10/28/2011 - Greenleaf State Park, Oklahoma. Three day, lake floating and camping trip.
Starting Out:
This trip we left on Friday evening for a Friday/Saturday/Sunday camping and lake floating trip. We had decided to try a multi-night, multi-day camping trip and what better place than the beautiful park and lake Greenleaf. I would highly recommend to everyone considering a multi-night trip to make a checklist of items you wish to take so you don't forget anything as we did. It was not the end of the trip because we met some friends who were able to fill in where we left out but that may not always be the case. Better to be prepared and we have since changed our practice of throwing everything we "think" we need in the car to going down the list and verifying that we do have it all.
Traveling:
Greenleaf State Park is located just south of Tahlequah, OK on highway 10 near Braggs, OK. It is very easy to get to and is paved throughout. From the North you'll take I44 to Highway 69 to Muskogee and then over to Highway 10 or the Muskogee Turnpike near Muskogee and over to Highway 10. From East in Arkansas you could take either Highway 412 to Highway 10 or I40 to the Muskogee Turnpike and over to Highway 10. Anyway it's a nice drive and the park is well work the efforts.
Greenleaf State Park is located just south of Tahlequah, OK on highway 10 near Braggs, OK. It is very easy to get to and is paved throughout. From the North you'll take I44 to Highway 69 to Muskogee and then over to Highway 10 or the Muskogee Turnpike near Muskogee and over to Highway 10. From East in Arkansas you could take either Highway 412 to Highway 10 or I40 to the Muskogee Turnpike and over to Highway 10. Anyway it's a nice drive and the park is well work the efforts.
Floating:
We didn't do a lot of floating because it was relatively windy and it's a lake you typically paddle around on whereas a river you are heading downstream. However we did check out a nice camping spot off some hiking trails on the other side of the lake from the campgrounds. This offers an exciting opportunity to paddle across the lake to a shore only accessible via a 6-8mi hike or a short paddle across the lake to Mary's Cove. The lake is very scenic and the paddling is easy enough except when the wind is really up or other larger boats are making larges waves. The water level was down about a foot from earlier in the year but it didn't cause any issues boating only beaching the canoe to get out and take a look around the shore. That firm looking ground was actually a couple feet deep of mud. We managed although one of our party ended up with some nasty mud caked on their legs. Later in the afternoon on Saturday when the wind died down some we paddled across to "Vulture Island" which with the water being down was actually more of a peninsular. Here we looked around to try and determine why the dozens and dozens of vultures land on this tiny outcropping of land off the lake's shore. I still do not know why but it makes for an interesting feature. We also took the opportunity to paddle down some shoreline and stop and cut some dead and dry firewood. This was easily hauled back to our campsite in the center of our canoe and allowed for even more fun and excitement around the camp fire. We found some cherry wood that burned extremely hot for a really long time.
Camping:
The campgrounds at Greenleaf are many and diverse. With three distinct areas to the park you can go up on the hill to Gobbler Ridge which is the single largest area including water and electric spots, Cypress Row down towards the water for spots with water and electric, or down Deer Run that has full water, sewer, and electrical hookups. We chose the camper spots near the water since some of our crew had a camper and we had two canoes we planned on getting onto the water. That made the most sense for us but the views of the lake are really worth seeing from Cypress Row regardless of if you actual plan on getting into or on the water.
The overnight low on Friday was right at freezing so it was a little cold in the tent but we piled on an extra blanket and stayed warm enough to sleep. Black powder season open meant early in the morning we heard shots from a distance that were not loud enough to wake you up but noticeable if you were already up or a light sleeper. The area ended up being more crowded than expected since we were late getting there and the weather has been so nice this late into the year. We found a spot in the middle, I believe it was R13, that gave us plenty of room since the spots immediately around us were not taken and we could see the water from our site. It was not that far of a walk carrying the canoes to the water from here so we liked it and considering our available options it turned out well. I really think the next time we will plan on no campers and haul our gear across the lake to Mary's Cove and use one of the two trail camp sites there. It's much less crowded being more or less in the woods and only two spots near each other. It also has the added challenges of no water or electric and no facilities so that might not appeal to everyone.
Public Access:
The public access spots are as follows:
Greenleaf Lake - Total Shoreline 18.0 Miles:
Some of the more important gear we used:
We didn't do a lot of floating because it was relatively windy and it's a lake you typically paddle around on whereas a river you are heading downstream. However we did check out a nice camping spot off some hiking trails on the other side of the lake from the campgrounds. This offers an exciting opportunity to paddle across the lake to a shore only accessible via a 6-8mi hike or a short paddle across the lake to Mary's Cove. The lake is very scenic and the paddling is easy enough except when the wind is really up or other larger boats are making larges waves. The water level was down about a foot from earlier in the year but it didn't cause any issues boating only beaching the canoe to get out and take a look around the shore. That firm looking ground was actually a couple feet deep of mud. We managed although one of our party ended up with some nasty mud caked on their legs. Later in the afternoon on Saturday when the wind died down some we paddled across to "Vulture Island" which with the water being down was actually more of a peninsular. Here we looked around to try and determine why the dozens and dozens of vultures land on this tiny outcropping of land off the lake's shore. I still do not know why but it makes for an interesting feature. We also took the opportunity to paddle down some shoreline and stop and cut some dead and dry firewood. This was easily hauled back to our campsite in the center of our canoe and allowed for even more fun and excitement around the camp fire. We found some cherry wood that burned extremely hot for a really long time.Camping:
The campgrounds at Greenleaf are many and diverse. With three distinct areas to the park you can go up on the hill to Gobbler Ridge which is the single largest area including water and electric spots, Cypress Row down towards the water for spots with water and electric, or down Deer Run that has full water, sewer, and electrical hookups. We chose the camper spots near the water since some of our crew had a camper and we had two canoes we planned on getting onto the water. That made the most sense for us but the views of the lake are really worth seeing from Cypress Row regardless of if you actual plan on getting into or on the water.The overnight low on Friday was right at freezing so it was a little cold in the tent but we piled on an extra blanket and stayed warm enough to sleep. Black powder season open meant early in the morning we heard shots from a distance that were not loud enough to wake you up but noticeable if you were already up or a light sleeper. The area ended up being more crowded than expected since we were late getting there and the weather has been so nice this late into the year. We found a spot in the middle, I believe it was R13, that gave us plenty of room since the spots immediately around us were not taken and we could see the water from our site. It was not that far of a walk carrying the canoes to the water from here so we liked it and considering our available options it turned out well. I really think the next time we will plan on no campers and haul our gear across the lake to Mary's Cove and use one of the two trail camp sites there. It's much less crowded being more or less in the woods and only two spots near each other. It also has the added challenges of no water or electric and no facilities so that might not appeal to everyone.
Public Access:
The public access spots are as follows:
Greenleaf Lake - Total Shoreline 18.0 Miles:
- There is a concrete boat ramp at Cypress Row
- There is a doc near Cypress Row that allows for large motor boat put-ins
Some of the more important gear we used:
- Canoe - Old Town Expedition (Discovery 169 re-badge for Bass Pro)
- Tent - Eureka Tetragon 8
- Airbed/Sleeping Mat - Coleman Queen Airbed (thus the large tent!)
- Sleeping Bag(s) - Eureka Sandstone 30*, Coleman Brazos 30*
- Lantern - Coleman gas lantern on 30" "tree" from a 20lb propane bottle
Photos:
10/28/2011 - Greenleaf State Park and Lake, a set on Flickr.
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