Last Hike in Great Salt Plains Lake State Park in Oklahoma

May 29, 2023

The day before leaving (May 18), we went on one last hike.

We walked over to the beach area campground along the road. We had to go out of the state park and onto the main road before going back into the state park. We walked past the dam.

Once we got down the hill and into the beach area, we stopped under a pavilion to rest a bit and admire the view of the lake.

We walked down to the beach and at the high water mark, we discovered old fish heads and bones. Since the beach wasn’t open for swimming yet, I am guessing the beach clean up hadn’t been preformed.

There is a boat ramp, in not great shape.

We walked back along the campground road. Once we got to the gate we came out from, we decided to take a short cut based on the trail map.

We started out with great confidence and remained confident for a ways into the hike. After a while we decided we were on looping trails that weren’t leading us back to our campground.

We walked through grass that was approximately a foot tall. Some of it was sparse with some flowers blooming.

Tall shrubs and bushy evergreens lined the path. After we got really tired of not finding the campground, we retraced our steps and turned left. We saw a rabbit on our way out.

We made it to the road which we easily followed to our campsite.

We were both hot and sweaty, so we decided to get a shower. I noticed a ticking sensation one my neck and discovered a tick. I found a second tick. Bruce looked me over and found three more ticks. They hadn’t bitten me. I looked Bruce over and found two ticks on him. They hadn’t bitten him yet either.

Since we hadn’t had ticks before, we believe they came aboard from the tall grass.

I don’t believe I have ever had so many ticks crawling on me at once. It was an unpleasant experience and I am just so glad we didn’t get bitten.

I recommend you stay out of the tall grass in this state park!