Kaw Lake Area

The Kaw Lake Area in northeast Oklahoma offers abundant outdoor recreation opportunities as well as nearby Ponca City and other towns including Shidler, Burbank and Newkirk. Kaw Lake offers boating, swimming, fishing, camping, hiking, hunting, equestrian trails and watchable wildlife. You'll find two sandy swim beaches that are perfect for a day of summer family fun on the shore and plenty of open waters for boating, skiing, tubing and fishing. Kaw Lake is also home a large population of Bald Eagles who spend the winter in the area, and you can join one of the tours to observe these magnificent birds.

Head over to Ponca City to find a wide variety of lodging, dining and attractions as well as frequent festivals and events. Explore Native American history and culture at Standing Bear Museum and Education Center covering the six tribes that inhabit the area. Discover the intriguing history and dark secrets of the Marland Mansion, also known as the 'Palace on the Prairie' as you tour the 43,561-sq. ft. historic home of an oil baron turned Oklahoma governor. Tour the Poncan Theatre which once hosted famous Vaudeville celebrities and now hosts performances and is a museum in its own right with one of the largest collections of original lobby art posters. Spend a day at Sun 'n Fun Water Park, visit the Pioneer Woman Museum to get a glimpse of pioneer life on the Plains or stroll the winding paths of the Cann Memorial Botanical Gardens. 

Kaw Lake is just about 40 minutes west of the town of Pawhuska, so if you are a fan of Food Network's "Pioneer Woman," you'll want to visit her Mercantile, P-Town Pizza restaurant, Charlie's Sweet Shop and Pioneer Woman Boarding House. On certain dates, you can even tour her lodge on the Drummond Ranch where she and her 'Marlboro Man' raise their family and tend to the ranch. Pawhuska is also home to the Osage Nation and is prominently featured in Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" film. You won't run out of things to do in the Kaw Lake Area of Green Country!