Hochatown State Park was once an independent

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

in far-southeastern Oklahoma, north of the city of Broken Bow. It was combined into

Beavers Bend State Park Beavers Bend State Park is a Oklahoma state park located in McCurtain County. It is approximately north of Broken Bow on SH-259A. It was established in 1937 and contains Broken Bow Lake.

in 2017. It is a popular destination for tourists from

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

interested in camping or boating on

Broken Bow Lake Broken Bow Lake is a reservoir in southeastern Oklahoma, located on Mountain Fork River and northeast of the town of Broken Bow in McCurtain County. It is one of the largest fresh water lakes within the state of Oklahoma, and a popular tour ...

Background

Hochatown State Park was named after the small town of Hochatown. Present-day Hochatown is actually the second community in the area to bear the name. The original community was forced to relocate to its current location on

U.S. Route 259 U.S. Route 259 (US 259, US-259) is a north–south spur of U.S. Route 59 that runs for through rural areas of northeast Texas and southeast Oklahoma. The highway's southern terminus is near Nacogdoches, Texas at an interchange with its ...

when Broken Bow Lake was created through the damming of

Mountain Fork River Mountain Fork, also known as the Mountain Fork of the Little River, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 3, 2011 tributary of the Little River in western Arkansas and ...

by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

in the late 1960s. Remnants of "Old Hochatown" can still be seen today while

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

at the bottom of Broken Bow Lake. This park was originally part of

but was separated as its own park in 1966. In 2017 the

Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation The Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation is a department of the government of Oklahoma within the Tourism and Branding Cabinet. The Department is responsible for regulating Oklahoma's tourism industry and for promoting Oklahoma as a tour ...

combined the parks. This area of the park focuses on meeting the needs of visitors wishing to enjoy Broken Bow Lake. Accommodations inside the park range from the 40-room Lakeview Lodge to campsites in the Stevens Gap, Carson Creek and Cedar Creek areas. Recreation amenities and facilities include a fish cleaning station, group shelters and picnic sites, full and semi-modern RV campsites, primitive sites, comfort stations, sanitary waste stations, lighted boat ramps, swimming beaches, playgrounds, hiking trails. Other lodging choices at Beavers Bend State Park include 47 cabins and two group camps; some of which offer river views.

References

External links

Beavers Bend & Hochatown State ParkBroken Bow LakeCedar Creek Golf Course at Beavers Bend
State parks of Oklahoma Protected areas of McCurtain County, Oklahoma 1966 establishments in Oklahoma 2017 disestablishments in Oklahoma {{Oklahoma-protected-area-stub