Thanks to Rodgers and Hammerstein and the Weather Channel, most folks know Oklahoma as that place in the middle of the U.S. "where the wind comes sweeping down the plains." And the designation is certainly fitting, especially in the spring of the year when it’s time for Oklahomans to hunker down for tornado season.

While the plains indeed comprise a large portion of Oklahoma's land mass and contribute significantly to its cultural history, the state is home to more than 10 distinct ecoregions, giving it some of the most diverse terrain in the nation. Hiking opportunities are many and varied because of this, and it's perfectly realistic to hike along a clear mountain stream beneath pines and Caddo maples one day and scramble over worn granite peaks peppered with prickly pear and scrub oak the next. Three of Oklahoma's most popular regions for hiking are the Wichita Mountains in the southwest, the Ouachita Mountains in the southeast, and the Cross Timbers, a region running north and south through the center of the state.

West Cache Creek flows through the Wichitas along the Bison Trail in the Dog Run Hollow trail system.

The Wichita Mountains

The ancient Wichita Mountains, named for the Indian tribe who inhabited the area centuries ago, provide a granite wonderland for outdoors aficionados. The principal public hiking area is near Lawton in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, one of the nation's earliest wildlife refuges, originally set aside as a forest reserve in 1901. Bison, Texas longhorn cattle, elk, deer, coyotes, prairie dogs, and turkeys are now protected within the 60,000-acre refuge, with about a third of the area available for recreational use.

Bison roam free in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.

The peaks here are worn to bald knobs and massive boulders, and hiking trails weave through, over and around them. Ascending to the summit of Elk Mountain is a popular hike, offering an easy (for the reasonably fit) one-mile climb. The best part is what awaits on top. Yes, the view is pleasing and it's a nice spot for a picnic, but better still are all the rock rooms and caves to be explored from there. These mountains are a delightful place to explore off trail, as long as you have a compass, as one boulder looks an awful lot like another.

The Dog Run Hollow Trail System is a relatively flat set of loop hikes, the longest of which is 5.7 miles. Much of the trail follows West Cache Creek and skirts both Lost Lake and French Lake. Along the creek, several small dams have been built, some using the cobblestones characteristic of the area, and one strange concrete fish ladder, built in the 1930s to allow fish to swim up West Cache Creek and over the French Lake dam. It reportedly never worked, but it’s a fascinating and odd thing to come upon while hiking. Near Dog Run Hollow is the path to Forty Foot Hole, a swimming hole put to good use in the hot summers of the southwest.

West Cache Creek forms pools and cascades as it flows through the Narrows.

A short but very special trail is the Narrows. As the name suggests, its path follows a creek (West Cache Creek again) through a tight, high-walled canyon, officially extending just under a mile and featuring pools and small cascades. It requires frequent, but usually shallow, creek crossings as the trail moves from one side of the stream to the other. After the trail peters out it’s possible to continue along West Cache Creek to the Pennington Mine Tunnel, a remnant of the gold mining days of the early 1900s.

Off-trail exploring in Charon's Garden Wilderness

The premier hiking area, and the only section of the refuge open to dispersed camping, is Charon’s Garden Wilderness. This rugged, 5,000-acre wilderness area has no marked trails and is lightly used. Rounded peaks feature strangely shaped formations which pique the imagination; one of the best known is Crab Eyes, a favorite of rock climbers.

The Ouachita Mountains

The Ouachita (pronounced “Wosh-i-taw”) National Forest is the oldest national forest in the southern United States, and 350,000 acres of its 1.8 million extend into Oklahoma, with the remainder in Arkansas. It was first established as the Arkansas National Forest in 1907 and given its present name in 1926. It encompasses most of the Ouachita Mountains, a scenic mountain range running east and west. Hardwoods and pines dominate this rugged landscape, which gets its name from the French spelling of the Indian word “Washita,” meaning good hunting grounds. French fur trappers frequented this area long before it became a part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, and named many of the physical features of the area. Hiking trails, both short and long, are everywhere.

The longest is the Ouachita Trail, at 192 miles in length, with about 50 miles in the state of Oklahoma. In the west, the trail begins near Talihina, Oklahoma and extends to Pinnacle Mountain State Park, near Little Rock, Arkansas. Elevations range from 600 to 2,600 feet, meaning steep climbs make for challenging hiking in spite of the relatively low elevation. The trail passes near lovely, clear-running streams and its multiple access points make section hiking a popular activity.

Within the Ouachitas, numerous wilderness areas, national forest recreation areas, and parks also provide plenty of opportunities for shorter hikes. One of the most beautiful is Beavers Bend State Park, near Broken Bow, Oklahoma. The park is one of the original eight Oklahoma state parks built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, and it preserves much of the “National Park Rustic” style of architecture perpetuated by that program, with its native sandstone structures. It also surrounds the lower Mountain Fork River, a popular and well stocked trout stream.

The trail along Beaver Creek offers another way to access the David Boren Hiking Trail.

The park’s trail system incorporates numerous short trails for a mix-and-match approach. The David Boren Hiking Trail (DBHT), named for a former Oklahoma governor, is 12 miles one way, with camping allowed along the trail, making it perfect for an overnight backpack. Beginning at the south end of the park, the DBHT makes its way along and above the Mountain Fork, ending on the northern edge of the park near the spillway for Broken Bow Lake. The longest and most difficult section is the five-mile Skyline Trail, which can be very steep in places but affords great views from its summits. The DBHT can be accessed from five different trailheads within the park, which offers some of the most appealing camping in Oklahoma, especially when the fall foliage is at its height. Early on a chilly fall morning at Beavers Bend, a deep layer of mist often enshrouds the bald cypress along the river, creating a quiet and mystical setting.

Cross Timbers

The Cross Timbers region is a unique landscape little known today outside Oklahoma and north Texas, and hardly thought of even there. In the early days of the United States’ westward expansion, this band of scrubby oaks stretching from Kansas through Oklahoma into Texas was a significant landmark, forming the frontier between the eastern deciduous forest and the grasslands of the southern Great Plains. It was also a hindrance to travel, described by a member of the Dodge Leavenworth Expedition of 1834 as a great thicket "composed of nettles and briars so thickly matted together as almost to forbid passage” and bemoaned by author Washington Irving, who said of his 1832 “Tour on the Prairies”: “I shall not easily forget the mortal toil and vexations of the flesh and spirit, that we underwent occasionally, in our wanderings through the Cross Timber. It was like struggling through forests of cast iron.”

Before settlement the Cross Timbers may have covered around 28,000 square miles. Today, Cross Timbers on level ground have been cleared for cultivation and grazing but a surprising amount has survived in areas not suited for farming. According to the Ancient Cross Timbers Consortium at the University of Arkansas, the Cross Timbers is one of the least disturbed forest types left in the eastern U.S., with hundreds of square miles of fragments of the ancient trees – 200 to 400-year old post oak and red cedar trees over 500 years old – surviving on steep terrain.

The largest contiguous tract of ancient Cross Timbers remaining anywhere is in the Okmulgee Wildlife Management Area, located five miles west of Okmulgee, Oklahoma and totaling 10,900 acres. Perhaps as much as 6,000 acres in the WMA retain relatively undisturbed old-growth woodlands of post oak and blackjack. Bisected by seven miles of the Deep Fork (actually a branch of the North Canadian River), the area is rich in biological diversity and unique in providing habitat for both classic western species like the Greater Roadrunners and eastern species like the Indigo Bunting.

Just southwest of the WMA is Lake Okmulgee, created in the 1920s by the damming of nearby Salt Creek for flood control, recreation, and a water supply not tainted by the red mud of the Deep Fork. In the 1930s both the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) contributed to the landscaping and infrastructure around the lake, and a park emerged.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built several native stone picnic shelters at Okmulgee Lake amid the post oak blackjack forest, using the National Park Rustic style of architecture.

Since then, a trail has been constructed amid the post oak and blackjack – actually reconstructed and enhanced, as it incorporates a path built by the young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). At just under three miles round trip, the Oak Leaf Nature Trail is short but immerses the hiker in both the Cross Timbers landscape and the stonework done by the CCC, with staircases up the steep hillside to a scenic overlook and short paths to odd alcoves perfect for a short pause and a snack perched on one of the huge limestone boulders.

For backpacking in the Cross Timbers, Greenleaf State Park near Muskogee offers a 17-mile loop trail with two primitive campgrounds, both on the lake shore. And, the region incorporates many other state parks and preserves. One of its most extensive trail systems is located at Lake Thunderbird State Park near Norman. There, the Clear Bay trails include about 25 miles of easy to expert paths through post oak and blackjack, built by and for mountain bikers but well used by hikers and trail runners. Near Tulsa, the Keystone Ancient Forest is a Nature Conservancy preserve which protects about 1,400 acres of ancient cross timbers and opens for hiking two Saturdays each month.

Like the weather in Oklahoma, the terrain offers abundant diversity, and hikers have no shortage of options for outdoor adventures amid these rugged landscapes and wilderness areas where the deep green forest of the east converges with the golden grasslands of the west.

Although the Ouachita Mountains are not high in elevation relative to the Rockies, steep, rocky climbs and descents are the norm when traversing them on the Ouachita Trail.

Need to Know

Information

The Wichita Mountains are in southwestern Oklahoma near Lawton, about a two-hour drive from Oklahoma City. The Ouachita Mountains are in the far southeastern corner of the state, bordering Arkansas. Depending on the specific location, they are a three to four hour drive from Oklahoma City or Tulsa.

In the Cross Timbers, Okmulgee Lake and Greenleaf State Park are both about an hour from Tulsa. Keystone Ancient Forest Preserve is just minutes west of Tulsa and Lake Thunderbird State Park is less than an hour southeast of Oklahoma City.

Best Time to Go

Late fall, winter, and early spring are prime times for hiking in Oklahoma. Temperatures are usually mild enough for enjoyable winter hiking, which helps avoid the state’s often oppressively hot summers as well as the insects and poison ivy.

Getting There

The state’s two largest cities, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, both have airports serving major airlines.

Maps and Books

See Ouachitamaps.com for hiking trails of the Ouachitas and Ozarks, and the Fish and Wildlife site for trails and backcountry camping areas for the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Also, see the following books for more information on hiking in Oklahoma:

• Oklahoma Hiking Trails by Kent Frates and Larry Floyd
• Outdoor and Trail Guide to the Wichita Mountains of Southwest Oklahoma by Edward C. Ellenbrook
• Hiking Oklahoma: A Guide to the State's Greatest Hiking Adventures by Jamie Fleck
• Ouachita Trail Guide by Tim Ernst
• The Cast Iron Forest: A Natural and Cultural History of the North American Cross Timbers by Richard V. Francaviglia

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Issue 42 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here which includes additional photos of hiking in Oklahoma.