New Beggs Lake
The
New Beggs Lake is a small reservoir lake just off Highway 16 between
of Beggs, Oklahoma and Highway 75. Finding Beggs Lake can be a
little tricky on the first visit, but we managed to paddled it with
our kayaks on a warm Sunday morning in August. Since there is no
street sign to show you where to turn off of Hwy 16, you have to
watch the north side of the road for the Beggs WTP water tower. Turn
off Highway 16, just as if you were going to the water plant. The
'lake road' then turns to gravel and heads uphill to your right.
This road dead ends next to the New Beggs Lake.
At
first, I didn't find the New Beggs Lake to be as beautiful as either
of Okmulgee's lakes, but I immediately began to enjoy the privacy of
this little Oklahoma reservoir. NO boats with motors are allowed on
Beggs Lake and this is the one feature that I may return to enjoy.
We shared the lake with 3 other guys kicking around in those fishing
float tubes. I didn't see them catch any fish, but they were on the
lake early and catching a very nice breeze for a summer day.
Sometimes less... is more, especially for kayaking.
You
probably won't need a map for kayaking on the New Beggs Lake and it
is small enough that you should see all of its shoreline in a single
morning of canoeing. From the boat launch, paddle East across the
lake and you can take your kayak up a short, narrow, twisty creek
that snakes like a maze through tall cat-tail reeds, moss and lily
pads. In this part of the lake, the lily pads are higher than our
heads. As we kayak slowly past the yellow lotus blossoms, we try to
paddle lightly to avoid slinging the foul smelling stands of muddy
moss on ourselves and each other. It is shady, here when the rest of
the lake is bright with morning sun.
The
New Beggs Lake is perfect for a quick bit of exercise paddling, if
you own your own kayak and live nearby. Being right off the highway,
you can get there fast. Since the lake is small, you don't spend a
lot of time drive slowly through lovely park roads before reaching
the water. The New Beggs Lake doesn't offer any facilities, just a
mowed parking space and some quiet shady water for kayaking...and
that suited me and Dianne just fine. When you are in the mood for
some light 'Lily Paddling', the New Beggs Lake fits the bill.
The shallow water on New Beggs Lake is very mossy.
Food & Lodging options are rather limited around Beggs, Oklahoma.
When I am in the area I usually eat at the Beggs Drive-In.
There is also a Biker themed cafe called Rock-a-Billy's right off
Hwy 16 near the Hwy 75 entrance ramp. For lodging, you may want to
travel South on Highway 75 to Okmulgee or North to Glenpool.
