat index over one hundred degrees. As bad as some things were here, the needed rest from the road was welcome. We will next be faced with an eight-hour drive to our following destination in Louisiana on our way home to base-camp Florida. We prefer to keep our travel days to around two hundred miles, but this now-undesirable travel plan was made a long time ago and is just shy of four hundred.

Anticipation diminished substantially on arrival by extremely unlevel site, strewn “big gulps”, and other appropriate trash left by the last pigs camping here. Pretty views, one fairly clean restroom with showers and the others either vault or antiquated facilities that hadn’t been cleaned in a good while. No laundry facility, but the electric worked, as well as the water. One dump station with a big hole to flush into. The lake and swimming hole was pretty cloudy, perhaps because of recent rains or the red clayish sand present everywhere. Bob the dog waded in it though he refused to drink the water. But the $10 per night geezer charge was still a very good value. Sad fact the government is not taking good care of our ACoE parks, at least in Texas and Oklahoma.

AT&T cell service was a robust (a new trend?) three bars which provided ample streaming capabilities and online computer work. My photograph of it unfortunately is terrible.

Two nights here allowed us a side trip to Sapulpa, Ohlahoma, a charming old town which served us well with a very nice and clean laundromat as well as a tire center that repaired my screw-penetrated tire. About a twenty minute drive but well worth it as the post office was block from the laundry and Walmart a mile and a half back toward camp. The tire center was also only a block from downtown where there were too many second-hand stores to my wife’s delight and my dismay.

This park is a gem, especially mid-week when the lake is quiet. We all but had it to ourselves after the weekenders left.

We had a lakefront site. We tried several of these and none is level, so be prepared to finagle. Some of the ones in the middle rows looked easier, but we LOVED our lake view.

Showers are hot and free! Tons of bird life. So much green after being in Arizona.

Price paid reflects the federal senior discount. We had electric hookup and water on the site but not within hose reach. This seemed to be fairly typical, with a couple of exceptions where the spigot was next to the electric. There is a dump in the campground.

We dropped down from the 33 and ended up on (decent) dirt roads. The approach from the 66 is better but still a little rough in spots. Once you're in the park, the roads are great.

We really loved our stay here and hope to be back.

This park was completely empty when I stayed, with a sign on the welcome kiosk that said "winter rates, $10, self pay." Took a giant site overlooking the lake that was fairly level and very easy to back in to. There is a host camper at the entrance, but I didn't see anyone there. The roads are a little beat up but not too terrible, just your standard roughed up concrete country roads. The firat mile is the worst part. Beautiful park! Would stay again.

Paid $10 with my senior pass. Otherwise $20. First off, it's a pretty nice park. Lot's of spaces, beach, boat ramp, etc. But I found most of the sites didn't offer much shade. The bathroom/shower building really needs some updating. Had a shower curtain for the crapper stall. Very buggy. Took a shower and had one temp, hot. Had to lather up cupping my hand with the water cause it burned me up standing in there. The drain was clogged so the water started overflowing into the changing part. Hey, it was cheap, the view of the lake is nice, I just wouldn't stay more than a night. Oh yeah...roads into it suck. Driveable, but just suck.