Washington Irving Cove

This piece of property is beautiful with sweeping views of a shimmering lake (although very low in level just like all the lakes we have seen across the country). All of the sites have views of the lake. Most of the site will require leveling on your part as it is built into a hillside. New sites with concrete pads are being built closer to the lake. All sites offer water and electric, however the water was turned off in the camp spaces for the cold season. They had a sign saying to get water at the entrance but that was at the dump station and we are always unsure if people have used those for flushing so we avoid those. As I’m writing, my husband was emptying our tanks and it appears the dump is full or clogged so he stopped and we will go elsewhere. We also noticed the dump station was built with a hole and filled with leaves, so it appeared people were just dumping into the hole and not opening the valve. Eeww!! So that’s why I’m giving it 4 stars. But the hosts we actively fixing up sites while we were there and lots of new things had been installed. Campground also had playground equipment, nice swimming beach, a nice trail, spacious sites, community fire pit. Boat ramp and floating fishing pier/platform but pretty much unusable due to lake level.

We should have taken more seriously the reviews published prior to our arrival to this campground as the reports pertained to so few of the sites being level, or even relatively flat. The reports were not wrong. Actually quite scary thinking a gust from a strong wind might wrest us off the single jack hoisted up to the max in front. But we took our chances. The roads are also a bit hilly for a cripple to ride his bike on comfortably, but I did so nonetheless. The campground is small and cozy. The shower room is centrally located and has four outside doors that lock from the inside and each room has its own private bathroom with sink, toilet, and shower. Pretty nice concept. However, the park needs some TLC. They are constructing some new and level sites down below in an area closer to the water.

The Arkansas River was very high this time of year, early June, and the water was an ugly brown due to the sediment from all the recent heavy rains (the water level is currently about fourteen feet higher than usual). No rain in the forecast this week, but the temps did hover in the mid-nineties, and if it wasn’t for the nice breeze off the lake it would have been insufferable. Our fellow campers were all great. Check-in was a breeze as there was nobody here to check us in. The campground is about twenty miles northwest of Tulsa and we were camping here in order to visit the new Bob Dylan museum.

There is a very nice trail (though tick infested) off to the west of the park. It meanders up and down along the Arkansas River through large boulders and a heavily wooded forest. Washington Irving camped here and forded the Arkansas River at this spot.The trail runs one-way about a mile and a half out.

We booked her based on cell coverage and our itinerary but didn’t see any warnings about the sites being unlevel. Have you ever seen an RV wheelie? Go here and you will. Most sites are very unlevel. We were initially in site 9 and our front wheels in the class c were 8 inches off the ground and we still weren’t level. After 2 nights we moved to site 11 which is one of the most level in the park along with 14 and those around it (didn’t record the numbers).

Verizon was worthless for data but AT&T was workable. We are working on the road during the week and got enough data for video calls and streaming at night.

Limited hiking at the park - 1 mile round trip trail.

Decided to stay here last minute to avoid staying in downtown Tulsa. Campground hosts Fred and Shirley were a very friendly and sweet couple. Sites were not very level for the most part, but we made it work for the night. 30 amp power and water at site, dump station with hose hookups for flushing out.

Campground was nice and had the lake and playground to keep the kids entertained. Would definitely stay again.
Good AT&T signal, around 15 - 20 meg down speeds.