Elmer Thomas Lake in Oklahoma

Trip Overview

This is a small lake in the Witchita Mountains Wildlife Refuge west of Lawton, OK. It took me about 4 hours to paddle around the entire shoreline of this lake.

There are a lot of inlets, and to not go in them, would waste the experience of escaping Oklahoma, inside itself. The inlets are just gorgeous! They made the hour and a half drive from Oklahoma City worth-while.

There were a lot of turtles to see, Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, and Canadian Geese. This lake is at the base of Mt. Scott, so you can get some beautiful pictures of the mountain coming back to the launch site. There's a few bass boats on the lake, but it's very quiet. You'll be the only one in the inlets: other boats can't get in them!

Accommodations:

adequate amount of parking, good ramp to launch from.

Fees:

none

Directions:

Take I-44 to OK 49. It's about 6 miles west on 49 before you'll see the lake. Lake Latonka is the big one, and Elmer Thomas the smaller of the two lakes. There is a small launch site on the left side of the road.

Contact:

Wichita Mountains Visitor Center


For Visitor Information: (580) 429-3222


For Tour Reservations: (580) 429-2151