U.S. Forest Service · Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation Area · OK

Cedar Lake Recreation Area

1Heads up1 fire 50 mi away
Wildfire
Lake fire · 50 mi away · 105 acres · 50% contained · updated Oct 16, 2026
The agency doesn’t say how you get a siteIts record carries no access type, so treat it as a place to phone before you drive.
Right now
OpenThe agency lists it open
A night
$20From, per site
Season
Year-roundOpen year-round
Drawn from the record · 770 ft · 62% tree cover · water within reach · Bortle 3 sky
770 ftElevation
502 ftWater · an unnamed lake
7.6 miSW of Heavener, OK
62%Tree cover
Bortle 3Night sky · 10th darkest of 106 in OK
Open year-roundToday

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

Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

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
Source: Stated in the agency description
Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, Beach
Source: Stated in the agency description

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.

Booking window6 months outBooking opens 6 months ahead; today unlocks arrivals through April 15, 2027. The agency publishes no reservable season in the record we hold, so the window may close earlier than that.recreation.gov
A night$20Per site, fromthe agency’s fee record
A weekend$40DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
Runs itU.S. Forest Servicethe agency’s record
Every line of the receipt · 5

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
A night, from$20
Day Use areas: $5/vehicle OR $2/person (walk-in/bik-in/drop-off) Picnic Shelters: $5/vehicle (if not in camping area) Campgrounds: Single sites- $15/night Single sites w/ electric- $20/night Single sites w/ electric and sewer- $25/night Double sites w/ electric- $40/night Equestrian group campsite- $35/night North Shores group campsites- $35/night
The booking feerecreation.gov
We hold no recreation.gov booking record for this campground, so we can’t say whether a booking fee applies.
What a stay costs
One night, fromDerived$20
A weekend, Friday and Saturday, fromDerived$40

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
Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

record Aug 24, 2026 · How we know all this

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Getting there

the map and the coordinate

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today61°Slight Chance Rain Showers then Mostly Sunny21% rain
Tonight42°Partly Cloudy
Saturday63°Sunny
Saturday Night38°Clear

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.

100°32°20°

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.

Measured at: MENA, AR (USC00034756), 26 miles away and 382 ft higher

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Rich Mountain5,030 acres · 10 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Who answers for this land

Josh Brecheen, official portrait

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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: The agency lists it open right now.
Season: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.
Nearest place of any size: Hodgen, OK, 4.8 mi SW (a census designated place). Straight line.