Agency-listedODWCFreeOpen today
Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA)
Drive-up · Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife · OK · 35.05693, -97.19805
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
A designated primitive camping area on Lexington WMA, mapped by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation itself. There is no camping fee, but everyone 18 or older who enters ODWC land needs a Wildlife Conservation Passport ($26 for three days, $46 a year for residents) unless exempt. Camping is capped at 16 consecutive days and no more than 21 days in any 30. Expect nothing: bare ground. No drinking water is published here. Several Oklahoma WMAs close to all non-hunting use for part of the year and allow only hunter and angler camping in that window -- read the area rule in the audit note before you plan a trip. Nearest town is Slaughterville, about 8.0 miles as the crow flies.
Can I go now? — Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA) · Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife · OK
Open today The seasonal closure for non-hunters runs Oct 1 – Feb 15; not in effect today.
Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife record: “Closed to all nonhunting activities, except hunter camping, from Oct. 1 - Feb. 15” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA)
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,121 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA)NIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA) · Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife · OK
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery10 mi
- FFuel10 mi
- @Mail12 mi
- MMechanic12 mi
- +Urgent care12 mi
- RxPharmacy12 mi
- HHardware13 mi
- DDump13 mi
- LLaundry16 mi
- WWater16 mi
- EVEV fast charger16 mi
- AAir-up30 mi
- OOutfitter33 mi
- ShShower45 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 10 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA)
Access
Drive-up
Land
Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife
Elevation
1,121 ft
Ground slope
3.9% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~9.2 mi · passing siding
State
OK
Coordinates
35.05693, -97.19805
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA) · Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife · OK (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureDahlgren Lake · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~9.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~13.2 mi
- GroceriesRiggles Trading Post · ~9.6 mi
- PharmacyNoble Pharmacy · ~12.4 mi
- Hospital / clinicAbsentee Shawnee Tribal Health System · ~12.3 mi
- HardwareNoble Hardware · ~12.7 mi
- Nearest rail line~9.2 mi · passing siding
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
EV charging — from Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA) · Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife · OK — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger16.2 mi straight-line NW — TFCU EVC NORMAN SE · ChargePoint Network · CHAdeMO, CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach15 within 25 mi · 70 within 50 · 135 within 100 · 287 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)20.3 mi — (Francis Energy) - Norman, OK - Tesla Supercharger, Norman
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)19.1 mi — Riverwind Casino, Norman, OK (at an other entertainment) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-01-13 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Montford Inn, a Select Registry Property - Tesla Destination, Norman, 18.1 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 213789 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA) · Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife · OK — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomLake Thunderbird State Park Recreation Management Area-Block Restroom 2 Building · ~10.4 mi N · BoR
- RestroomTurkey Pass Campground-Precast Restroom Building · ~10.9 mi N · BoR
- RestroomSouth Dam Campground-Precast Restroom Building · ~11.0 mi N · BoR
- RestroomTurkey Pass-Precast Restroom Building · ~11.0 mi N · BoR
Coming out here — Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA) · Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife · OK
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Dahlgren Lake as a perennial lake or pond, under 0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 3.9% — gentle. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (10 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Rail line mapped ~9.2 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a passing siding. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in it.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA) elsewhere
Other camps near Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Main Gate (Lexington WMA)~2.9 mi
Who holds the land at Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA)
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as Lexington Wildlife Management Area, manager on record: a state fish and wildlife agency. That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
How we know this — Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA)
Seasonal closure
Closed to all nonhunting activities, except hunter camping, from Oct. 1 - Feb. 15
Fire rules
Fires shall be confined to those areas designated for camping and shall be contained in fireplaces, fire rings, grills, or other facilities designed for this purpose. Fires shall not be left unattended and must be completely extinguished prior to departure.
Stay limit
16 nights (limited to a maximum of 16 consecutive days)
Area rules
Hunter and angler camping is allowed in designated areas.
Source
public land records
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
AREA RULE (https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/hunting/regs/public-hunting-areas-special-regulations, read 2026-08-16): ODWC Special Regulations heading "Lexington WMA" (county: Cleveland) -- Additional Restrictions, verbatim: "Closed to all nonhunting activities, except hunter camping, from Oct. 1 - Feb. 15. However, fishing and angler camping is permitted at Lake Dahlgren. Lake Dahlgren is closed to all activities during controlled hunts. Hunter and angler camping is allowed in designated areas." LEGAL BASIS -- ODWC Department-Managed Area Rules, https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/hunting/regs/department-managed-area-rules, read 2026-08-16, verbatim: "Camping is limited to a maximum of 16 consecutive days, and for no more than 21 days total in any 30-day period on the same WMA. Camping on these areas is limited to two days longer than the period the camper (hunter) is authorized to hunt. Leaving a campsite unattended for a period longer than 48 hours is prohibited. Unattended camp items will be removed. Quiet hours are enforced from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. All dogs or other pets must be kept on a leash or otherwise confined while in camping areas." FIRE -- same page, verbatim: "Fires shall be confined to those areas designated for camping and shall be contained in fireplaces, fire rings, grills, or other facilities designed for this purpose. Fires shall not be left unattended and must be completely extinguished prior to departure." ODWC does not publish a statewide seasonal fire ban on this page; Oklahoma county burn bans are issued separately and are not reflected here. Also verbatim from that page: "Public lands not specifically listed as open are closed." Read the area's own regulation before you go. THIS IS NOT A FEE-FREE PLACE TO ENTER -- fee=0 on this row means ODWC publishes NO per-night camping charge, not that access is free. ODWC's license fee table (https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/licensing/regs/license-fees, read 2026-08-16) states verbatim that an "Annual Wildlife Conservation Passport" is "Required of all persons 18 or older who enter Department owned lands, regardless of residency, unless exempt" at $46 for residents and $239 for nonresidents, and a "3-Day Wildlife Conservation Passport" at $26 / $51. A separate $100 / $200 "Land Access Permit" is "Required for residents ages 18 to 63, and nonresidents of any age, including lifetime license holders to access certain ODWC managed properties." ODWC's fee table says "unless exempt" but does not list the exemptions on that page, so we do not state who is exempt. Treat this as: budget for a permit, and check odwc before you drive. ODWC camp type: "Primitve". Restroom per ODWC: No. Showers per ODWC: No. Picnic area per ODWC: No. Grills per ODWC: No. WATER: ODWC's layer carries no drinking-water field for camping areas and this row claims none. Do not treat any lake, creek or pond near these sites as potable. COORDINATE PROVENANCE: latitude and longitude are ODWC's own, from its public ArcGIS service https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/server/rest/services/PublicWILMA/WILMAFeatures/MapServer/4 (layer 4, 'Camping Areas'), queried 2026-08-16 with where=1=1 outSR=4326. Every ingested point carries OPENTOPUBL='Yes' in that layer. No geocoding was used. Nearest town: Slaughterville ~8.0 mi. 'Nearest town' is STRAIGHT-LINE distance to the nearest OpenStreetMap place=city/town/village and is NOT a driving distance -- on a Corps lake shoreline or in the Ouachitas the road in is routinely two or three times longer. Ingest 2026-08-16. STATUS=pending: this is a lead for review, not published. | auto:agency-trust 2026-08-18: state agency GIS record with a source URL and coordinates, confidence not low. Fee value is the agency's own, not field-checked. Not field-verified -- confirm access, road conditions and fire rules before you go.
Season
Read from the agency's own season / closure text in this record (data/conditions.py) and checked against the calendar. The words we read are printed under the verdict at the top of the page.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA)
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Whether the fire rule stated above still stands today — what we have is a dated reading of the agency's listing, not a live restriction feed
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Lake Dahlgren (Lexington WMA)
Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →Hot-weather camping →Leave no trace →All field notes →