Broken Bow Area Information and Weather Forecast
10-Day Weather ForecastThe Broken Bow area has experienced explosive tourism growth over the past several years and has become a favorite vacation destination for many throughout the Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana region. A small rural town located in Southeast Oklahoma, Broken Bow is the gateway to all that the region has to offer, including Broken Bow Lake, Beavers Bend Resort Park, and Hochatown State Park.
Broken Bow
The town of Broken Bow is located in McCurtain County, the most southeastern county in the state of Oklahoma. Broken Bow is located at the foothills of the Kiamichi Mountains, a sub-range of the Ouachita Mountains. Timber and tourism are the primary industries for the community.
Tourism for Broken Bow is primarily driven by the popularity of Beavers Bend State Park and Broken Bow Lake, each located approximately 12 miles north of Broken Bow off Hwy 259. More than 2 million visitors per year visit Beavers Bend / Broken Bow 
Lake.
Another attraction to the Broken Bow area is the legend of “Bigfoot”. Whether or not you believe in the large, hairy, mystical creature, the Broken Bow region has become famous as one of the most notorious regions of the country for reported sightings.
Broken Bow is home to two museums containing Native American artifacts. The Gardner Mansion and Museum was the historic home of the “Chief of the Choctaws” and was built in 1884. The Indian Memorial Museum houses pre-historic Indian pottery, fossils, Quartz crystal and antique glass.
Just ten miles south of Broken Bow, in Idabel, is The Museum of the Red River. The museum is home to art and archaeology from around the world, including a 40 foot long, Acrocanthosaurus atokensis, or Acro, which was one of North America’s largest predators with a large head, powerful back legs, and relatively small arms, similar to a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
For those lodging in the Hochatown and Beavers Bend area, Broken Bow provides all the amenities of a small town. This includes grocery, restaurants, shopping, auto repair, convenience stores, pharmacies and medical practices. The nearest hospital is located in Idabel, approximately 10 miles south of Broken Bow. McCurtain Memorial Hospital.
Hochatown
When you talk to friends or family that they just got back from Broken Bow, it’s a good chance that much of their time was spent in Hochatown. Located just seven miles north of Broken Bow, Hochatown has become a popular destination for many in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
Due to the area’s explosive growth, Hochatown is home to thousands of cabin vacation rental properties, popular local restaurants, and exciting indoor and outdoor activities.
Hochatown has a very unique history. Originally settled by families of Choctaw, around the turn of the 20th century, the Choctaw Lumber and Coal Company was established, along with growing farmland.
With the decline of lumber in the 1920s, a new industry soon emerged…moonshining. Due to abundant waters of the Mountain Fork River, Hochatown soon became known as the moonshine capital of Oklahoma. As an illegal activity, economic opportunities were limited, and the population dwindled.
In the 1960s, all evidence of the original Hochatown disappeared and was covered in water with the development of the Broken Bow dam and Broken Bow Lake.
Hochatown, Part 2. With the growing popularity of Broken Bow Lake and Beavers Bend State Park, Hochatown began redeveloping, this time, based on tourism, with the first big wave of development in the early 2000s. Today, the area is rapidly expanding, creating new opportunities for business and entertainment.
The area is expected to see continued growth as new development continues and tourism expands. Although it has taken awhile to find its true identity, it seems to have done so, and the future looks very, very good.
Beavers Bend
The construction of Beavers Bend State Park was begun in the 1930s by the Civil Conservation Corps. Today, the Beavers Bend area is known as Oklahoma’s “Little Smokies” and is visited by 2 million visitors each year.
Due to its proximity to major metropolitan areas like Dallas/Fort Worth and Oklahoma City, Beavers Bend has become a favorite destination for many to get away from the daily grind and “get back to nature”.
Visit Beavers Bend State Park to learn more about the park and all that it has to offer.
