Guest guide · Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma
Lake Eufaula, from our porch
Where we eat, where to put the boat in, and what's worth the drive. Every big number on this page is minutes from our driveway.
The lay of the lake
Where everything is
We're on the south shore at the east end of the lake, a few minutes from Eufaula Dam. Stigler is our mailing address, but it's half an hour east.
The places you'll actually go: the Highway 9 strip in Longtown, about 13 minutes, and Eufaula, about 21. Everything else is a day trip.
- Food
- Groceries
- Towns
- Parks
- History
- Golf
Minutes away
Right out back
Restaurants near Lake Eufaula
Where to eat
Breakfast and coffee
13min
The Landing Cafe
Longtown7 to 2, closed Mondays
The go-to breakfast on Highway 9. Big plates, nothing fancy.
14min
L.A.K.e Country Diner
LongtownDaily, 6:30 to 3
Opens at 6:30 every day, the earliest sit-down breakfast near us. Biscuits, pancakes, and cobbler if you come back for lunch.
22min
High Street Coffee
EufaulaTuesday to Saturday
The coffee shop downtown. Scratch waffles, and a butter coffee they call the Full Throttle.
23min
I Smell Bacon
EufaulaWednesday to Sunday, 6 to 2
Chicken fried steak and eggs, biscuits and gravy, home fries. The breakfast worth driving into town for.
23min
Mr. Donut
EufaulaDone by 1
Kolaches and apple fritters from about 5 in the morning, for the early fishing start.
Lunch and dinner
10min
PJ's Diner
Near the damClosed Tuesdays
Classic diner food done right. The burgers and the chicken fried steak are both excellent, and the prices are friendly.
13min
Los Arcos
Longtown
The closest sit-down dinner with a full bar. Cheese dip, steak ranchero, margaritas.
14min
Dobber's Roadhouse
Longtown
Down-home cooking in a no-frills roadhouse. All-you-can-eat catfish, chicken fried steak, peanut butter pie. Breakfast from 7, too.
21min
Captain John's
Eufaula
A deck right over the water. Catfish, shrimp boil, crawfish po'boys, jalapeño cornbread. Come by boat and tie up at Eufaula Cove Marina next door.
21min
Tumbleweed's Steakhouse on the Water
EufaulaClosed Mondays
Hand-cut steaks and a salad bar at Eufaula Cove Marina, with a covered patio and yard games for the kids. You can boat in.
22min
Mama Tig's Wood Fired Pizza
Eufaula
Oklahoma Living readers voted it the best pizza in the state, and they have a gluten-free crust. There's a second Mama Tig's in Carlton Landing that keeps shorter hours outside summer.
Restaurants you can boat to
13min
Roja's and Nine Scoops at Nine Marina
LongtownSummer hours
Street tacos and ice cream at the big fuel dock by the Highway 9 bridge. Come by boat or by car.
13min
On the LAMb Winery
Near the damWednesday to Sunday
Frozen wine slushies to go, a few minutes from the dam. They'll tell you they're made for the boat.
14min
Dam Bar & Grill at Evergreen Marina
Near the damMay to September, Friday and Saturday
Pull up by boat or by car. Cold drinks and food on the water.
Groceries and supplies
Shop on the way in. From Tulsa or Oklahoma City you go right past the Walmart in Checotah. From Dallas, McAlester's stores are on US-69.
Gas, ice, and bait on the water: the store at Evergreen Marina (open all year), the fuel dock at Nine Marina, and the Dam Store on Highway 71.
11min
Dollar General
Near the dam8am to 10pm
Closest store for ice, paper towels, and the sunscreen somebody forgot.
14min
DG Market
Longtown7am to 10pm daily
The closest store with fresh meat and produce. Cold beer and wine too.
21min
Xtreme Liquor
EufaulaOpen Sundays from noon
Nearest liquor store. Oklahoma groceries and gas stations sell cold beer and wine, so you only need this for the rest.
24min
Nichols Market
Eufaula7am to 10pm daily
Full grocery store with a bakery. The big shop if you didn't do it on the way in.
37min
Walmart Supercenter
Checotah6am to 11pm
Just off I-40 in Checotah, on the way in from Tulsa or Oklahoma City. Do the big shop here.
38min
Watson's Meat Market
ChecotahTuesday to Saturday
Steaks and brisket for the grill, plus a barbecue lunch counter. Also on the way through Checotah.
Boat ramps, rentals, fishing
On the water
Lake Eufaula is the biggest lake entirely in Oklahoma, about 102,000 acres. Our end is the open water by the dam, with three public ramps and two marinas inside 20 minutes.
Boat ramps near the dam
All three are Corps of Engineers parks with a day-use fee of a few dollars a car; pay with the QR code at the ramp. A $40 annual pass covers every Corps ramp in the country.
13min
Highway 9 Landing
Longtown
Our closest ramp, with a sandy swim beach. Gates open 6am to 10pm all year.
15min
Ladybird Landing
Near the dam
Two ramps and a swim area right by the dam. Named for Lady Bird Johnson; LBJ dedicated the dam.
17min
Brooken Cove
Near the dam
Just across the cove from us on the water. The road goes the long way around.
Boat rentals and fuel
13min
Nine Marina
Longtown
New tritoons and wake boats, with a captain if you want one. The biggest fuel dock on the lake, a ship store, tacos, and ice cream.
14min
Evergreen Marina
Near the damDriver 21+, 25% off Monday to Thursday
The closest rental to us. Tritoons for 12 or 14, one with a slide, by the half day or full day. The store sells gas, ice, and cold beer all year.
21min
Eufaula Cove Marina
EufaulaRenter 25+
Pontoons by the half day in Eufaula, a fuel dock open all year, and Captain John's and Tumbleweed's a few steps from the slips.
Where to swim
- Our beach
- 0min
- Down the path behind the house.
- Highway 9 Landing
- 13min
- A sandy swim beach next to the ramp.
- Ladybird Landing
- 15min
- A swim area by the dam.
- Carlton Landing
- 25min
- The town swim beach, plus the aqua park in summer.
Fishing
- License
- Anyone 17 or under fishes free, resident or not. Adults from out of state pay $26 for a day or $81 for the year, on the Go Outdoors Oklahoma app. Texas residents 65 and over don't need one.
- What's biting
- Crappie is the reason people come: shallow in spring, deep on brush piles the rest of the year. Largemouth, spotted, and white bass, plus blue, channel, and flathead catfish.
- From the bank
- The Canadian River below the dam, about 15 minutes away, holds stripers, white bass, and catfish. No snagging within a mile of the dam.
- Guides
- Jon Self at Self Outdoor Guide Service runs six-hour crappie and bass trips on the lake, plus paddlefish trips from February 15 to April 15. Rods, bait, and life jackets come with the trip, and they clean and package your catch. You bring the fishing license. Call (918) 552-8996 or book on their site. He guides quail hunts too; see Hunting.
Within about half an hour
Things to do at Lake Eufaula
For the day you want off the porch. State parks charge a parking pass, $10 a day on out-of-state plates and $8 on Oklahoma ones; golf and the Corps ramps don't count.
16min
Belle Starr's grave at Younger's Bend
Near the damFree
Belle Starr, the outlaw in half the Robbers Cave stories, lived and is buried just past the dam. It's a short wooded trail from the historical marker on Highway 71, on private land: stay on the trail and keep left at the fork.
20min
Jellystone Park day pass
EufaulaMemorial Day to Labor Day only
Floating obstacle course, splash pad, pool, and mini golf for $25 a person (under 3 free). Park outside the gate and check in at the store.
22min
Downtown Eufaula
Eufaula
Twenty blocks of Main Street on the National Register. Antique malls, Our Favorite Place (a hundred-plus Oklahoma makers and a coffee bar), and Wild Rose Winery. Good for a rainy morning.
25min
Carlton Landing
Carlton Landing
A walkable lake town with a swim beach, about five miles of gravel paths along the water, and Mama Tig's. In summer the Lake Days aqua park is open to anyone 7 and up, $25 an hour.
29min
Arrowhead State Park Golf Course
Canadian
Eighteen holes along the lake with greens people brag about, and cheap tee times. No park pass needed for golf.
33min
Lake Eufaula State Park
ChecotahState park parking pass
The north side of the lake. A nature center with a kids' catch-and-release pond, disc golf at Hummingbird Beach, and an enclosed, heated fishing dock for cold days.
Guided hunts
Hunting near Lake Eufaula
Quail close to the house, or hogs, deer, and turkey a little over an hour west. Both bring the land and do the guiding. Ask which Oklahoma license you need when you book.
22min
Self Outdoor Guide Service
EufaulaMeeting spot set when you book
Jon Self guides six-hour preserve quail hunts behind his own bird dogs, for one to four hunters. He's our pick for fishing too, and his two-day Cast and Covey package does some of each.
67min
RockyTop Ranch
LamarHogs need a $25 state license
Joe and Judy Robison guide hog hunts all year on their ranch, plus deer and turkey in season, from stands and blinds. Most hunts run two days.
Worth the drive
Day trips from the lake
38min
Robbers Cave State Park
WilburtonState park parking pass
Scramble up the sandstone to the cave the outlaws hid in, rent a paddleboat on Lake Carlton, and book a trail ride at the stables, where kids 5 and under ride free. The best fall color within an hour of us, late October into early November.
45min
Honey Springs Battlefield
ChecotahTuesday to Saturday, $30 family pass
The biggest Civil War battle in what's now Oklahoma, and the one where Black and Native American soldiers fought on both sides. A new visitor center, a short film, and six walking trails. Give it two hours.
50min
Krebs, Oklahoma's Little Italy
Krebs
Pete's Place has served family-style Italian since 1925. Every dinner comes with spaghetti, ravioli, meatballs, salad, and bread, and they brew Choc beer on site. Stop at Lovera's market across town for sausage and cheese to bring back.
When to come
Lake Eufaula by season
Coming up on the Eufaula calendar
- Oct 24 to 25Toby Keith Fishing Tournament (the ramps will be busy)
- SpringMarch to May
- Crappie move shallow to spawn, south end of the lake first.
- Stocked trout at Robbers Cave through March 15.
- McAlester's Italian Festival, the first weekend in May.
Redbuds on Eufaula Dam. Photo: US Army Corps of Engineers, Sara Goodeyon - SummerMemorial Day to Labor Day
- The beach, the kayaks, a tritoon day. Evergreen takes 25% off Monday to Thursday.
- Jellystone's day pass and the Carlton Landing aqua park are open. White bass run May through August.
- Eufaula's Fourth of July fireworks over the lake, and Whole Hawg Days (barbecue cook-off, rodeo, parade) the last full weekend of July.
The dam from Ladybird Landing, our end of the lake. Photo: US Army Corps of Engineers, Brannen Parrish - FallSeptember to November
- Color peaks at Robbers Cave and on the Talimena Drive from late October into early November. The Robbers Cave Fall Festival is mid-October, and it gets crowded.
- Crappie fishing picks back up. Big tournaments fill the ramps some weekends, so launch early.
- Trout season opens at Robbers Cave on November 1.
Eufaula Cove Marina in fall. Photo: City of Eufaula, CC BY-SA 4.0 - WinterDecember to February
- Bald eagles winter around the lake and at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, about 70 minutes east, which runs free Saturday eagle tours from late January into March.
- Crappie hold deep on brush piles, stripers stack up below the dam, and Lake Eufaula State Park keeps a heated, enclosed fishing dock.
- Eufaula's Christmas parade and the lighted boat parade in December.
Frost along Fourche Maline Creek. Photo: Jack Gray, CC BY 2.0
Questions people ask us
- Is it safe to swim in Lake Eufaula?
- Yes. Swim at a beach or a quiet cove, away from boat traffic, and put kids in life jackets. In the late-summer heat, check TravelOK's lake conditions page for blue-green algae advisories before you go in.
- Why is the water brown?
- It's a river lake. The Canadian, the North Canadian, and the Deep Fork carry red clay in, so most of the lake runs green-brown, and browner after a hard rain. The silt settles out as the water slows, so it clears up the closer you get to the dam, which is our end.
- Are there alligators in Lake Eufaula?
- No. Oklahoma's only wild alligators live along the Red and Little rivers in the far southeast corner of the state, well south of here.
- How big is Lake Eufaula?
- About 102,000 acres with 600 miles of shoreline, the biggest lake entirely inside Oklahoma. The Corps of Engineers finished the dam in 1964, and President Johnson came out to dedicate it that September.
- Is there a town under the lake?
- North Fork Town, a Muscogee Creek settlement from 1836 near present-day Eufaula, went under when the lake filled in the 1960s.
Getting here
101 W Bk 1760 Rd, Stigler, OK 74462
For guests
At the house
House tips
- Wifi
- High-speed gigabit indoors and outdoors, even down at the beach. Network name and password are posted in the house.
- TVs
- Living room and porch TVs run on Apple TV boxes. YouTube TV plus the usual streamers. Pick up a remote and go.
- Cell service
- AT&T and US Cellular get the best signal here. On any other carrier, turn on wifi calling.
- Outdoor cooking
- The Blackstone griddle and gas grill are ready on the back porch. Please clean them after use. Propane is provided.
- Campfires
- Free firewood and firestarters at the fire pit. S'mores supplies are in the kitchen.
- Porch speakers
- Connect via Apple AirPlay or Android's AllShare. Keep the volume neighborly after 10 PM.
- Parking
- Ample parking. Avoid the left side of the property where the septic system is located.
House rules
- 01Fun is mandatory.
- 02No trespassing on neighboring docks.
- 03No indoor smoking.
- 04Beer pong bouncing counts as two cups.
- 05No pets without prior approval.
- 06Quiet hours after 10 PM.
- 07Use appliances responsibly.
- 08Trash goes to the blue bins at the road.
Checkout
- 01Trash to the blue bins at the road.
- 02Remotes back in the living room.
- 03Pull the door shut. The smart lock takes it from there.
- 04Leave the beds and laundry. We've got it.