Nature Conservancy Says Vandalism, Illegal Activity Forced Closure Of Bathtub Rocks

The popular nature attraction, Bathtub Rocks in Tahlequah, is now closed to the public. The Nature Conservancy owns that land and said they made the hard decision to close after years of vandalism and illegal activity. 

Katie Gillies, the director of The Nature Conservancy that owns the land, said Bathtub Rocks is one of Green Country's hidden treasures, tucked away in the J.T. Nickle Family Wildlife Preserve in Tahlequah. 

“We’ve been allowing public access to our private property since 2000 because we know people in this area love Bathtub Rocks, people have been coming here for generations,” said Gillies. 

The Nature Conservancy, a 501 C-3 nonprofit, owns the preserve, including Bathtub Rocks. Gillies said with about 30,000 visitors a year, they've been dealing with issues from all that foot traffic. 

“We’ve tried putting up signs, we’ve tried putting up fences, but they get torn down, vandalized, even shot at. We’ve had some evidence of illegal drug activity out here – we’ve found needles and other drug paraphernalia out here and actually drugs out here,” Gillies explained. “It's really ramped up recently to the point where we have to close it down permanently and have law enforcement on site for people who might be trespassing on our private property. " 

Gillies said many people don't know that if you step off the county road, everything past it is private property owned by The Nature Conservancy. Before they did not enforce trespassing, but they will now.

“It was a very hard decision to make. We’ve tried to be a good neighbor and that’s why we’ve kept it open for so long,” Gillies said.  

Gillies said the preserve's hiking trails and country roads will still be open for people to enjoy the preserve. She said the conservancy hasn't decided if or when they will reopen Bathtub Rocks.  

“Right now, we are just focused on trying to restore and clean up what we got here and to get the word out to please not come out here and trespass and vandalize," Gillies said. 

To learn more about the J.T. Nickle Family Wildlife Preserve, you can click here.