Oklahoma State Parks Light Pollution

Oklahoma

We previously did an article on the 2024 solar eclipse for the Oklahoma state parks, and figure that there is an amazing opportunity for mapping those state parks to their Bortle Scale values. With the help of https://www.lightpollutionmap.info, we created the following table to provide information about the entire state parks for Oklahoma in regards to light pollution and astronomy.

ItemHow Many
Number Of State Parks39
Number of Different Bortle Scales6
Level 1 Bortle Scale State Parks1
Level 2 Bortle Scale State Parks5
Level 3 Bortle Scale State Parks9
Level 4 Bortle Scale State Parks23
Level 5 Bortle Scale State Parks1
Table 1: State Park Info

Using the 2024 solar eclipse map, we had a great start to knowing the state parks, so we just added in the light pollution information. Here is some camping information for these state parks. The darkest state part is Black Mesa State Park, which is a Bortle Scale 1, some of the darkest skies that one could find.

ParkNumber Of SpotsSpot Breakdown
Spavinaw Area at Grand Lake State Park101 sites26 spacious semi-modern (30-amp) RV sites and 75 tent sites
Boiling Springs State ParkSeveral SpotsSeveral Tents and Cabins and RV campsites
Quartz Mountain State Park~ 208 spotsnearly 100 primitive and 100 RV sites, and 8 cabins
Sequoyah Bay State Park151 sites71 semi-modern RV sites with water and 30 or 50-amp electric hook-ups and 180 regular tent sites
Salt Plains State Park165 sites6 cabins, 64 RV sites and 95 tent sites
Beavers Bend State Park490 sites47 cabins with kitchenettes, plus 393 campsites and over 50 tent sites, and 40-room Lakeview Lodge
Foss State Park145 sites103 tent sites, 45 other,
Great Plains State Park86 sites56 RV hookups and 30 tent sites
Keystone State Park176 total sites22 cabins and RVs and primitive camping having 154 sites in three campgrounds
Little Blue Area at Grand Lake State Park30 spots 30 primitive tent camping spots
Little Sahara State Park300 sites214 RV sites with water and electric, 3 covered shelter areas with water and electric, and 83 tent sites
Natural Falls State Park66 sites5 yurts, 44 RV campsites, and 17 tent sites
Cherokee Landing State Park138 sites93 RV campsites, and 45 primitive campsites
Bernice Area at Grand Lake State Park33 sites33 RV sites
Talimena State Park17 sites10 RV sites, 7 tent campsites, and more.
Lake Thunderbird State Park200+ sites200 RV sites and primitive tentsites.
Tenkiller State Park38+ cabins38 cabins, RVs, and tentsites.
Sequoyah State Park401 sites104 room lodge and 45 cottages. 3 RV campgrounds include 48 sites with water, sewer and electric and 80 sites with water and electric. The Seminole campground offers 20 modern and 20 semi-modern sites. The Choctaw Area has 24 modern sites, and the Cherokee Area has 60 semi-modern sites.
Alabaster Caverns State Park10 sites10 campgrounds
Cherokee Area at Grand Lake State Park119 sitesCherokee Area–>15 RVs
Lakeside— 12 RVs, and 15 Tents
Grandview—4 RVs and 45 tents
Riverside—27 primitive and 1 group shelter
Fort Cobb State Park417 sites34 full-hookup RV sites, 5 cabins, 34 full-hookup sites, 245 sites, and 99 tent (primitive) sites
Lake Eufaula State Park96+ yurts.3 yurts, 93 tent sites throughout the park, and RVs
Lake Murray State Park577 sites32 lakeside guest rooms with private balconies and 56 park cabins, 3 seasonal sites, 321 RV sites, and 165 tent sites
Arrowhead Area at Lake Eufaula State Park111 sites91 RV and tent sites, 20 RV sites have full hookups
Clayton Lake State Park90+ sites30 reservable RV sites, 60 first come, first serve tent sites spread out between three camping areas, and cabins
Osage Hills State Park51 sites20 RV sites, 23 tents, and 8 cabins
Lake Wister State Park153 sites118 modern and semi-modern RV campsites, 20 tent sites, and 15 cabins.
Twin Bridges Area at Grand Lake State Park163 sites100 regular tent sites and 63 hooks up for RV campers
McGee Creek State Park49 sites25 pads, 16 campsites,  and 8 lake huts
Black Mesa State Park & Nature Preserve25+ sites25 RV sites with water and electricity, as well as primitive tent campsites
Lake Texoma State Park289 sites88 water, sewer and electric (modern) RV sites, and 41 (semi-modern) RV sites with water and electric, and 160 tent sites are available.
Robbers Cave State Park226 sites26 non-smoking cabins, 22 RV sites with water, sewer and electric-full hookups (modern) and 92 (semi-modern) sites with water and electric hookups and 86 primitive tent campsites are along secluded trails
Greenleaf State Park216 sites16 cabins, 100 RV campsites, and 100 tent campsites
Honey Creek Area at Grand Lake State Park149 sites49 RV sites, and 100 tent sites.
Roman Nose State Park101 sites12 water, sewer and electric full-hookup (modern) RV sites, 34 (semi-modern) sites with water and electric or 33 tent sites, and 22-room lodge
Raymond Gary State Park119 sites10 RV sites with full hookups, 9 sites with water and electric hookups and approximately 100 tent sites.
Table 2: Camping Information

Map

Here is a show of the colors of the markers, to know how to read the map.

ColorBortle Scale
BlackLevel 1
Dark PurpleLevel 2
BlueLevel 3
GreenLevel 4
YellowLevel 5
Table 3: Bortle Scale Map Marker

To learn more about the Bortle Scale, check out this article. The Oklahoma State Parks official website can be found here.

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