“I can think of no better review of a community than what I can honestly say about McAlester, Oklahoma – it’s easy to enjoy life here.“
I grew up in McAlester and swore I’d never come back after college. Today, you couldn’t pay me to leave. We have built deep community here – the kind my “big city” friends tell me they wish they could find – and there are so many opportunities to get involved in meaningful work that actually makes our town better. We love to travel, but we always get homesick for this place. I can think of no better review of a community than what I can honestly say about McAlester, Oklahoma – it’s easy to enjoy life here.
Owner, Spaceship Earth Coffee Co.
From Award-Winning Cheese to Internationally-Recognized Craft Beer
McAlester is home to a many culinary delights, from family-owned Italian restaurants with generations of rich history to fresh new restaurants, breweries, cafés, and more.
Southeast Oklahoma’s Hidden Gem
Nestled in the Sans Bois Mountains a mere 25 miles from Downtown McAlester, Robbers Cave State Park is a favorite of rappellers, cave explorers, equestrians, hikers and outdoor lovers, The park and adjoining wildlife management area offers acres of discovery and enjoyment including caves, trout fishing in season, boating, hunting, trails for hikers and horses, sandstone cliffs for climbing and rappelling, and fall foliage viewing. RV and tent campsites, and equestrian campsites are also available. Lodging facilities include the Belle Starr View Lodge, cabins and two group camps. Picnic tables, comfort stations with showers, boat ramps, a swimming beach, swimming pool with bathhouse, playgrounds, miniature golf, hiking trails, paddleboat rentals, and a nature center with naturalist programs/exhibits round out the park’s facilities.
Recreational Hub on Oklahoma’s largest lake
With access points mere minutes from Downtown McAlester, you can easily enjoy Lake Eufaula (pronounced “You-Fall-Uh”) – Oklahoma’s largest lake and one of the best recreational hubs in the country. Eufaula’s shoreline hosts dozens of state parks and campgrounds you can enjoy with unforgettable adventures year-round! Eufaula has everything your family needs to enjoy the lake: trail systems, foodie havens, music festivals, and water obstacle courses!
Lake Eufaula also hosts the Southern Plains Festival – the only international wakeboarding festival on the Great Plains!
Catch the Big One! Lake Eufaula is the region’s fishing hotspot, with nearly 3-million guests annually. In addition, the top three fishing leagues in the country will host championships at Lake Eufaula in 2022-2023.
My wife Becky and I didn’t grow up thinking we would be back in McAlester. Since moving back, we have been so blessed to be a part such a caring and inclusive community. The feelings of connectedness, fulfillment and fun is something you can’t recreate in many places. McAlester has continued to develop into a place that people fall in love with and don’t want to leave. I am so thankful to live here and be a part of this special community.
Dentist, Auld Family Dentistry
Located in the Heart of the City
One of two 18-hole disc golf courses in McAlester, Buffalo Run is nestled in the woods between one of McAlester’s many parks and our thriving regional health center. With help from family, friends and McAlester’s Parks and Recreation Department, local Pro Disc Golfer Matthew House offered his vision and ingenuity to create this beautiful Professional Standards Disc Golf Course that rivals any in the country. Finished in 2014 it continues to be well-maintained be free of charge to the public.
GOLF, SWIMMING, TENNIS, AND MORE
McAlester Country Club is located on approximately 120 acres of rolling green hills. Members are entitled to the use of all club facilities including golf, swimming, tennis, dining, social events and the bar. Golf members enjoy all services the club offers and Social members can enjoy all services except golf. Members are allowed to bring guests to dining, bar and social events. The three story club house has dining and bar services year round and is available to rent for parties and events.
I’ve grown up in the McAlester area. I attend elementary and high school at surrounding rural schools. After graduating high school I left for two years, living in Kansas City, MO, Oklahoma City, and Nashville, TN. I quickly found out that I missed home.
This area is unique. It’s the kind of place that you can create your own fortune, career, and home through the amount of effort and risk you are willing to apply. I say it’s unique because it’s still wide open, so to speak. The old adage of “there’s nothing to here” was true of this area. The truth is, it’s true every place I’ve lived. Through the work of like-minded individuals and hard work, this stigma is no longer true here.
If you’re a hunter, there’s access to private lands as well as public hunting lands. If you’re a fisherman, there’s Lake Eufaula that’s great for crappie and catfish. Within 45 minutes, you can find yourself on Sardis Lake and catch the kind of bass you’ll put on the wall. If you want horses and cattle, it’s a great community for that as well. But what do you do when the day is done? You visit McAlester to eat at any number of restaurants, or you stop by Krebs and eat authentic Italian food that has been passed down through generations. After that, find your way to BierKraft, a local craft brewery and taproom and/or then make your way to Spaceship Earth and enjoy cocktails and craft beer and listen to live music, every Saturday night.
This area, this community, was once a blank canvas. It’s not blank anymore, but we are still working on our artwork.
Downtown Free Concert Series
This series of live concert events held in downtown McAlester kicked off in the summer of 2021 with great success and will only continue to grow. Each event welcomes new and exciting talent from around the country, and the festival grounds on Choctaw Avenue fill with locals and visitors alike who come to enjoy an excellent show – free of charge.
In addition to the concert, these festivals include all kinds of family-friendly excitement during the day: from food trucks to cornhole tournaments, from petting zoos to local craft beer gardens, the Dancing Rabbit Music Festivals have quickly become some of the most anticipated events in Downtown McAlester.
Annual Downtown Steak and Rib Festivals
The Grillmarks Festival Series is an outdoor grilling competition series set in beautiful downtown McAlester, Oklahoma. Each spring, teams gather from around the region to test their skills grilling ribeyes, and in the fall the smokers come out and it’s ribs all day. With 30+ teams lining Choctaw Avenue and passing out delicious samples, local breweries pouring all day, and live music capping off the event, it’s no wonder some attendees call it their favorite day of the year.
Oklahoma’s Longest-Running Festival
Since its inception in 1971, the McAlester Italian Festival has become one of Oklahoma’s oldest and most cherished traditions and is believed to be the longest-running festival in the state. Held each year over two days in May, thousands of visitors come to the McAlester Fairgrounds to celebrate Pittsburg County’s deep Italian heritage with delicious Italian cuisine, games and live music. This a truly unique and time-honored experience that can only be found in McAlester.
