Hiking the Beaver Lodge Trail at Beavers Bend State Park

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In November 2021 we decided we wanted to see fall color in Oklahoma. Fall color is a gamble in our area and a guessing game even after the experts do all the research. Over the last few years, we’ve followed their advice and we normally miss out by a week or so. One weekend we decided to make the 3-hour drive out to one of the state parks in Oklahoma to hike several trails. Our final trail that day was Beaver Lodge Trail at Beavers Bend State Park.

Beaver Lodge Trail at Beavers Bend State Park

The Beaver Lodge Trail is a 3-mile out and back. According to AllTrails, the trail is considered a moderate trail and takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete. It follows the river. The trail can be accessed at either end of the trail. You can start below the hydroelectric dam or just below the spillway (dirt parking area across the road from the camping area). We started by the spillway. The above picture is where the trail starts.

The trail is wide enough for two people in places and narrows down to a single-person trail in places. The trail does suffer flood damage and in some places may be washed away. According to a Beavers Bend State Park official, the trail is closed and doesn’t exist. She said it is NOT maintained. The advice for the trail is to go as far as you can and turn back when you can’t go any further.

Our Experience

We hiked this trail about 40 minutes before sunset. We figured we could knock this trail out or most of it before it was too dark to complete. We weren’t able to finish the trail and that was because we stopped a few times to enjoy the scenery.

As I mentioned before we started at the spillway. We walked behind the road barrier and found a steep uphill dirt path and scrambled up. From there we found a narrow 1 person path that followed the river. We found most of the trail to be easy with slight inclines and declines. There are spots where you can climb out on the rocks to take a break by the fast-moving water.

About halfway to the other end, we came to a section of the trail that was mostly washed out and a large tree that was uprooted and torn up the trail. We were able to use my hiking poles to steady ourselves and continue on the trail (if we thought about it we could have gone off trail and gone around). After that, the trail starts to widen.

We made it about halfway before it was too dark to continue. We knew we could have made it to the end but were afraid it would be too dark to continue without flashlights (I know we should have flashlights).

On our way back, that washed-out area of the trail I mentioned early collapsed under me. Fortunately, I was able to dig my hiking pole into a section of the trail that wasn’t damaged and kept me from falling into a hole and breaking a leg. My pole was damaged in the fall. But wasn’t hurt. Worth it!

We made it back to the car about 30 minutes before dark.

Tips for the Trail

• The trail isn’t maintained, so be careful.
• Keep an eye out for exposed roots and missing sections of the trails
• Bring plenty of water in warm weather.
• Because you are so close to the water it cools off faster, make sure to layer in cool to cold weather.
• Hiking poles are necessary but can help if you balance issues. My wife had no issues.
• Plan for about 2 hours for the hike if you like to nature watch.
• Do attempt the trail an hour before sunset. It gets dark fast. If you want to take an evening hike, Bring a headlamp.
• In hot weather, you will need water.
• Bug spray is needed during the bug-biting seasons.

About the Images

The pictures were taken in low light and many of the pictures were full of noise and slightly blurry. I used my Sony a6000 and my Sony SELP18105G E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS lens. The images were then edited with Adobe Lightroom CC, Topaz Labs Denoise AI and Topaz Labs Sharpen AI,  Aurora HDR, and Luminar NEO to clean up the images.