Bear Creek Cove
1Heads up1 fire 43 mi away
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:19 UTC
- A night
- $22From, per site
- Sites
- 22All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices
In the agency’s own words
Bear Creek Cove Campground is situated along the banks of Kaw Lake in north central Oklahoma. Keep reading
Recreation
The lake and river are known for producing some of Oklahoma's largest catfish, as well as crappie, white bass and walleye, making it a popular destination for anglers. Hikers and horseback riders are attracted to the beautiful trails along the eastern shore. The Eagle View Hiking Trail is approximately 12 miles long and runs between Osage Cove and Burbank Landing. The Five Fingers Equestrian Trail extends from Burbank Landing to the Sarge Creek Cove Public Use Area. Hunters' skills are tested with excellent populations of whitetail deer, turkey, quail, rabbit and squirrel. During the fall waterfowl seasons Kaw Lake often attracts large numbers of migrating ducks and geese. During the winter visitors are likely to spot migrating bald eagles, as Kaw Lake has one of the biggest populations in the state.
Facilities
Bear Creek Cove offers 22 campsites with modern amenities like electric hookups, drinking water and flush toilets. A boat ramp provides easy access to the lake.
Natural Features
The lake covers 17,000 surface acres and has 168 miles of shoreline. Completed in 1976, the dam and lake help provide a recreational oasis for outdoor enthusiasts of all types.
Nearby Attractions
The area holds a number of historical sites, including several Native American settlements, archeological sites and the Pioneer Woman Museum.
What the agency tells you
Reserve your campsite through Recreation.gov
One RV and one tent or two tents per campsite
Boat Ramp is usable only at high seasonal pool levels
Everything else this campground posts · 1
Don't Move Firewood: Protect your forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 22
- Hookups
- 22 electric, 22 water, 1 sewer
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 22 of 22 campsite records, ACCESSIBLE FLUSH TOILETS on 22 of 22 campsite records
- Showers
- Accessible Showers
- ACCESSIBLE SHOWERS on 22 of 22 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 22 of 22 campsite records, ACCESSIBLE DRINKING WATER on 22 of 22 campsite records
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Beach
- Boating
- Fishing
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 32nd darkest of 106 in OK
- Bortle 4
17 of 44 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:19 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $22 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:19 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
22 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 22 mapped sitesAll 22 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 22 of the 22 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| BCRC | 01 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 65 ft | 951 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 02 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 65 ft | 1,004 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 03 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 71 ft | 1,086 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 04 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 71 ft | 1,143 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 05 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 81 ft | 1,079 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 06 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 100 ft | 1,208 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 07 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 113 ft | 1,017 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 08 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 77 ft | 845 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 09 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 77 ft | 771 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 10 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 85 ft | 773 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 11 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 102 ft | 671 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 12 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 114 ft | 565 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 13 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 85 ft | 711 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 14 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 114 ft | 629 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 15 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 85 ft | 388 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 16 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 68 ft | 306 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 17 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 68 ft | 240 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 18 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 110 ft | 354 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 19 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 100 ft | 259 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 20 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 100 ft | 286 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 21 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 184 ft | 462 ft | $22 |
| BCRC | 22 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 1043 ft | 1,856 ft | $22 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Coon Creek (OK)3.9 mi
Washunga Bay4.9 mi
Sarge Creek7.6 mi
Osage Cove8.8 mi
McFadden Cove9.7 mi
Sandy Park10 miFrom Newkirk, Oklahoma, take Peckham Road and travel east for about 8 miles, turn right on Bear Creek Road and continue south for 3 miles. Campground will be on the right.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Kaw City, OK
Typical weather
Typical October night 47°F, day 72°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 22°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Bear Creek Cove is in Oklahoma’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Frank Lucas (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →