Black Kettle Campground

Black Kettle is named for a Cheyenne chief who tried to achieve peace with settlers but his tribe was massacred in their sleep by Custer.

This primitive campground is in the Black Kettle National Grassland, just a few miles from the Washita Battlefield National Monument. This monument is well worth a visit. It has an excellent movie and artifacts about the area and the battle that occurred. About a mile from the monument is a 1.5 mile trail thru the actual battlefield; information guides are at the beginning of the trail.

The campground is an older, but maintained NFS site on a dammed lake. There are two sections to the campground. There are road side sites that overlook the lake and there is another section below the dam that is more park like. Both areas have vault toilets, picnic tables, fire rings, trash cans and water spigots. It's a nice FREE, quiet spot for camping for those that don't need hook ups.

When we stayed here we were the only campers besides a tenter, though we would see locals fishing on the lake. This is not near any large city so it's pitch dark at night so you can see the sky filled with stars.

I'm giving this 4 stars just because the trailer sites are road side or in the small parking area adjacent to the grassy area.

NOTE: when we approached from the west the sign to the campground was missing.

I stayed here last night in my tent. I tented at the end of the southern fork of the road. It is designated as a picnic area, not a campground, although there were no signs prohibiting camping. There were no tent pads-- plenty of picnic tables and fire pits.
I arrived after 9pm and was on the road by 6am. The coyotes kept me company! :) There were quite a few howling. There is a fence around the area, so none visited me, but I would have been excited if one had!
One negative is that it is close to the highway, so truck traffic was noisy at times.
I had roaming cell coverage, no internet, but I pay a weird small cell company for service.

We used google map search to take us to this campground and ended up at a dangerous construction gas-piping site twelve miles away from where Campendium’s GPS directions eventually took us. But the long drive on a red clay road through Turley Ranch was worth it. Turley Ranch is located in west central Oklahoma, Roger Mills County. It was started in 1983 with about 240 acres, and now operates close to 25,000 acres. The colors of the red rises and spotted greens was astounding. And the drumming spirit of General George Custer’s massacred Native Americans was both heard and felt resonating in these hills.

Black Kettle Campground is a clean and well-maintained facility. Definitely a picnic location providing a small parking lot for our travel trailer and a few automobiles. The grounds can support several tent campers. Nobody came the entire afternoon we rested from our day’s travels. By morning there were still no other overnight campers sharing the parking lot with us.

AT&T was a robust three bars and provided more than adequate cell and internet reception. One vault restroom provides for both men and ladies toilet needs. Two water spigots are located far into the lawn and not conducive to our needs. But we had almost a full tank of fresh water on board anyway. No dump station, but two adequate receptacles for trash. There are some marked hiking trails, but threatening thunderstorms in the area curtailed our using them. Great place to spend the night for free.

The spot is beautiful, there are restrooms and picnic tables. But many mosquitoes and some road traffic.

This park has beautiful views, saw kayakers and locals fishing.

There is a boat landing and a tent area and then the curb side sites for campers and Rigs with a turnaround at the dead end.

The sites are a little confusing, Do Not Park in the grass $500 fine! Curbside parking for Campers/Rigs. Picnic tables, fire rings. Vaulted bathroom BUT across the entire door was a Giant Orb spider and its web. These GIANT and Beautiful spiders and Webs are everywhere between trees, almost caught them on my face walking my dog. Coming from Mn, these were unique to us. The Ranger stopped by and I asked about them, he said they were harmless and to just “brush them the the side” . All I could think of when in the bathroom was ???”how many spiders are in the toilet waiting to bite my butt???!!!”

Lots of dragonfly’s at sunset and then lots of gnats and mosquitos at night.

There was only one other camper in a tent and another van parked for the night.
Some traffic noise and noise from locals fishing down by the boat landing area. Some trash, which was sad, so we tried to pick up.

Great secluded spot with very nice scenery, not too far away either. This place was well maintained and empty in mid October. Some road noise in the spots off to the left, the right side has views of the lake and is quieter.

This campsite was great! The place is very clean and shaded. Absolutely loved being able to pick wherever I want to pitch my tent. Very quiet and peaceful night of camping.

Nice little free camping spot, but the bugs were pretty bad. Some trucks throughout the night on the highway.

I stayed here for one night with my dog. Beautiful area, loved the view, could hear the nearby road traffic continuously but didn't bother me. Campsites are open so you can see other campers, but only one other person came by while I was there. There are maybe 10 campsites to choose from, all with fire pits and picnic benches. There are two red water pumps with potable/drinking water, but they are set back from the parking lot so you have to carry your water containers back (in my case, heavy water containers while walking uphill). Still, it was great to refill on water. There were also logs and branches stacked up from a downed tree, and someone had laid a fire at my campsite's fire pit. Note that there are different-sized fire pits based on your campsite. There is also a cluster of four picnic tables towards the back of the campground if you have a bigger group. And there are two or three small trails that connect to the campsite, although I didn't go on them. 

Take the first left after you enter the recreation area to get to the campground, if you continue straight you will get to the boat launch and the daytime picnic area that has signs saying "day use only." 

A good spot. Nice easy trails. You hear some traffic but it's not annoying. DO expect Air Force fighter jets to come screaming above you (1 an hour in the morning) After the first spilled cup of coffee and curse, I looked forward to the jet jockeys. Do take the first left as previously recommended. If your towing a 30 footer or less, you can go straight to see the lake. There's a decent size cudesac to u turn. Was tempted to set up right by the lake and see if the Rangers made me move. But. I whimped out. Maybe next time.