Reservoir and Recreation Area Near McLoud, Oklahoma
Shawnee, OK
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Public lake access and day-use fees apply at developed areas; consult Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and City of Shawnee resources.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Developed picnic and camping areas, dirt access roads in remote sections
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1935 · Depression-Era Oklahoma Reservoir Construction
Shawnee Twin Lakes are a pair of municipal reservoirs in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, located approximately seven miles west of the city of Shawnee. Lake Number 1, the older of the two, was constructed in 1935 during the Depression-era infrastructure expansion that built many central Oklahoma reservoirs. It covers 1,336 surface acres and offers 16 miles of shoreline. Lake Number 2, constructed in 1960, adds 1,100 surface acres and nine miles of shoreline. A ten-foot canal completed in 1962 connects the two reservoirs.
Isaac Walton Park, established after the 1935 completion of Lake Number 1, anchors the developed recreation use of the system. The park includes 15 individual campsites, swimming access, eight family picnic areas with grills, restrooms, parking, and other amenities. Lake Number 1 was opened to full recreation use after a 1994 Shawnee referendum.
The lakes are operated by the City of Shawnee. McLoud, an incorporated town in southwest Pottawatomie County, sits closer to the access roads used to approach the lakes from Interstate 40 via the McLoud exit. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation maintains fish stocking and access guidance for the system.
The rural roads surrounding the lakes pass through agricultural and lightly developed land, including the dirt roads south of the I-40 McLoud exit that figure in regional folklore. Visitors interested in the developed recreation areas should use the marked entrances rather than the back roads.
Sources
The Shadowlands narrative attached to this entry does not describe the Shawnee Twin Lakes recreation area itself. It describes a wooden cross along a back-country dirt road south of the McLoud I-40 exit, with associated stories of a hanging and additional violent-crime allegations including the discovery of bodies near the cross.
Research did not surface independent newspaper, sheriff's-office, or historical-society documentation supporting the specific violent-crime allegations described in the Shadowlands account. The narrative reads as community folklore attached to a roadside marker rather than as a documented case file, and per Hauntbound editorial policy on unidentifiable venues with violent-crime lore, the specific allegations are not repeated here.
The folkloric tradition of crosses along rural roads is common across Oklahoma and the broader rural United States, where they typically mark traffic fatalities or commemorate family losses. Visitors should respect the property and rights-of-way of the surrounding land, much of which is private or under state jurisdiction. The recreational use of the Shawnee Twin Lakes system, accessed through marked entrances and developed parks, is the recommended way to experience the area.
Visit the 2,400-plus combined acres of the Shawnee Twin Lakes reservoir system, located seven miles west of Shawnee in Pottawatomie County. The lakes support fishing, boating, camping, and picnicking at developed sites including Isaac Walton Park. The lakes are operated under City of Shawnee management with Department of Wildlife Conservation cooperation.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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