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4.5
37 votes

Black Mesa State Park

County Rd 325, Kenton, Oklahoma 73946 USA

Free
Free to Visit
  • Independent
  • Pet Friendly
  • Not Wheelchair
    Accessible
  • Public
    Restrooms
  • Outdoor
    Seating
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“Hiking and stargazing galore”

Black Mesa is located in Oklahoma's panhandle along the tri-state border with Colorado and New Mexico.  Black Mesa takes its name from the layer of black lava rock that coated the mesa about 30 million years ago.  Visitors can hike to the top of the plateau, Oklahoma's highest point at 4,973 feet above sea level, while in the Black Mesa Nature Preserve.  The nature preserve is operated by the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department in conjunction with Black Mesa State Park.  The nature preserve consists of approximately 1,600 acres where visitors can hike and enjoy 23 rare plants and eight rare animal species.  The unique area marks the point where the Rocky Mountains meet the shortgrass prairie and many species are at the easternmost or westernmost point of their natural range. Approximately 30 RV sites with water and electric hookups and 20 tent sites are available on a first come, first serve basis at Black Mesa State Park.

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Reviews of Black Mesa State Park

14 people have reviewed this location

Ratings Summary

3.7 Access
3.8 Location
4.1 Cleanliness
4.2 Site Quality
4.4 Noise

Cell Coverage

Verizon 5G

Confirmed by 5 users | Last reported on February 21, 2023

AT&T 4G/5G

Confirmed by 7 users | Last reported on June 14, 2022
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Reviewed by
Campendium

September 20, 2017
Rated

We arrive to Black Mesa State Park near Kenton, OK in early September.

It is hot, at 91 degrees in the shade. (pant, pant, pant)

When the sun goes behind clouds the mosquitoes and no-see-ums come out to play. Slap, slap, slap.

We chose tent site 7, right on the water. Lovely rock formations. Plenty of space between sites, and a ring, table, and grill.

We can hear generators for RVs on the hill above.

Nicely wide sites, we do not have to unhook the toad. Nice!

Evening temps of 60 degrees with 77% humidity.

We fall asleep to lowing cattle, calling coyotes, and serenading insects (lots of insects)!

And two neighbors have spotlights on ALL NIGHT LONG! Really?!? Ugh.

Shower valves must be manually engaged during entire use. Take a wire or cord to jury rig, or figure out another way to clean between your cheeks! 😜

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Nightly Rate: $14.00

Days Stayed: 1

Site Number: 7

3 Access
4 Location
3 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise
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Reviewed by
Campendium

November 06, 2018
Rated

The road on the way in is rough, so add a little time to your travels if you don't want to lose a tooth. There are only two 50-amp spots so reservations are a must if you want one of them rather than 30-amp. The layout in the RV area is weird (our space was easy) but we wondered how other campers would have parked had there been more of them. The back of our site #24 was underneath a bright street lamp. The tent sites we saw were very nice, some of them really cool among the trees and boulders.

The park is very pretty, and we would have liked it even more if we'd had good weather, but we got skunked on that. Add to that the fact that we had no usable cell reception whatsoever and only a teeny bit of wifi near the ranger cabin, and it made our four days seem longer than they were, unfortunately.

There are some trails in the park which, while not long, are nice, and you can get plenty of walking on the park roads if you like. It is also close to the 8.4 mile Black Mesa Summit trail, leading to the highest point in Oklahoma, which we did on the one day it didn't rain on us. It is not close to any other towns or services, so come prepared for your stay. The showers had plenty of hot water.

Dates of our stay: 10/7-10, 2018
Photos on blog at link in profile

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Nightly Rate: $22.00

Days Stayed: 4

Site Number: 24

4 Access
3 Location
4 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon

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Reviewed by
Campendium

March 17, 2020
Rated

Okay, so most of the sites are sloped, and they’re mostly pretty close together. If you’re in an RV, sites 10-17ish are the way to go. They’re very nice. The sites in the 20s are kind of a bummer.

But! Despite the density of the sites, I really appreciated that tent-only campsites are within view. As a full-timer, I enjoy hearing the energy of people who are out camping with their kids — it helps remind me that this is a magical way to live. In summer, I can see this park being a lot less pleasant, but in spring or fall, it’s great.

The cottonwoods are just beautiful and the landscape is completely unique. Tons of wildlife. I’ve never seen this part of the country and am so glad this park exists. I drove in towards sunset and even though it’s off the beaten path, the views coming in are great.

Free WiFi at the office — in sites 11-12-13ish, you’re directly across from it and can pick up the signal.

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Nightly Rate: $24.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 12

4 Access
5 Location
4 Cleanliness
3 Site Quality
4 Noise
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Reviewed by
Campendium

March 31, 2020
Rated

Easy in(depends on the way you come in), a few concrete pad sites, tent camping and bathrooms shut down (covid19).

AT&T 3bars LTE
WiFi even works, better with a booster
Quiet, peaceful, lots of birds and wildlife.

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Nightly Rate: $23.00

Days Stayed: 5

Site Number: 9

4 Access
4 Location
4 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

AT&T 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

April 23, 2020
Rated

Black Mesa State Park is a really nice campground. Though the tent sites where closed for our last trip during Covid 19, the RV sites are still open. There is still a variety of sites available. They have one pull through site, many back ins and four level cement pads, number 6 through 9. Some of the sites looked hard to level up on, but stick to the southern end and you should be fine. I hope to edit this and help y’all out on the unlevel ones or somebody else might fill you in. The AT&T was fine for phone calls and streaming music. They have WiFi and I hear the closer to the Ranger’s office the better it is. I have a booster and couldn’t stream music at #6 after everybody woke up on Sunday morning. There is a dump station in the campground and nice working bathrooms with hot showers. Unfortunately the bathrooms are closed for Covid 19, hopefully they will reopen soon.
The tent camping here is really nice. It is unfortunate they are closed right now. I have tent camped here also and there is plenty of tent sits. T16 is definitely the coolest tent site in the park. The bathrooms provide hot showers and are open year round. Yet again they are closed for Covid 19 at the moment. This is a really nice campground I hope you will stop and check it out.
There is a small lake here that is stocked with trout November through March. I would recommend fishing on the bottom with salmon peach on the smallest treble hook possible, size 14 or 16. I like the dam, some people like the south end there is a good spot on the rock overhang at the north end, but it’s a rough drive. Beware it does freeze over int the winter.

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Nightly Rate: $25.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 6

4 Access
4 Location
4 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
1 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

AT&T 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

June 21, 2020
Rated

This is truly the middle of nowhere. In fact, the Oklahoma Panhandle's nickname is No Man's Land pretty much because it was so far from most city centers that no one really claimed it for quite some time. Black Mesa SP is actually a few miles south and east of the Black Mesa Preserve where the actual Black Mesa high point is located. Upon driving westward out of Boise City (county seat of Cimarron County) the road takes one turn in its 20 miles until the turn off to the park. There, the rolling hills and canyons of this small slice of Oklahoma paradise come into view. Cows wander across the road, hindered only by the occasional cattle guard. The area is dry and this is typically the origin of drought conditions, which typically move to the east during the summer. Be mindful of the possibility of burn bans. Don't expect great cell service out here. There is a tower just south of the park, but I can tell you it sure as heck isn't for Verizon, might do better with AT&T (had some service there on my truck)! The park wifi is actually not too bad, however.

Upon entering the park from the south you'll pass a few sites on the left up against the west side of the valley. Some of these are equipped with pavilions and they are all relatively level (gravel). We stayed at site #8, which was part of a series of concrete sites beneath mature cottonwood trees that had a space for RV and TV side-by-side. While the bathroom/shower was open during our COVID getaway, we elected not to use them. The sites north of these trees and beyond the visitor center are of mixed quality. I would suggest the lower numbers of these as the southernmost seemed to be most level. The visitor center was closed while we were there but we did get our sticker for the OK state park 'passport' book.

There is an enjoyable hiking trail on the west side of the valley behind the visitor center that is fun during the golden hour and sunrise/set. This trail contours along a ridge and drops into a valley exiting near an outdoor exhibit of petrified wood. The lake to the north has seen better days and is quite low. Water can be found in Carrizo Creek just east of the campground area, backed by the cliff-forming Dakota Sandstone (see http://www.ogs.ou.edu/pubsscanned/openfile/OF4_99.pdf for more info on the geology of this part of the world, including dino tracks!). Storms were firing overhead during the day while we were there and exploding to the east, pretty amazing sight! Lots of mule deer out here and a few pronghorn.

I've been to many dark skies out west but this one holds its own. There are a few streetlights in the park, but even still the sight was amazing. There is a solid reason why this area holds one of the better star parties each year (Okie Tex). Take a telescope, binoculars...whatever you've got. Hike of the ridge to the west overlooking the valley, and watch the Milky Way dance across the sky...you can thank me later.

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Nightly Rate: $32.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 8

4 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon

Reviewed by
marcuswickes1

  • 130 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
October 07, 2020
Rated

We needed a place to stay in Oklahoma (to mark off our 50 state map) so this worked out. Not sure I would otherwise seek out this spot.

Partial hookups (30amp and water with good pressure at 60psi).

Originally we had booked a site online that said would fit our 42ft rig better than the other back-in sites. But once we got there, there were only a couple other campers and one of them was right there next to us. We tried to back in and find a way to get level but finally gave up and went to site 15 which is a back-in site. Even that site took a little bit of kiking gravel around to get it level side to side. Only 3 RVs stayed the night with us so it was very quiet.

There's a short hike across from the campground. Not a lot to see other than cactus and desert, but it was a beautiful sunset.

The park is old but kept the kids entertained in the morning as we used the dump station.

Verizon no service. AT&T had a few bars that were enhanced with our WeBoost.

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Nightly Rate: $27.00

Days Stayed: 1

Site Number: 15

4 Access
3 Location
4 Cleanliness
3 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon

AT&T 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

October 16, 2020
Rated

Our first mistake was going so far out of our way to go here. The sites are very, very close to each other. The one we had reserved was covered in various colored chalk drawings made by kids however it was level. The bathrooms and showers were nasty so we had to forego the shower that day. Wouldn't go back.

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Nightly Rate: $27.00

Days Stayed: 1

Site Number: 10

1 Access
1 Location
1 Cleanliness
3 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

AT&T 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

April 21, 2022
Rated

Stayed one night on April 16th, 2022 (Easter Weekend) despite all the really negative reviews about this State Park. During the past year this State Park has constructed brand new shower and toilet facilities at the entrance to the RV locations (across the street from the prime sites #1-#5). The balance of the site 6-30(?) are close together in one are just past the Comfort station and are mostly back-in. They are constructing a small store for provisions, across from the check in. Lots of big rigs, and being Easter the place was full, but guests were respectful. We did not go to the Easter Pageant in Kenton, or morning service, but were told it was the highlight for most folks there. Watch out with your dog(s) the goat heads and thorny bushes are abundant, stay on the paved areas or on the trails paths. Easy and nice vista walks fro the campsite 1-4miles in length.
We have a T@B 320CS and enjoyed the location, worth the drive, and a good stopping spot for us traveling from Colorado to Louisiana. No Verizon cell service, but there was WiFi. Reservations were made ahead of time on line. We would recommend this location to other Campendium campers.

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Nightly Rate: $32.00

Days Stayed: 1

Site Number: 22

4 Access
4 Location
4 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon

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Reviewed by
Campendium

April 30, 2022
Rated

Even if you’re not intro astrophotography or telescopes you should visit this state park.
Be ready for the wind ! It’s always windy here.
There’s lots of hiking, fishing (bass and walleye) and there’s a swim beach.
The RV sites are VERY roomy and the tent sites are well maintained.
The public restrooms and showers are new.

We will be taking some star photos tonight and will add them to the review as well. No city light pollution out here.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $32.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 15

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

AT&T 4G

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Black Mesa State Park

County Rd 325
Kenton, Oklahoma
73946 USA
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  • Check
    Parking
  • Check
    Pets Allowed
  • Check
    Restrooms
  • Unknown
    Wifi
  • Unavailable
    Wheelchair Accessible
  • Unknown
    Credit Cards Accepted
Affiliation
State park or forest
Last Nightly Rate
14.0
Longest Vehicle Length Reported
42.0
Lowest Nightly Rate
14.0
  • Unavailable
    Fifty Amp
  • Unavailable
    Full Hookup
  • Check
    Pull Through
  • Check
    Tent Sites
  • Check
    Dump Station
  • Check
    Big Rigs
  • Unavailable
    Open Seasonally
  • Unavailable
    Age Restricted
  • Unavailable
    Boondock
  • Unavailable
    Cabin Sites
  • Unavailable
    Dispersed Sites
  • Unavailable
    Firewood
  • Unavailable
    Fulltime Residents
  • Unavailable
    Group Tent Sites
  • Unavailable
    Laundry
  • Unavailable
    Mobile Homes
  • Unavailable
    Permit Required
  • Check
    Potable Water
  • Unavailable
    Propane
  • Check
    Public Water
  • Check
    Pull Through RV Sites
  • Check
    Reservations
  • Unavailable
    Sewer Hookup
  • Check
    Showers
  • Check
    Standard Tent Sites
  • Check
    Water Hookup
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    Outdoor Seating
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