Elk City

• Exercise Trail
  • Length- .5 miles
  • Terrain - Gravel
  • Difficulty level – Easy
  • Usage – Walking
  • This is an exercise trail in the Day Use Area. It is 1/2 mile in length and has various exercise apparatus along the trail.
• Post-Oak Self-Guiding Nature Trail
  • Length- 1 mile
  • Terrain - Natural
  • Difficulty level – Easy
  • Usage – Walking
  • This 2/3-mile trail located on the top of the table mound is a relatively easy hike. The trailhead is located at the scenic overlook near the dam. The old-growth forest setting that this trail winds through is indicative of the Cross Timbers region. A wide variety of tree species can be found here with many specimens being well over 200 years in age. A self-guiding brochure has been developed to coincide with this trail to be used as an interpretive aid for the user. This trail has been designated as a National Recreation Trail under the U.S Department of the Interior’s National Trail System.
• Green Thumb Nature Trail
  • Length- 1 mile
  • Terrain - Natural
  • Difficulty level – Moderate
  • Usage – Walking
  • This interpretive nature trail is a loop design with its trailhead located in the Timber Road Campground. Features of the trail include two wooden pedestrian footpaths, which are about 33-40 feet in length, and interpretive signing informing hikers of the plants and animals native to this area. The trail is described as a moderately strenuous hike that is somewhat uphill. At the top of the hill, the surrounding trees frame a spectacular view of Elk City Lake.

Table Mound Hiking Trail:

• Length- 2.75 miles
• Terrain - NA
• Difficulty level – Moderate
• Usage – Walking, Canoe/Kayaking

This linear trail has a trailhead at the Scenic Overlook near the dam and at Timber Road Campground, northwest of the State Park office. Due to the length of this trail, it is able to give witness to the hiker many different and picturesque scenes. If chosen to begin the trail at the Scenic Overlook, the trail runs north .2 mile atop the edge of Table Mound along the edge of a 20-foot bluff. After dropping through a crack in a rock and going down to the foot of the bluff, it turns sharply south.

For about the next .5 mile, the trail passes along vertical rock walls, boulder fields, and cave-like formations. The trail then drops down through a ravine and crosses the county road. For the next 1.9 miles, the trail winds through forested hills and crosses three small creeks. The final segment is .15 miles and is along an old roadway. This particular trail is blazed with blue paint markings and is considered a moderately strenuous hike. This trail has been designated as a National Recreation trail under the U.S Department of the Interior’s National Trail System.

• Osage Lowland Bike Trail
  • Length- 2.5 miles
  • Terrain - Paved
  • Difficulty level – Easy
  • Usage – Walking, Biking
  • ADA Accessible
  • This is a paved trail through the Osage Lowland day-use area of the State Park. It has views of the wildlife area, and the south side of the lake and is available for walking or bike riding.
• Osage Lowland Hiking Trail
  • Length- 3.3 miles
  • Terrain - Paved
  • Difficulty level – Easy
  • Usage – Walking, Mountain Biking
  • This is a paved trail through the Osage Lowland Day Use Area of the State Park. It has views of the wildlife area, and the south side of the lake and is available for walking or bike riding.
• Eagle Rock Mountain Bike Trail
  • Length- 4 miles
  • Terrain - Natural
  • Difficulty level – Easy to Moderate
  • Usage – Mountain Biking, Canoe/Kayaking
  • This trail was designed with the beginner mountain biker in mind but also for the experienced mountain biker to excel. On its path, which passes by large sycamore and oak trees, the trail has roller coaster dips, straight and winding climbs, downhills, and log jumps with ride-around provided in most places for the less skilled riders. The trail begins along the Elk River just north of the reservoir outlet. The wooded portion of the trail soon gives way to a trek through ice age boulders that cover the hillside. Another segment of the trail winds through tall native grasses. Like all the trails at Elk City Lake, the scenery seen along the Eagle Rock trail is phenomenal.

• Pileated woodpeckers
• White-tailed deer
• Turkey
• Bobcats
• Coyotes
• Indigo Buntings
• Orioles
• Chuck-will's-widow
• Barred Ols
• Whip-poor-wills 

• Channel catfish
• White bass
• Crappie
• Flathead catfish

The world-record 123-pound flathead catfish was caught in Elk City Reservoir.

Facilities

• Fishing dock