Central Group Camp (Chickasaw)
1Heads uppark alert
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 10All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Central Campground is a family-friendly primitive group campground found in the Platt Historic District of Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Nearby Travertine Creek provides several refreshing, spring-fed swimming areas to escape the summer heat. Other close attractions, such as Little Niagara and the Travertine Nature Center make this campground an ideal location for both beginner and experienced campers. Central Campground is only a few minutes away from the town of Sulphur. Keep reading
Recreation
Swimming and hiking are among the favorite activities at the campsite. A short walk takes you to Panther Falls, a refreshing swimming area. Nearby hiking and walking trails meander along streams, past cool rushing waterfalls, and on to mineral and freshwater springs.
Facilities
The group campground is on a loop that surrounds a spacious field for activities like volleyball, football or horseshoes. There are 10 group sites open seasonally, and water spigots are close to the campsites.
Natural Features
The springs and seeps in Chickasaw originate within a region of Oklahoma characterized by complex geologic formations. Intense faulting, folding, uplift and erosion have combined to form a land surface of gently rolling hills dissected by streams.
Nearby Attractions
Try Little Niagara, a favorite freshwater swimming hole. The Travertine Nature Center is a wonderful resource to view nature exhibits, meet live animals on display, and listen to rangers' presentations. The park's bison pasture is nearby, so bring the kids and cameras to see the beautiful animals grazing.
Charges & Cancellations
Refunds will not be given due to inclement weather. Please read the official Recreation.gov cancellation rules and policies above before booking your campsite.
What the agency tells you
Check out time is noon CST and check in time is 2:30 PM CST. Guests may check in early if the previous visitor has already left and the campsite has been cleaned.
Alcohol is prohibited in this campground.
Recreational and medical marijuana are not permitted in Chickasaw National Recreation Area at any time.
Everything else this campground posts · 2
There are no shower facilities or electric hookups in Central Campground.
In case of emergency, call 911. If you have a non-emergency after hours and no Camp Host is available, the local dispatch number is 580-622-3918.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 10 · 9 tent-only, 10 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 18 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets - seasonal
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 30 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Creek
- Biking
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Picnicking
- Swimming
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 74th darkest of 106 in OK
- Bortle 4
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
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
“Refunds will not be given due to inclement weather. Please read the official Recreation.gov cancellation rules and policies above before booking your campsite.” · this campground’s own terms
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 · 6
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
10 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 10 mapped sitesAll 10 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 10 of the 10 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 9 of the 10 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| Central Campground Group Sites | 1 | group tent only area nonelectric | 18 ft | 107 ft | 1,402 ft | 213 ft | $30–$50 |
| Central Campground Group Sites | 10 | group tent only area nonelectric | 18 ft | 82 ft | 772 ft | 540 ft | $30–$50 |
| Central Campground Group Sites | 2 | group tent only area nonelectric | 18 ft | 107 ft | 1,346 ft | 106 ft | $30–$50 |
| Central Campground Group Sites | 3 | group tent only area nonelectric | 18 ft | 131 ft | 1,235 ft | 170 ft | $30–$50 |
| Central Campground Group Sites | 4 | group tent only area nonelectric | 18 ft | 158 ft | 1,333 ft | 319 ft | $30–$50 |
| Central Campground Group Sites | 5 | group standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 142 ft | 1,114 ft | 198 ft | |
| Central Campground Group Sites | 6 | group tent only area nonelectric | 18 ft | 82 ft | 798 ft | 549 ft | $30–$50 |
| Central Campground Group Sites | 7 | group tent only area nonelectric | 18 ft | 98 ft | 658 ft | 656 ft | $30–$50 |
| Central Campground Group Sites | 8 | group tent only area nonelectric | 18 ft | 98 ft | 591 ft | 614 ft | $30–$50 |
| Central Campground Group Sites | 9 | group tent only area nonelectric | 18 ft | 93 ft | 712 ft | 586 ft | $30–$50 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Cold Springs Campground (Chickasaw)Chickasaw National Recreation Area · 0.0 mi
Rock Creek Group Camp (Chickasaw)Chickasaw National Recreation Area · 0.0 mi
Rock Creek CampgroundChickasaw National Recreation Area · 1.2 mi
Veterans Lake PavilionChickasaw National Recreation Area · 1.3 mi
The Point Campground (Chickasaw)Chickasaw National Recreation Area · 4.3 miBuckhorn Campground Loop CChickasaw National Recreation Area · 5.2 miFrom I-35, take Exit 55 and drive towards the city of Davis, OK. Once in Davis, go east on Highway 7. Drive approximately 8 miles (13 km) east to Sulphur. (Jct Hwy 7 and Hwy 177). Turn south (right) for approximately .2 miles (.3 km) on Highway 177 and take the first left. Central Campground is .25 miles (.4 km) east on NE Perimeter Road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sulphur, OK
Typical weather
Typical October night 50°F, day 75°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 Augusts are colder than the August 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
Central Group Camp (Chickasaw) is in Oklahoma’s 4th congressional district. Its representative, Tom Cole (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →