Chickasaw National Recreation Area

My boyfriend and I took a day trip here with both of our dogs at the end of March. We absolutely loved it! We drove 2 hours from Stillwater, so our expectations were high. We got a little lost and had no idea where we were going! The park is HUGE, so it’s very easy not to run into a whole bunch of people. There is a lot of freedom there on what you want to do! Everything there was so beautiful and natural and not commercialized! Hope you ready to do a lot of walking! We are definitely going back because we spent the whole day on one trail and would love to see the rest of the park! Highly recommend.

This place was definitely not worth the drive from TX. It had no proper signs to guide visitors and keep them from driving in circles, like we had to in order to find the elusive entrance since our GPS/​cellphones had died. My friend and I had a particularly terrible experience with a «park ranger» whom instead of politely and professionally telling us we had to move to another area (because we were accidentally occupying an area that was closed) he just yelled rudely at me to keep quiet because «he had asked my friend not me» when I tried to explain the situation. My approach to him was not disrespectful by any means and I was startled by his aggressiveness; I immediately understood we were dealing with an overcompensating imbecile that felt he had to mistreat and belittle us to prove something, so I just let it go. He asked for our IDs and had them checked, (I guess in case 2 girls snacking by the lake were crazy felons, right!?) and when he came back he said it himself: «I know I’m being an a**hole here but you are really not supposed
to be here.» Maybe in his small brain that was as close as it got to an acknowledgement or apology for his previous temper tantrum. If I could give this place 0 stars I would; total waste of time.

Bad Address on this listing/​I would definitely go back
There are two listings because of the different addresses, but this address is not the main entrance — the 2^nd street one is.
Visited over Memorial Day weekend. I had been a LONG time ago when it was Platt National Park and I was a kid, and hadn’t been back. Trails were great, lots of interesting stuff along the way, very shady so it wasn’t too hot. I would definitely do a day trip from Dallas or a one-​night/​two-​day weekend. The view from Bromide Hill was amazing!

Use to live near here till last year. Loved the park. Jogging around it, summers are lively, people swimming, bbqs, birds chirping. Winter it is quiet, empty. This is my favorite place I have been to. Hope to return one day.

Historically this was a national park back when mineral springs were dominant vacation destinations. Today, it has some nice hikes that include a number of old CCC «improvements». The Freshwater springs were dry for our visit because of a drought, but the mineral springs were fun to drink. The nature center is worth a stop, and the kids liked the bison.

If you like splashing in a natural mineral pool filled with sweaty Okies and the kind of chubby kids that give Michelle Obama night sweats, this is the place for you!
Due to knee surgery #4 I could not get all the way in, but just sticking my feet in took the edge off a 100 degree/​100% humidity day. The water is said to have healing properties, another reason I should’ve just hopped in.
The Frank Lloyd Wright-​esque nature center is quite informative and, even better, air-​conditioned. It straddles the stream up river from the pool and has some live and some taxidermied local animals.
The Recreation Area is located where the prairie meets the Eastern Woodland so a large variety of flora and fauna abound — species that normally don’t co-​exist mingle.
Unfortunately the short (mile loops) paths to the headwaters of the stream were closed due to Eastern red cedar thinning. It would have been lovely to see where the water bubbles out.
Note: there is a bison viewing area just south of the town of Sulphur. It’s a nice place to see these enormous (and tasty!) animals up close. There is something about the little horns on their enormous heads that I find visually disturbing, but I have issues.