Grand Lake O the Cherokees
Close to Heaven
Grand Lake in Oklahoma is a new place to explore just hours from Kansas City.


Wanna get away this summer? A place you might overlook or not even know exists is the Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, known as the jewel in Northeastern Oklahoma’s crown.

With its 1,300 miles of shoreline, boutiques, antique shops, casinos, restaurants, housing options and wildlife that outnumbers the locales, Grand Lake is a place where people come to visit, live and retire. With approximately 15,000 residents Monday-Thursday, the Lake welcomes hundreds of visitors on the weekends, and with the attractions you’ll find in surrounding towns and communities, you’ll understand why.

Miami , with its 13-mile stretch of the original Route 66 Ribbon Road, is home to the Coleman Theatre Beautiful and nine tribes. Cowskin, named because of the nearby tannery, is an area for camping, gambling and fishing, while Monkey Island, the strip of land in the center of the widest part of the lake, consists of 3,500 acres that’s seven miles long, one to three miles wide and known for its nightlife and annual Grand Wine Festival.

Vinita, the second oldest town in Oklahoma, has a rich cowboy heritage and Route 66 as its main street. Grove, the largest city on the Grand Lake shores, boasts numerous attractions, eateries, special events and water activities. Jay & East Grand Lake is known as the center of Native American activities and hosts the annual Huckleberry Festival in July, and South Grand Lake & Duck Creek, home of many communities at the southern end of Grand Lake, features marinas, boat service centers and rock crawling.

Besides the regular fishing, golfing and boating experiences, the numerous other attractions and activities offered at Grand Lake appeal to visitors and residents alike. Bernice State Park Nature Center is home to a lakeside 3,000-square-foot facility center, one-half mile nature trail and an 800-gallon aquarium with native Grand Lake fish. Dobson Museum houses more than 5,000 historical items that include Native American artifacts and a collection of china, glassware, jugs, furniture and toys used by the first settlers. For those who love to stroll through nature’s beauty, Lendonwood Gardens has three acres filled with more than 1,500 plant species with a Japanese pavilion that overlooks a koi pond and surrounding garden — it also has one of the largest chamaecyparis trees and rhododendron collections in the Midwest.

If you want a break from lake water, take a dive into the Miami Aquatic Center at Riverview Park — home to the largest municipal pool in the state of Oklahoma, three speed slides and a designated area for children. Or, if you want more of an overall view of the Grand Lake area, sign up for a helicopter flight or enjoy a 500-foot ride in the air when parasailing.

So, when looking for a vacation spot that offers just about every kind of excitement the whole family can agree on, be sure to check out what Deborah Wolek, executive director of the Grand Lake Association, calls “the closest thing to heaven on earth.”