Cherokee State Park, Oklahoma
This stunning little jewel is tucked away in the North-East corner of Oklahoma close to the small town of Disney. Cherokee is actually made up of a group of small parks that surround the Pensacola Dam. It took around an hour to get here from Bartlesville but we came here together very often, and I returned alone many time in-between.
no matter what the season the park had something to offer. It's 'moonscape' surface was the dry river bed and covers over 40 acres alone, this shot of Sarah was taken in November 2007 when we discovered the park, just 3 months after our arrival in Bartlesville. within a couple of days I returned to grab more photos and explore further.
I love this shot from within the wooded area looking out to the rocks with a carpet of dry golden leaves lining the small stream
but my favourite photo from this beautiful area is this cool blue winter shot made in December 2007 during a fishing trip to the park.
in winter time one of the three dams would often 'let out' to maintain the levels in the lake above but it was a relatively rare occurrence, whereas in springtime it was a frequent occurrence and we saw it often.
On one occasion I was fortunate enough to see a fish 'run' with a continual stream of fish pushing up the side of the river to spawn, the shoal stretched the entire length of the park, I even got to see one of the predators (a Gar) lurking in the shallows
We took all of our visitors to Cherokee, my brother Steve was driven mad by those enormous fish just out of reach.
When Mark and Hayley came we swam in the freezing cold spring fed pool at the far end of the park, once fully in the water it was not so bad : )
Cherokee is a stunning area and one we really enjoyed visiting, I would definitely try to drop in here again if we ever get back to this part of Oklahoma.