Cedar Lake Recreation Area
1Heads up1 fire 50 mi away
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there
In the agency’s own words
Cedar Lake is located in southeast Oklahoma, in the pine and hardwood-forested mountains of Ouachita National Forest. The campground is situated on the shores of the scenic lake, a popular destination for boating, fishing, horseback riding and hiking. This 86-acre lake ( shown in this detail aerial photo ), surrounded by pine and oak covered hills, is a perfect place to enjoy the sights and sounds of nature. Overview: The campground sits along the shoreline of a 86-acre lake constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's. Keep reading
Surrounded by pine and oak covered hills, campers and day use visitors can choose from a wide variety of outdoor activities to include picnicking, swimming, fishing, canoeing, hiking the 3-mile lake perimeter trail and horseback riding on the areas equestrian trails. The campground has a variety of campground amenities, ranging from campsites with no services to campsites with electric, water and sewer connections. The 90-campsite campground is divided into four separate loops, Equestrian, Sandy Beach, Shady Lane and Northshores. Day Use facilities are located at Sandy Beach and Northshores. Cedar Lake is located approximately 12-miles south of Heavener, Oklahoma. Natural Features: Cedar Lake covers 86 acres and is situated at an elevation of 900 feet. Fall foliage season usually occurs from the last two weeks in October to the first two weeks in November. The Ouachita National Forest covers 1.8 million acres in central Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. The forest encompasses 700 miles of trails, 43 vistas, six wilderness areas and the highest elevations between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Rockies. Recreation: The campground is a popular starting point for the Winding Stair Mountain Equestrian Trails, a system of over 70 miles of marked horseback riding trails. Swimming, boating and fishing on Cedar Lake are popular activities. Swimming areas, a boat ramp and fishing piers are available within the recreation area. Playgrounds, a volleyball court and hiking trails are also available. Talimena Scenic Drive is within 10 miles of the campground. Facilities: The campground offers a variety of sites, including equestrian, group and family sites. Shady Lane (SHRV) sites have electric, sewer and water hookups; Sandy Beach sites have electric hookups only; North Shore family sites are primitive without hookups. Most equestrian sites have electric hookups. Picnic tables, grills, campfire rings and lantern posts are provided, as are flush toilets, warm showers and drinking water. Picnic pavilions are on-site. Horse corrals and a pay phone are located within the equestrian area. Fishing is a popular activity due to the large-mouth bass, catfish and bluegill stocked regularly in the lake. No motors larger than 7 1/2 horsepower are allowed. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, 1801 North Lincoln, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, 405-744-1039 regulates fishing and hunting. Fish Your National Forests: This site can be accessed by Passenger Car; Fish available include: Bass, Catfish, Panfish; Types of fishing available include: Bait; Boat Launch available Guide to Cedar Lake Recreation Area Guide to Cedar Lake Recreation Area - Spanish
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…and lantern posts are provided, as are flush toilets, warm showers and drinking water. Picnic pavilions…”
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “Picnic tables, grills, campfire rings and lantern posts are provided, as are flush toilets, warm showers and drinking water.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…as are flush toilets, warm showers and drinking water. Picnic pavilions are on-site. Horse corrals and a…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Playground
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Beach
Phone before you drive
recreation.gov publishes no availability for a campground you can’t reserve, so there’s no thirty-night reading to draw here. The season bar above is what the agency does publish.
Every line of the receipt · 5
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the lowest per-night amount the agency’s fee record states ($20), and no booking fee, because this campground takes no reservations. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
How we know this receipt · 5
record Aug 24, 2026 · How we know all this
Getting there
the map and the coordinate
Where it is
Cedar Lake (Oklahoma)Indian Nations National Scenic And Wildlife Area · 1.4 mi
Winding Stair Campground (OK)Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation Area · 4.5 miBilly Creek Recreation AreaOuachita National Forest · 6.4 mi
Little Pines CampgroundOuachita National Forest · 25 miLittle Pines Recreation AreaOuachita National Forest · 25 mi
Shady Lake Campground30 miThe weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Hodgen, OK
Typical weather
Typical October night 48°F, day 73°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 28°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
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land

Cedar Lake Recreation Area is in Oklahoma’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Josh Brecheen (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →