Black Mesa State Park & Nature Preserve

Black Mesa State Park, Kenton, Oklahoma

We stayed overnight at the Black Mesa State Park campground one night on our way to Colorado in September 2013 and one night on our return eastbound in October 2013. The park is in the far western corner of the panhandle near the intersection of the states of Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The area is parcel populated, mostly large cattle grazing areas. The nearest gas station is about 50 miles away so make sure you fuel up up in Boise City before driving out to the park. The nearby town of Kenton has no gasoline or groceries.

The park itself is quiet and isolated. No cell phone or television signals. The sky is amazing at night, very dark and the Milky Way is quite visible. The sites have water and electric hookups and a covered picnic table. Our site backed up to a creek. The campground had very few visitors both times we visited. The bath house and grounds were well maintained although we never saw a ranger. We did not have reservations and we registered via a sheet on the door of the office, dropping our envelope and a check for payment into the box provided for payments.

The landscape is rugged and striking with black lava rock outcrops. There are hiking trails in the park. There is a trail to the top of Black Mesa which is highest point in Oklahoma at 4900 feet. On the board at the office there are directions to a dry creaked with dinosaur tracks on private land and the monument where the three states - Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado meet. The Santa Fe trail also passes nearby. There is also a nature preserve.

If you want peace, quiet, solitude, and an escape from civilization, this is a perfect place to stay. It is one of our favorite state parks in the USA. We camped in a travel trailer. There are 36 RV sites with water and sewer and 23 tent sites.