Turner Falls - Davis, OK

 This is our first entry for family outings and I have to say this is a good one. I have driven past the sign that said Turner falls several time and never took the time to see what it was all about.

 

  Well... this time I did, and it was worth it!!

 

    We stuffed the ice chests, packed the bags, grabed the tents and headed out the door... 

 

  Went to get away from it all and found out we got into something awesome! We left out on a Friday to try to get a good spot and did we ever. The place we managed to get, we were told by the park maintenance guys was the best place in the park. If you take a look at the pictures you will see what I mean. We ended up staying three days and two nights, wishing we could have stayed more..... Stupid responsibilities!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turner Falls has the tallest waterfall in Oklahoma, 77’ tall. Even though the water is not in a vertical free fall the entire 77’, it’s still a very beautiful waterfall. There is tent camping, RV spots, and cabins, so pretty much however you chose to sleep you can. There is plenty to do there besides just camping. The base of the main waterfall is well deep enough to swim but you do have to be careful not to stump your toes on submersed boulders. My screwed up toe nail says it hurts…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is also the Blue Hole swimming pool. It’s a natural water pool by the entrance of the park that I am not sure how deep it is. It is deep enough to have swirl slides straight slides, small cliffs and a dividing board. IT is really cool! And I do mean cool, like major shrinkage cool… The water there has to be in the 50’s or 60’s. The river is fed by natural springs so you can imagine how cold it can be. But… the plus side is once you get in your numb, water seems warm after that.

 

If you cant handle the water temp you can always hike. They have some really cool places to hike to and around. There is a 2 mile trail and a shorter one that I am not sure of the length. There is also a “castle” with several out buildings to go see that were build back in the 30’s. It is falling down a bit but defiantly neat to see. There are several small caves to go explore. One named Outlaw cave, not sure if there is a significance to that? You can walk up and down the river and find smaller waterfalls all over the place. There are even rope swings over the river that bring back the childhood.

 

The park is named after Mazeppa Thomas Turner who discovered the falls back in the 1870’s and covers 1500 acres. This park in my opinion a definite spot to keep on your radar. Do keep in mind the park admission rates pretty much triple for the months of May 1st – Sept 30th. You can also fish for Trout from November 22nd through the spring, so bring your fishing license and a pole. They do stock this river if anyone’s asking… Fish fry anyone?

 

A couple of con’s though, some of the camp sites are really close together and not all are by the water. So it is a good idea to do what we did and get there early or better yet if you can. Camp during the week and hopefully you can be a little more secluded from everyone. Also a biggie… No pets allowed! So if you think you can bring your dogs or something think again, you will be turned away. So please don’t make the mistake of traveling a log way just to be turned away because you brought the pooch.

 

 

   Oh and one last thing... Make sure you stop at - Arbuckle Mountain fried Pies!! It's located just off of I-35 on exit 51 on the west side of the highway.  GOOD!!!