A Cabin in the woods: Great getaways in Broken Bow, OK
Places to Stay
Cabins in the woods aren't what they used to be, there are options from the bare bones walls with just a loft and a mattress for sleeping, then there are those that are basically luxury homes just off the beaten path. While there’s many great locations for these, our family favorite is Broken Bow, Oklahoma. There’s far more to do in the summer than in the winter with the lake nearby but it’s still a great weekend getaway even in the winter.
There’s plenty to choose from in Broken bow, there are two or three websites that manage these cabins, you can stay at one that is small and just enough room for you and your basic stuff or you can rent a large house for your family and even extended family. Most of the larger ones have large porches/decks and hot tubs. Many are on a small acre and hidden in the trees enough that you feel alone even though there really is a house just 200 ft away. You can find cabins small enough for 2 people or large enough for 16+ it really just depends on your needs and budget.
Things to do
Some cabins really are tucked away from others. If you aren't really a nature person, then stay in your cabin and just enjoy the quiet, watch TV, go visit Girls Gone Wine or have a fantastic meal at Abendigo’s, our favorite spot!!! and without a doubt the best steakhouse in the Midwest! If you are an outdoors person, in the winter the beaver’s bend area is a great place to trout fish, it’s a good place to go in the summer too but everyone else knows that and it’s crowded on weekends. Cabin rates drop in January and February since it's off season, so if you aren't sure if it's worth the money, plan a 3 day weekend during those months. You can still get out and enjoy nature or just hide away in your cabin. We often see deer some right up to the cabin in the early mornings when we go.
There are plenty of hiking trails in the area and a few little gift shops. In the summer you can swim, rent personal water crafts, canoe or kayak in the river, play mini golf and just have a relaxing good time. Not far from Broken Bow is the Ouachita National Forest and Three Rivers Forest, get familiar with the rules and you can have some great fun. There are some roads where ATVs are still allowed on the road and you can find cabins to rent with easy access to those roads if you have your own ATVs. Many of the cabins in the area offer enough parking and turn around room to pull your boat or trailer. There are several with mountain biking trails or walking trails at the cabin, it can be a great family get away or a romantic weekend for two…much to do and It’s well worth checking out!
Favorites
Our personal favorites are the Loose Moose Lodge, we can’t have the ATVs at this cabin but getting a big boat in and out of the drive is manageable and we love the feel of the loose moose! When we go for an ATV trip we stay at Juniper Hollow, it’s smaller, but has everything you need with plenty of room for that trailer with the ATVs and you can follow back roads to get to the forest roads where ATVs are allowed. This may have changed, last trip that we were there they mentioned the rules about ATVs would be changing soon but there are still other cabins where you can unload at the cabin and navigate to ATV trails. If you can't find one of those, many of the cabins have room for your trailer and you can just drive to the forest entrance and unload there with room to park. There are also ATV rentals down there, so if that's your thing there are plenty of options. No matter which one we stay in...no trip is completed without at least one dinner at Abendigo's.
If you prefer to get out without using so much gas, there are some horse riding trails as well. I have no idea how much these cost, we have horses at Grandma's house so it seems silly to us to pay someone else to ride different horses on different saddles etc. However if you don't have a friend/family member with a horse ranch, then trail riding doesn't seem so silly, after all, it's a turn key operation, you didn't have to care for the animal, feed it, pay the vet bill or anything, you just show up and enjoy it! Not a bad deal when you think about it.
The worst part about staying in the cabin is that you have to eventually come home and return to work.
Some links to get you started
If you’re thinking about a weekend, here are a few websites to review to get you started
www.brokenbowcabinlodging.com they have a wide selection of cabins
http://www.hiddenhillscabinsok.com/ they have the more secluded cabins near ATV trails
http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/ouachita/home a link to Ouachita National Forest site.
http://www.stateparks.com/beavers_bend.html A link to Beaver's Bend State Park.
Check it all out...there's much to do! There are some more great website for the area I am sure. If you know of one, feel free to leave it in a comment and I'll add it here next time I edit this article. Thanks so much for stopping by, if you go check out broken bow because of this Hub....leave me a comment for sure.
