The 6 Best Parks on Lake Texoma




Lake Texoma parks provide outdoor fun with amenities for all ages and demographics. Parks anywhere offer positive and inherent aesthetic, environmental, psychological, recreational, and wildlife benefits for an outdoor outing. Lake Texoma parks add beaches, boat ramps, fishing piers, swimming, water sports, and hiking, biking, and equestrian trails to the wonderful advantages of parks.

What Are the Best Parks on Lake Texoma?

It is hard to judge which parks are the best parks on Lake Texoma because this lake is so beautiful and rich with swim beaches, party islands, and lakefront entertainment. Marinas and Resorts dot Lake Texoma’s shorelines in two states.

LakeTexoma.com picked the following parks, due to their popularity, as the best parks on Lake Texoma. These parks offer different experiences and amenities, but they all offer exciting Lake Texoma outings.


Eisenhower State Park: Denison, Texas

Eisenhower State Park lies on 1,785 acres encompassing 1,000 acres of tallgrass prairie. This park saw over 156,000 visitors in 2022. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) reports Texas’ 89 state parks are not enough, and Eisenhower is supremely popular. The TPWD recommends that visitors make reservations for camping at Eisenhower State Park. 

Camping

Even with 50 full RV water/sewer/electric hookup sites, 45 campsites with electricity, 47 campsites with water spigots between sites, and 12 non-reservable overflow sites, this park fills up during peak season from Memorial Day to Labor Day each year.

All campsites provide a picnic table, fire ring with grill, lantern post, and restrooms nearby. Tent sites provide tent pads. Information and prices can change from year to year. Visitors may bring pets to most Texas State Parks, including Eisenhower, but pets cannot enter state park buildings.

Eisenhower State Park features one group site with a full kitchen, and one pavilion. Overnight use requires a two-night reservation at the group site, and RV sites near the pavilion. The group site has all the amenities needed for a family reunion, corporate outing, or a big party.

Amenities

The amphitheater offers seating for 70 people, a stage, lights, and a projection screen. This park is fully equipped for an ideal camping trip with many more amenities and things to do. You do not need a fishing license in Texas State Parts. Eisenhower loans rods, reels and tackle boxes with hooks, sinkers and bobbers for no charge. Things to do include:

  • Beaches
  • Boat ramps
  • Boat rentals
  • Biking and hiking trails
  • Boulder climbing
  • Eisenhower Yacht Club marina
  • Equestrian trails
  • Events
  • Fishing from two piers with one lighted for night fishing
  • Geocache
  • Nature Trail
  • Ranger and Junior Ranger Programs
  • OHV trails for ATVs and dirt bikes
  • Park Store
  • Texas Aquatic Science Certified Field Site: TEKS-aligned curriculum for teacher-led field trips
  • Swimming

Find Eisenhower State Park at: 50 Park Rd 20, Denison, Texas.

Call the Park Office at: 903.463.3999.


Island View Park: Pottsboro, Texas

Island View Park is one of the most popular day use parks at Lake Texoma. Visitors can buy day passes, make reservations, rent kayaks, and reserve shelters online. It is open from 9 a.m. to sunset, which is different in every season.

Visitors can take guided kayak tours or a beach picnic boat trip from Island View. They can host corporate events, family reunions, weddings, and more with Island View’s event planners at its event spaces. Pets are welcome on leashes. Island View does not allow firearms, fireworks, or open fires.

Find Island View Park at: 87426 Preston Bend Rd, Pottsboro, Texas.

Call the Park Office at:  903.419.1008


Lake Texoma State Park: Kingston, Oklahoma

Lake Texoma State Park offers a beautiful outdoor experience in Oklahoma. Onsite activities include boating, canoeing, rafting, and kayaking, fishing, hiking, swimming, volleyball, wildlife viewing, and waterskiing.

The Pointe Vista development is a 2700-acre, mixed-use development next door to Lake Texoma State Park. It will soon offer a hotel, and resort style entertainment and amenities. Pointe Vista will make Lake Texoma State Park even more of a premier destination.

  • ADA compliant
  • Boat ramps
  • Campsites: RV and tents, 30 and 50 amp electric hookups, water
  • Catfish Bay Marina: full-service marina with a fuel dock and striper guide fishing services.
  • Concessions
  • Credit cards accepted
  • Dump station
  • Equestrian trails: Primitive campsites
  • Fishing
  • Gift shop, store, and gas station
  • Grills
  • Handicapped parking
  • Hiking
  • Home of the Texoma Striper Guide Association
  • Lake access
  • Park Ranger
  • Pets allowed on leashes
  • Picnic Areas
  • Pull thru sites
  • Restrooms
  • Showers
  • Swim beach
  • Waterfront sites

Find Lake Texoma State Park at: 11500 Park Office Rd. Kingston, Oklahoma.

Call the Park Office at: 580-564-2566


Sunset Camp Public Use Area/Sunset Beach: Cartwright, Oklahoma

Sunset Beach is one of the best Lake Texoma beaches in Oklahoma. The beach is aptly named because Lake Texoma sports beautiful sunsets and sunrises. It features a swim beach, a picnic area, and boating. The only way to get there is to take US 75 to Colbert, Oklahoma, go west on SH 91, and take East Burns Run right fork when 91 forks south from the left fork in Cartwright. Go north on Willifa Woods Road and follow it to Sunset Camp.


Juniper Point West: Gordonville, Texas

This is one of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds. We highlight it here because it is home to the extremely popular Cross Timbers Hiking Trail. The park opens up to RV sites on bluffs overlooking Fobb Bottom WMA, Oklahoma, the new Willis Bridge, Cedar Bayou Marina, and the Cross Timbers trail head.

Juniper Point West is RV camping only. All sites have hookups, picnic tables, concrete pads, and a two-lane boat ramp. The park office is located at Juniper Point East on SH 377 at the Texas/Oklahoma border, right before the southern entrance of the Willis Bridge on the east side of 377.

The park office is closed from after Labor Day to before Memorial Day, and visitors can pay fees at the box at Juniper Point West. The Cross Timbers Hiking Trail at Lake Texoma is a little more than 14 miles long. The U.S Army Corp of Engineers (U.S. ACE) owns and operates the park and the 14-mile trail.

The Cross Timbers trailhead begins at Juniper Point at the Willis Bridge and ends at Rock Creek Camp. It is a moderate-advanced skill level trail through an uninhabited area. Hikers need to be aware of snakes, coyotes, and a rare bobcat sighting. Hiking the entire trail entails two days. There are three primitive campsites. Hikers must pack out all they take in.


U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Campgrounds

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) manages 15 Lake Texoma campgrounds in Oklahoma and Texas. Their campsites offer primitive tent camping, and RV sites with full electric and water hookups. They offer hiking trails, lake access, playgrounds, and picnic areas. These parks are also popular for day use as well.

Different Texoma USACE parks offer various amenities like boat ramps, hiking, biking, and equestrian trails, and fishing opportunities. Their combined campsites number over 700 sites. These parks are spread all around the lake. Most are open year-round.

All of the USACE campgrounds are near bars, concessions, convenience stores, restaurants, and Dollar General stores. There are Walmart Superstores in Denison, Gainesville, and Sherman, Texas, and Ardmore, Durant, and Madill, Oklahoma.




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Lake Texoma Current Weather Alerts

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Lake Texoma Weather Forecast

Saturday

Sunny

Hi: 51

Saturday Night

Mostly Clear

Lo: 39

Sunday

Partly Sunny

Hi: 57

Sunday Night

Mostly Cloudy

Lo: 50

Monday

Mostly Cloudy

Hi: 62

Monday Night

Rain Showers Likely

Lo: 57

Tuesday

Chance Rain Showers

Hi: 62

Tuesday Night

Mostly Cloudy

Lo: 50


Lake Texoma Water Level (last 30 days)


Water Level on 12/20: 617.64 (+0.64)



Lake Texoma

Fishing Report from TPWD (Dec. 18)

GOOD. Water stained; 55 degrees; 0.73 feet above pool. Striper fishing is a little tougher with the full moon and warming conditions. Watch for gulls on cloudy days working the river channels and ledges. Fish are roaming deeper water in big schools, biting swimbaits and live shad. Bigger fish will move up on structure with the next cold front, settling in 8–12 feet of water on humps and ledges. Look for crappie on bridge pilings and structure in 15–20 feet of water with jigs and minnows. Bass can be caught with soft plastics on structure and brush in 8–15 feet of water. Bass will push up into coves and around docks, feeding on shad. Swim jigs and crankbaits will work off ledges and on humps. Catfishing is good. Drift cut gizzard shad and rough fish on deeper flats in 30–40 feet of water near river mouths in muddier water. Bigger fish will move up shallower as the water cools. Report by Jacob Orr, Lake Guaranteed Guide Service. Striped bass are good transitioning to a deadstick bite and using Alabama rigs. Smaller fish are in 10-15 feet on structure with slabs, swimbaits or Alabama rigs. Bird action will lead the way to the deeper fish, but on bluebird days the birds are working at first and last light. The quality of fish is improving but we are still not seeing the big fish in bigger groups like what is typically for this time of year, but expect this to improve as the water cools. Report by John Blasingame, Adventure Texoma Outdoors.

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