We headed out first thing on a Saturday to Oklahoma for our spontaneous Turner Falls Park day trip. I didn’t realize we are only one hour and twenty minutes south of the park. And, not sure why we hadn’t visited sooner. From the time we left, my son talked non-stop about what we were going to do when we got there – all the way there! I guess talking keeps him from getting bored.
Turner Falls Park Day Trip
You know how kids are – they never think about what their parents want to do. I didn’t tell him, but I was quite as excited as he was to swim near the waterfall. However, there are days I feel a second kid would have made my day so much better because it would be them two playing together instead of us. Luckily, he met a friend at the park, and I got to sit back and watch. Sometimes, I want to sit on the outer banks and chill.
Related: Our Oklahoma City Family Adventure(Opens in a new browser tab)
Turner Falls, OK, is the perfect road trip to take for the day with your family. Taking a picnic is the ideal thing to do as there are plenty of shaded areas to choose from, and the food at the park is costly. Next time we go, I’ll bring a rolling ice chest full of food.
What We Did on Our Turner Falls Park Day Trip
Did you know Turner Falls Park is spread out on three levels? I did not. The last time I was there, it was on one level, and that’s it, and you could swim under the waterfall. So much has changed since I took my first son there. I’m not sure why I haven’t made this place an annual adventure. You can no longer swim under the waterfall, only “near” it.
Besides playing in the water near the waterfall, there’s another area with a slide and a diving board. So, like me, if you haven’t been lately, it’s worth a visit.
The above area is called The Blue Hole and is where Brody spent most of his time. After he met a friend down by the waterfall, he and his family followed us to this area. Did I mention how happy I was when Brody met a friend? Not only did these two hit it off, but they both found another boy who was there with his grandparents – so the three of them played together for the duration of our swimming time.
The Caves at Turner Falls, Oklahoma
I told Brody I wasn’t going to “crawl” in that cave. Yes, he was a little disappointed, but I don’t think I would have made it out alive! Unbeknownst to us, there was another way in on the other side. However, with my bad knees, it was just too risky for me to climb down on the rocks to go in. I let Brody venture off on his own to find the other cave. There are a total of three caves, but he only saw that other one. So, I suggest you explore the caves, wear good shoes, and know that it is a moderate to challenging climb, especially if you’re elderly or have bad knees.
Would you have crawled into the cave?
I looked up the reviews on Turner Falls, and sorry to say, they weren’t perfect. One comment I kept seeing was that the park wasn’t clean. I did see park employees picking up trash, but as you can see from the above picture, there’s trash right there …and it wasn’t ours.
Related: Fall Camping at Lake Tenkiller State Park Oklahoma(Opens in a new browser tab)
This photo below of us is before we went exploring the caves. All happy and ready to go!! Oh, it was over 100 degrees that day, and after we got back up the stairs, we both knew it was time to get in our car with the air conditioner on full blast and go home.
There will absolutely be a next time for us. We saw that there’s a zip line course just outside of the park that we didn’t do, and camping in the fall would be excellent there.
One suggestion I’ll make, and it’s a good one, when planning your Turner Falls Park day trip, be sure to look over their website for the things to do and where to park. This will save you a lot of time and stress. Also, buy your tickets online and reserve your parking spot because it can fill up.
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