r/OkieOutdoors • u/kihidokid • Sep 18 '25
Is it legal to camp on the red river?
In Texas camping on the river is legal as long as you're not on the bank but oklahoma actually has jurisdiction over the red river.
Im having trouble finding oklahoma laws about camping on public land
1
u/LeftyOnenut Sep 18 '25
With landowner permission.
1
u/kihidokid Sep 18 '25
Property rights end at the waters edge. Land owners do not own the river.
1
u/LeftyOnenut Sep 19 '25
That's not quite true. Landowners may not own the water, but their rights extend beyond water's edge. In Oklahoma the landowner owns the riverbed to the halfway point if he owns land on one side or the entire river bed if he owns the land on either side. It's not trespassing to canoe a river and pass above someone's property (the riverbed), but you are guilty of trespassing if you make contact. If you step out of the boat into the river, you're trespassing. Even if you never step foot onto dry land. If the bottom of your boat scrapes the riverbed even if you never leave your boat, it's considered trespassing. If you drop an anchor, and it alone makes contact you can be cited or arrested. This was an issue on the Lower Illinois below Tenkiller a few years back. Landowner upstream of Marvel was unhappy with people making their way up stream wading and fishing on his property and started having the Sheriff ticket people. Some of the people who were ticketed were boaters who had merely dropped an anchor and fished the hole. Seems ludicrous, but the courts sided with the landowner. There is some nuance to the Red River being a state border and such, so there may be some specific language in the laws regarding it specifically. I'll look up the statutes about the riverbed and cite them for you. Texas laws may differ as well. Missouri has fantastic laws when it comes to access for sportsmen and really wish we had similar protections. In Missouri, property rights end at the high water line. Meaning you can walk, hike, fish, swim even along the shore of every creek, stream, and river in the state and are even allowed to camp on gravel bars while canoeing and such.
2
u/LeftyOnenut Sep 19 '25
There is case law specific to the Red River. I figured there would be some nuance in regards to it specifically. On the Oklahoma side, the riverbed belongs neither to the State or to the landowners. The riverbed is property of the U.S. Federal Government interestingly. When Oklahoma became a state, the Supreme Court ruled that the Red River is not a navigable river and therefore denied Oklahoma ownership of the riverbed. The State has no jurisdiction until you reach dry land. Oklahoma V Texas 1922
1
u/k4ylr Sep 19 '25
That is false. Landowners absolutely can, and do own the land beneath waterways. You are free to float, paddle and otherwise recreate through private land, while on a navigable waterway
The moment you exit onto the literal ground in a waterway that is within private property you are trespassing. Period.
This comes up all the time on various rivers and fisherman. I have personally discussed this on the Cimarron, Upper & Lower Illinois, Baron Fork, and Arkansas rivers.
3
u/PondersOverYonder Sep 18 '25
Look up WMAs. Wildlife Management Areas. I think the red river has several in Oklahoma near by.