Red Carpet Country, Oklahoma
A vast prehistoric sea that covered what's now northwestern Oklahoma colored the soil a deep red-brown -- and left a few other surprised as well. Like the cedar-flecked canyons in Roman Nose State Park, carved by receding water, or the Alabaster Caverns, the world's largest gypsum-lined cave. Shifting sand dunes tower 40 feet high at Little Sahara State Park and the 4,973-foot-high, lava topped Black Mesa near Kenton was created by an ancient volcano. The mesa, the state's highest point, has long been a have for wildlife and for hikers -- some of them bigger than others, as nearby dinosaur footprints testify. The prairies were once dotted with tipis; northwest Oklahoma were the winter campgrounds for the Cheyenne-- the last great herd of buffalo on the Oklahoma plains was spotted near Fort Supply in the 1870s. Two decades later, the largest of all the land runs took place when the Cherokee Outlet was opened in1893 to settlement. In a single afternoon, 100,000 men and women raced to claim 160-acre quarter-sections; some of their great-grandchildren still live on original homesteads. In Aline, the Sod House Museum shelters the only remaining sod house in the state, built in 1849.
Explore Red Carpet Country
Windmill Museum and Park
Shattuck Windmill Museum and Park was established in 1994 and now, 37 windmills stand in the park, with no two alike, from a little 5 foot "Star Zephyr" to the big 18 foot "Samson."
Shattuck, OK MuseumsBeaver Dunes Camping & Recreation
Hackberry Bend Campground has seven RV campsites with water and electric hookups and 10 tent sites; Five RV sites are pull-thrus and one is handicapped accessible. Also located in Hackberry Bend is a one room primitive cabin which sleeps 4 and can be reserved. Pioneer Campground
, OK CampingAlfalfa County Museum
The Alfalfa County Museum occupies the 1929 National Historic Cherokee Hotel, that to this day is the tallest four story building in Alfalfa County. Currently the museum'
Cherokee, OK MuseumsCherokee Strip Museum
Through the use of artifacts, photographs, and documents the museum traces the history of the Cherokee Outlet and its people. In addition to exhibits detailing the chronological history of life in the Outlet, there are vignettes of a *General Store, * Kitchen, *
Perry, OK Museums"Cimmy", the Apatasaurus
Bones of prehistoric dinosaurs were discovered in 1931 about eight miles east of Kenton which included an almost complete skeleton of an apatasaurus, thought to be the largest specimen of its kind in existence. "Cimmy"
Boise City, OK ArtsGreat Salt Plains Camping
The State Park offers both waterfront and wooded primitive and RV campgrounds. Sandy Beach has 34 primitive and 27 RV sites at Area 1 and approximately 43 primitive sites at Area ll, and a swim beach with bathhouse. The Salt River Road Area has 36 RV sites and 15
, OK CampingSalt Plains National Wildlife Refuge
Salt Plains was established in 1930 "as a refuge and breeding ground for birds." It provides habitat for approximately 300 species of birds and 30 species of mammals. The 32,030 acres is divided into almost equal parts of nonvegetated salt flat, open water, and vegetated land (
Cherokee, OK Wildlife RefugesHooper Drug Store - 1906
At the corner of Main & Noble you will find Stewart Real Estate and H & R Block. It hasn't always been that way. In 1906
Watonga, OK Historic BuildingsOptima National Wildlife Refuge
Located in the middle of the Oklahoma panhandle, the 4,333-acre Optima National Wildlife Refuge is made up of grasslands and wooded bottomland on the Coldwater Creek arm of the Army Corps of Engineers Optima Reservoir Project.
The panhandle area of Oklahoma is often referred to as "
, OK Wildlife Refuges