In the pandhandle of Oklahoma, east of the city of Guymon, you can find Optima State Wildlife Area. A large dam and recreation areas were built to surround what was intended to be a lake and vacation spot.
Plans for this site were made during the Flood Plains Act of 1936, but construction did not begin until 1966.
The lake never reached more than 5% of its capacity after being finished in 1978. Even before ground was broken to build this site, the aquifer supplying the area had already been drained down from irrigation to farms and residences.
The Beaver River, which was supposed to be the main supply to fill the lake, had dropped to about 20% of its former flow between 1936 and 1978. The lake would have been 100 feet deep with miles of shoreline had the water supply not been tampered with.
The abandoned dam stretches about 3 miles long, with a dam office still standing. The dam office had a refueling station, garage, along with plenty of storage buildings.
Nearly $50 million were wasted on the creation of this project. Over the years more money has been wasted including regular inspections of the dam (that holds no water) and what were recreational amenities. All of the remaining amenities were destroyed for "public safety".
Several recreation/camping areas were built on the south side of the lake. All that's left of them now are the paved roads and concrete pads. Demolished picnic tables can also be seen.
So, essentially, we have a big, dry, dammed up hole that has been a taxpayer money pit for the last 65 years.
Don't forget, however, that if you want to camp here... You can only stay 14 days, assuming you are a properly licensed hunter or fisherman.
Hunting opportunities exist, but I would leave your boat and fishing pole at home. Though we are camped at what was intended to be a boat ramp, no boat was ever launched from here.
If you're brave enough to be the only person around for miles at a deserted government waste site.. make sure to pack out your trash as well..
Some history from this article were shared from: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optima_Lake
