McGee Creek State Park is a state park in southern

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. The park is on the south side of

McGee Creek Reservoir McGee Creek Reservoir is a reservoir in Atoka County, Oklahoma. It impounds the waters of McGee Creek and several smaller streams, including Potapo, Panther, Little Bugaboo, Bear, Blue, Mill, and Crooked creeks, all of which are tributaries of ...

, which impounds the waters of McGee Creek. Created in 1985 the reservoir provides

flood control Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

. The park is approximately and the reservoir is approximately . Its main staple is recreational and sport fishing. The main fish fished for in this park include

Crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomoxi ...

, Sunfish,

Largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

, and

Channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus''), known informally as the "channel cat", is a species of catfish native to North America. They are North America's most abundant catfish species, and the official state fish of Kansas, Missouri, Nebra ...

. The McGee Creek Wildlife Management area is located between the two arms of the reservoir. Bear and deer are among the animals present.

Shortleaf pine The shortleaf pine or ''Pinus echinata'' is a species of coniferous tree endemic to the United States. The shortleaf pine is sometimes referred to as the "old field", "spruce", "rosemary", "yellow", "two-leaf" and "heart" pine. The common name " ...

, though near its western limit, is abundant. When the park, the lake and the Wildlife Management Area are considered together, the total protected area around the lake is about ."McGee Creek Lake, Oklahoma, USA." Lake lubbers.com.
Accessed August 28, 2015. McGee Creek Natural Scenic Recreation Area is connected to with McGee Creek State Park. Both are a part of the McGee Creek Wildlife Management Area. The Natural Scenic Recreation Area is located in the top northeast area of the

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

refuge. Activities in the Scenic Recreation Area include horseback riding, hiking, mountain biking, camping, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, and bouldering.

Proposed park closure in 2018

In March 2017, the

Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation The Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation is a government agency, department of the government of Oklahoma within the Tourism and Branding Cabinet. The Department is responsible for regulating Oklahoma's tourism industry and for promotin ...

published a list of 16

state parks 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 ...

that may be closed to help offset a reduction in its budget for 2018. McGee Creek State Park is on this list. This list represents approximately one-half of the parks remaining after the department closed seven parks in 2011.Fultenberg, Lorne. "Half of Oklahoma state parks could close with budget cuts." KFOR News. March 13, 2017.
Accessed November 1, 2017.

References

Protected areas of Atoka County, Oklahoma State parks of Oklahoma {{Oklahoma-protected-area-stub