Pettit Bay
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 15 of the next 15 nights read 16:23 UTC
- A night
- $16–$25Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 86All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
Pettit Bay Campground on Tenkiller Ferry Lake is a recreational paradise for visitors looking for a well-kept waterfront facility, which offers convenient access for boating, swimming and wildlife viewing. It is located near the historic town of Tahlequah and attracts many campers who return year after year. Keep reading
Recreation
Boating, fishing, water skiing, hiking, and swimming are some of the activities enjoyed by visitors. Prevailing winds and secluded coves create an ideal environment for sailing. Scuba divers enjoy the lake's clear waters and high visibility. Fishing is good for black bass, white bass, striped bass, crappie and catfish. The trout stream below the dam is one of only two year-round trout fisheries in Oklahoma, and is regularly stocked with rainbow trout. Hunting is also permitted in parts of the lake area, in accordance with federal and state laws.
Facilities
The campground has sites with electric hookups, and some sites are non-electric. The park has flush toilets, hot showers, water hydrants, a swim beach, playground, dump station, and boat ramps with courtesy docks. A marina with concessions is adjacent to the campground. Of the ten marinas with concessions located on the lake, most offer boat and jet-ski rentals, and several have floating restaurants.
Natural Features
Tenkiller Ferry Lake is often referred to as "Oklahoma's clear water paradise." The 12,500 acre lake is sourced by the Illinois River and the Baron Fork, which are both designated as Oklahoma Scenic Rivers. It is nestled in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in the northeastern part of the state. This area, known as Green Country, is surrounded by dense oak-hickory forests, tall bluffs, and rolling hills. The lake has 130 miles of shoreline with plenty of wildlife such as deer and turkey. It serves as one of the flyways of migratory birds, including bald eagles, common loons, and white pelicans.
Nearby Attractions
Visit the Tenkiller State Park for its nature center and scuba diving park, the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge near Vian, or the historic city of Tahlequah - the capital of the Cherokee Nation. The scenic upper Illinois River near Tahlequah is great for canoeing and rafting, and the lower Illinois River near Gore offers prime trout fishing.
What the agency tells you
Check-out time: 3:00 pm. Check-in time: 6:00 pm. You must stop and register at the Gate Shack upon arrival.
Quiet hours: 10:00 pm - 6:00 am. Entrance gates will be closed during this time.
Grey water and sewage must be properly disposed of in the provided dump station receptacle. Disposal of any water or waste on the ground is prohibited.
Everything else this campground posts · 10
Pets must remain restrained on a leash or penned at all times. Pets are not allowed on swim beaches or in bathrooms.
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.
Group shelters are day use only.
Limit 3 tents, or 1 wheeled camper and 2 tents per camp pad.
Fireworks are prohibited.
Fishing and hunting are regulated by federal and state laws.
Campers must occupy the campsite at least once during each 24 hour period. Abandoned personal property may be subject to impoundment after 24 hours.
Camping is limited to 14 consecutive days within any 30 day period. This applies to all members of the camping party and the camping unit.
Fires must be contained within the fire ring or grill provided. These are NOT trash receptacles, please leave them free of food and litter upon departure.
Campers shall keep their sites free of trash and litter during the period of occupancy and shall remove all personal equipment and clean their sites upon departure. Trash must be placed in the provided dumpsters.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 86
- Hookups
- 72 electric, 28 water, 2 sewer
- Longest rig
- 98 ft
- Paved pads
- 22 of 86
- Accessible sites
- 7
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…sites are non-electric. The park has flush toilets, hot showers, water hydrants, a swim beach,…”
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “The park has flush toilets, hot showers, water hydrants, a swim beach, playground, dump station, and boat ramps with courtesy docks.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…The park has flush toilets, hot showers, water hydrants, a swim beach, playground, dump station, and boat…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Playground
- Yes
- Store
- Nearby
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Beach, Coast
- Boating
- Swimming
- Night sky · 63rd darkest of 106 in OK
- Bortle 4
88 of 178 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:23 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 · 17
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $16–$25 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 16:23 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
89 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 89 mapped sitesAll 89 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 86 of the 89 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| PBA2 | 01 | standard electric | 66 ft | 30 amp | yes | 81 ft | 382 ft | $23–$25 |
| PBA2 | 02 | standard electric | 50 ft | 30 amp | yes | 81 ft | 456 ft | $23–$25 |
| PBA2 | 03 | standard electric | 49 ft | 30 amp | 62 ft | 425 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 04 | standard electric | 58 ft | 30 amp | 55 ft | 478 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 05 | standard electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | 39 ft | 505 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 06 | standard electric | 30 ft | 30 amp | 49 ft | 528 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 07 | standard electric | 51 ft | 30 amp | 39 ft | 537 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 08 | standard electric | 66 ft | 50 amp | 78 ft | 459 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 09 | standard electric | 47 ft | 50 amp | 57 ft | 412 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 10 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 57 ft | 368 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 11 | standard electric | 52 ft | 50 amp | 85 ft | 290 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 12 | standard electric | 51 ft | 50 amp | 85 ft | 352 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 13 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 111 ft | 144 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 14 | standard electric | 68 ft | 30 amp | 96 ft | 247 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 15 | standard electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | 69 ft | 396 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 16 | standard electric | 98 ft | 30 amp | 69 ft | 327 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 17 | standard electric | 80 ft | 30 amp | 102 ft | 223 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 18 | standard electric | 55 ft | 30 amp | 52 ft | 223 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 19 | standard electric | 25 ft | 30 amp | 46 ft | 265 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 20 | standard electric | 47 ft | 30 amp | 46 ft | 243 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 21 | standard electric | 63 ft | 30 amp | 65 ft | 124 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 22 | standard electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | 65 ft | 87 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 23 | standard electric | 50 ft | 30 amp | 65 ft | 44 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 24 | standard electric | 54 ft | 30 amp | 65 ft | 99 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 25 | standard electric | 70 ft | 30 amp | 70 ft | 167 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 26 | standard electric | 47 ft | 30 amp | 75 ft | 230 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 27 | standard electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | 96 ft | 146 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 28 | standard electric | 51 ft | 30 amp | 52 ft | 67 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 29 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 52 ft | 42 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 30 | standard electric | 49 ft | 30 amp | 113 ft | 91 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 31 | standard electric | 75 ft | 30 amp | 94 ft | 113 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 32 | standard nonelectric | 10 ft | 61 ft | 265 ft | $16 | ||
| PBA2 | 33 | standard electric | 39 ft | 30 amp | 61 ft | 320 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 34 | standard electric | 57 ft | 30 amp | 61 ft | 343 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 35 | standard nonelectric | 10 ft | 45 ft | 315 ft | $16 | ||
| PBA2 | 36 | standard electric | 38 ft | 30 amp | 69 ft | 421 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 37 | standard electric | 31 ft | 30 amp | 49 ft | 394 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 38 | standard electric | 67 ft | 30 amp | 49 ft | 352 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 39 | standard electric | 50 ft | 30 amp | 49 ft | 400 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 40 | standard electric | 48 ft | 30 amp | 61 ft | 377 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 41 | standard electric | 65 ft | 30 amp | 52 ft | 371 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 42 | standard electric | 48 ft | 30 amp | 56 ft | 456 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 43 | standard electric | 54 ft | 30 amp | 32 ft | 416 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 44 | standard electric | 39 ft | 30 amp | 32 ft | 386 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 45 | standard electric | 67 ft | 30 amp | 58 ft | 476 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 46 | standard electric | 58 ft | 30 amp | 58 ft | 430 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBA2 | 47 | standard electric | 70 ft | 50 amp | yes | 83 ft | 246 ft | $23–$25 |
| PBA2 | 48 | standard electric | 67 ft | 50 amp | yes | 55 ft | 230 ft | $23–$25 |
| PBA2 | 49 | standard electric | 67 ft | 50 amp | yes | 55 ft | 262 ft | $23–$25 |
| PBA2 | 50 | standard electric | 67 ft | 50 amp | yes | 50 ft | 258 ft | $23–$25 |
| PBA2 | 51 | standard electric | 67 ft | 50 amp | yes | 50 ft | 247 ft | $23–$25 |
| PBA2 | S002 | day use | 30 amp | 88 ft | 548 ft | $50 | ||
| PBA2 | S003 | day use | 45 ft | 324 ft | $10 | |||
| PBAI | A01 | standard electric | 79 ft | 30 amp | 70 ft | 733 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A02 | standard electric | 33 ft | 30 amp | 70 ft | 667 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A03 | standard electric | 46 ft | 30 amp | 85 ft | 609 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A04 | standard electric | 33 ft | 30 amp | 66 ft | 558 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A05 | standard electric | 63 ft | 30 amp | 90 ft | 476 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A06 | standard electric | 44 ft | 30 amp | 67 ft | 375 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A07 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 67 ft | 327 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A08 | standard electric | 88 ft | 30 amp | 63 ft | 400 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A09 | standard electric | 50 ft | 30 amp | 63 ft | 427 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A10 | standard electric | 80 ft | 30 amp | 59 ft | 490 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A11 | standard electric | 92 ft | 30 amp | 59 ft | 535 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A12 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 64 ft | 444 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A13 | standard electric | 56 ft | 30 amp | 50 ft | 403 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A14 | standard electric | 50 ft | 30 amp | 50 ft | 358 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A15 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | 102 ft | 249 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A16 | standard electric | 50 ft | 30 amp | 86 ft | 234 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A17 | standard electric | 48 ft | 30 amp | 86 ft | 289 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A18 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 89 ft | 512 ft | $16 | ||
| PBAI | A19 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 89 ft | 426 ft | $16 | ||
| PBAI | A20 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 92 ft | 335 ft | $16 | ||
| PBAI | A21 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 50 ft | 82 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A22 | standard electric | 10 ft | 30 amp | 50 ft | 127 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A23 | standard electric | 51 ft | 30 amp | 59 ft | 103 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A24 | standard electric | 46 ft | 30 amp | 59 ft | 100 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A25 | standard electric | 53 ft | 30 amp | 77 ft | 210 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A26 | standard electric | 48 ft | 30 amp | 77 ft | 268 ft | $23–$25 | |
| PBAI | A27 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 178 ft | 126 ft | $16 | ||
| PBAI | A28 | standard nonelectric | 62 ft | 66 ft | 201 ft | $16 | ||
| PBAI | A29 | standard nonelectric | 77 ft | 60 ft | 152 ft | $16 | ||
| PBAI | A30 | standard nonelectric | 51 ft | 60 ft | 181 ft | $16 | ||
| PBAI | A31 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 69 ft | 150 ft | $16 | ||
| PBAI | A32 | standard nonelectric | 70 ft | 69 ft | 83 ft | $16 | ||
| PBAI | A33 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 85 ft | 96 ft | $16 | ||
| PBAI | A34 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 79 ft | 148 ft | $16 | ||
| PBAI | A35 | standard nonelectric | 65 ft | 79 ft | 226 ft | $16 | ||
| PBAI | S001 | day use | 30 amp | 66 ft | 500 ft | $50 |
The agency files 3 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It files them as day use. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
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.
25 of 89 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Elk Creek Landing2.5 mi
Cookson Bend3.3 mi
Chicken Creek5.0 mi
Snake Creek7.4 mi
Strayhorn Landing11 mi
Dam Site (Fort Gibson Lake)18 miFrom Tahlequah, OK, go 8.25 miles south on Highway 82, turn right on Indian Road and go two miles south. Then turn left and go one mile southeast on the paved access road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Pettit, OK
Typical weather
Typical October night 49°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 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
Pettit Bay 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 →