too bad its either too hot or too cold to enjoy it most of the time. At least we havent sold it to oil companies yet though lol so we got that going for us... For now..
@@planetbell1the panhandle is already all people think Oklahoma looks like anyways. No need to show it. 😂 All goes back to The Grapes of Wrath that was set in the panhandle. Most of Oklahoma is green, wooded, and hilly with some beautiful mountain ranges.
Eastern Oklahoma/west Arkansas is beautiful part of country, glad I’ve been able to drive around that part of Oklahoma, really cool backwoods, probably lots of stills and homegrown
Hahaha, yes there is certainly a lot of stills and homegrown over there. I grew up in semi-arid western Oklahoma and that part of the state is like a different state. Thanks for commenting!
Couldn't agree more! We often times overlook things in our backyard. I'm living in Taiwan now and went to my favorite beach yesterday and I was kicking myself for not going more!
During Covid I decided to visit all of the corners of Colorado. At the CO/NM/OK "corner" I ventured to Black Mesa. Such an amazing place. Beautiful and NO people. On my list of places to return to explore further.
I have been hiking in the Wichita Mountains hundreds of times in the last 53 years. I'm 70 now, so my hikes are 3 to 5 mile loops, mostly on elk and bison trails off of the trail map. Spectacular creek drainages "during rainy season". Wildflowers like nowhere else I've been. Bugeling elk season is one of my favorites.
As an avid hiker I was disappointed when I moved to Ft Worth with it's lack of elevation. I recently discovered the Wichita Wilderness via the All Trails app & it is jaw dropping beautiful. The amount of wildlife I encountered combined with the scenery has made it my favorite hike to date.
I have a lot of family in Oklahoma, and we used to go to Arbuckle Wilderness and Eufaula lake on occasion. The state's geography is really fascinating actually. :)
As a Texan, I’m so used to just the same old plains of Oklahoma in the 1-35 area. Now I want to go to Oklahoma. A hidden Gem indeed, I just wonder if majority of them are on the western part of Okie. Never heard of them.
The eastern side has the Ouachita Mountains and Ozark Plateau and lots of trees. The west has more geographic anomalies and wide open spaces. The interstates cut right through the most boring parts of the state :)
Scrambling and climbing the peaks in the Charons Garden Wilderness of the Wichita Mountains is a great training ground for the harder peaks in Colorado. There are plenty of 3rd and 4th class routes and technical routes as well. Baldy Point in Quartz Mountain State Park has the best climbing in the midwest. Also, don't forget the hills surrounding Turner Falls.
@@planetbell1 There are 6 summits above 2000 ft and quite a few below 2000 ft. in the gardens. It is all off trail bushwhacking with the exception of the trail up Elk Mountain. Twin Rocks Peak is a good central peak to view them all. There are 8 different technical climbing area including routes on Crab Eyes. There are probably several more secret areas not in books. Other rock climbing areas in the area include Upper Mt. Scott, Lower Mt. Scott, The Narrows. Baldy Point climbing area is about 50 miles to the west of Charon's Garden Wilderness.
@@planetbell1 The area around Broken Bow is where me and my family have been camping for a few decades now. Very peaceful, and the logging companies usually don’t mind if you camp on their timber lands as long as you don’t bother their operations so it’s usually free. Lots of trails to ride. Gotta be cautious you don’t stray into a hunting reserve though.
Great presentation. I’m on a one-year project in eastern OK, and was surprised by the mountains when I arrived. A beautiful area with nice people. Near Poteau is “The Tallest Hill in the World” Cavanal Hill. At an elevation of 1999 ft, it is one ft short of technically being a mountain.
Oklahoma has a lot of well kept state highways to get you to these places. When gas prices were low, my family would drive through the small towns and state parks during the weekend. My wife was from Oregon, and there were geography that reminded her of Oregon.
There's parts of the year you don't want to step foot anywhere near Gloss Mountains... as there's a high chance of encountering rattlers. I kid you not, about 1 every damned 100sq. feet. They're everywhere during these times, like a mine field.
One of the better videos I've watched lately. I'm really interested in seeing all of the great things you've shared here. I ride motorcycles & have recently been training to fly paramotors. The OK looks like a great landscape for both. Thanks for sharing these beautiful places with us. 👍👍
I think Oklahoma is a great landscape for motorcycles, the only problem is there are vast stretches of nothingness between some of the best natural beauty. But, you can ride on backroads through small towns and not deal with any trucks and experience very little traffic. The Wichita Mountains and Ouachita Mountains both have great roads.
@@planetbell1 I have a Sprinter van for covering the vast stretches of nothingness. I can camp in it & haul my toys too. Oh, I even have an inflatable dinghy & outboard for the lakes. We've been to Tulsa a couple of times, but never checked out the western end of the state. It looks really cool.
I can tell you one thing. Of kite surfers knew of great salt plains lake, it would be packed all summer. I’ve never seen anything like it. Tons of wind and the entire lake is only 3-4 feet deep and no waves. It’s amazing
That makes sense that the lake is so shallow. I don't think there was much of a valley there. I'll have to look for kite surfers next time. Thanks for sharing.
Okie here. I love this video. If you ever update this or make a part two, don't forget to mention both the Arbuckle Mountains & the San Bois Mountains. ;)
we have every biome but artic tundra! this place is my home of record. honestly after traveling the country, this place is home. after all i have been through i will always live here. its the craziest politically and society wise. no place like tokelahoma
As a kid I thought this state was flat corn/bean fields I went two years ago & I want to go back. I'm from Indiana & there's way more to see than my home state
Lived in eastern Oklahoma all my life, I always considered it an offshoot of the Ozarks. Guess I need to explore more of the western side of the state!
The Reservoirs and lakes are another great thing too. Turner Falls is (supposedly) a great place to rent a cabin. Just don't tell too many people! I am thankful for every day that most of the country thinks Oklahoma has "nothing to do" lol.
The reservoirs and lakes would make an interesting video. There are thousands of miles of coastline in an area that would be mostly dry. It is nice to enjoy these places without the crowds.
I live in Woodward the dinosaur statue town and yes I tell you what anywhere you go, north, south, east, or west, Oklahoma becomes beautiful head north toward buffalo and the canyons are one of my favorite sights.
Not true. These mountains across five different mountain chains in different areas of the state that go up to beyond 2600 ft. That meets any definition of mountains. They just are not the Rocky Mts, but what else is? When you are in them, they look like mounains. Oklahoma has several more small mountain chains between 1100 and 1800 ft in elevation. Many do not seem to know about these places. Go there and you will see and you will enjoy it.
I’d call them “hill country” . Besides the Rockies there is the entire Cascades/Sierra Nevada Range, and the Olympics on the eponymous WA peninsula. Not to mention all the real mountain ranges elsewhere in the world(Alps, Dolomites, Himalayas, Picos de Europa, the Andes, etc..)
It was something to see the Wichita Mountains on my way to my grandparents in Burns Flat, OK, in my childhood. (Burns Flat was home to a SAC base which is now the Oklahoma Spaceport.) Not mentioned in this video is the Arbuckle Mountains along I-35 about halfway between Dallas and OKC, more like the Texas Hill Country than the Wichitas and Ouachitas, but notable for their geology. Oklahoma claims to have the most diverse geography per mile of any state.
I think Oklahoma is diverse because it stretches from the foothills of the Rockies to the swamplands of the southeast, with places like the Wichitas and Ozarks. It has a of everyting. I honestly haven't explored the Arubuckles but I'll try to get there this summer and update my video. Thanks for you comments.
Wichita Mountains are extremely old granite mountains. They are the only east-west mountains in North America. To the west of the Wichita Refuge, some areas were quarried for granite for tombstones.
I live just down the street from the dispensary at the end. It is becoming the biggest industry behind oil and cattle. The town has several of them. I can however take a drive in less than a tank of gas and see several different environments and landscapes.
@@planetbell1 Near Woodward. NW part of the state. We call it the middle of nowhere. Lots of wild game and it is a lot greener than people think it is. Not a lot of people except around town. Nice and peaceful most of the time. Drugs have been a problem here has long has I can remember. I think the isolation may have something to do with it.
The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge was established originally as a forest preserve. In 1907 it was changed to a wildlife refuge for the primary purpose of preserving bison. About 15 bison were brought by train from the New York City Zoo to establish the first herd. If someone fusses about the Refuge being not so good for camping, they should be reminded it was created for animal preservation.
I think your doing a awesome job revealing the goodies of Oklahoma. Any recommend place for adventurer to dig up gems or use metal detector to find gold, relics and etc. in OK?
The Gloss Mountains have a lot of fossils and interesting rocks. I think you can find arrowheads all over the state. If you've never dug for crystals at Great Salt Plains do that! It is a lot of fun even though you get muddy.
Oklahoma isn't really a gold or gem producing state, so you won't find much natural gold or gems. There are fossils to be found along the Red River, and you can dig crystals at the Great Salt Plains, but for relics and arrow points, you'll need to do research on where to go and who owns the property and get permission. There are a few outlaw hoards of stolen gold coins and jewelry rumored to be hidden away in the state, but searching for them can be a wee bit tricky as most of the assumed hiding spots are state parks and thus any treasures to be found there is going to be property of the State and they have a strict no metal detecting policy at those state parks. As for relics, depends on what you're looking for. In 1540 to 1542, Conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado along with 400 Spanish Men-At-Arms, 1,300 to 2,000 Mexican Indian allies, four Franciscan friars and a number of black and native slaves marched through the area of Beaver County Oklahoma searching for these mythical 7 cities of gold. Then there's the American Civil War, quite a few skirmish and small battles sites from that war out in the southeastern parts of the state at places like Honey Springs. You got the Chisolm Trail and the Great Western Cattle Trail, then you got the Indian Wars period that lasted from 1868 to 1890's with a lot of the fighting happening out in the western and northwester regions. Farmers still find artifacts from canister shot, bullets, buttons, insignia, there's even an entire supply train of some 13 or 14 wagons that went missing en-route to Camp Supply (present day Fort Supply) that has never been found. Unfortunately, most of this stuff requires you to access private property to search for it which means doing lots of research on who owns the property which means calling the local court houses to get that info along with contact info in order to reach out and request permission.
One correction : Alabaster Cavern is not the largest gypsum cave in the world. Not even in Oklahoma. It IS a very nice tourist cave, though. Not far from Alabaster Cavern is the Selman Bat Cave, another site worth seeing. It is managed by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. In the summer you can watch millions of Mexican Freetailed bats as they exit the cave at dusk to forage for insects. It gives the Carlsbad Cavern bat flight a run for its money.
Just wanted to point out one more animal you can find (though they’re very illusive) in the witchita mountains and most any mountains west of there into New Mexico and part of west Texas is Audad. They’re a very wild looking mountain goat that can get up to 300 pounds with massive horns. I was a hunting guide for a place in Oklahoma and we bought animals regularly from the guy who originally released them in the 90’s. He estimates there’s somewhere around 500-750 in that area of Oklahoma.
Sand dune area reminds me of the sand dunes at Pismo Beach. Filled with noise, dust, pollution, and idiots on atv's. A place most locals learned to avoid, and hate.
I don't really understand the appeal of ATVs but people love them. When I shot those videos it was a quiet evening and there weren't any ATVS and it was really peaceful. Would be cool if there was a large area set aside for people and not machines. Thanks for sharing.
"I think Bigfoot IS blurry. We've been looking for a CLEAR guy all this time. If we started looking for a BLURRY dude, we'd find Bigfoot tomorrow." - Mitch Hedberg
Mitch Hedberg, RIP. Legend. "I wanna hang a map of the world in my house. Then I'm gonna put pins into all the locations that I've traveled to. But first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won't fall down."
Very True. California is spectacular - but you have CROWDS! I'm sure there are out of the way places with few visitors, but it can be hard to be alone in the national parks like Yosemite. Thanks your comments.
Ummm just a quick correction. When you think the Appalachian mountains Vermont is not what comes to mind. Tennessee west VA and VA the Carolinas. Only Yankees think of Northern states in the Appalachians
The Appalachian mountains run all the way through the east coast. Might not have the same culture of West Virginia but it’s definitely the same mountains.
I live n Oklahoma and proud of it it is a truly amazing state we take for sometimes take for granted amazing wildlife so proud of Oklahoma best way to see it by foot a lot of hiking trails through out the state yes there are bigfoot rumors in the southeastern mountains look out❤😂😂 most natives are friendly LoL the white people u gotta look out 4 just kidding 😊😊❤
What gets me is, how can people say what is out of place and they didn't create it? God does things his way, and that's why he is mysterious. He does it how He wants to, and laughs when y'all try to figure it out.
Nice video, minus the geologic evolution theories to explain the geology. Much of the features can occur quickly, as in years vs millions of years. The Mt St Helen eruption's aftermath created a damn across the river feeding Spirit Lake, which backed up until the damn broke months later and the resulting erosion downstream created a mini Grand Canyon, complete with layers of strata giving the appearance of "millions of years of alluvial deposits." All in a timespan of months. Providence Canyon in Georgia, nicknamed the "Little Grand Canyon," is a similar story. A one sq mile area of deep eroded cliffs that look more like Bryce Canyon that the Grand Canyon, it was carved out in only 70 yrs by rain, after a farmer began to till the ground on his homestead in the 19th century. If it were not witnessed in real time, modern evolutionary "scientists" would have come along and claimed this feature was eroded over "millions of years." Just throwing this out. Observable incidents that demonstrated some geologic features may not have taken long "geologic" time periods to form. If noone was present to witness it, we dont know.
@@planetbell1 Not really major ones. Twister is the famous one in OK. More recent is Killers of the Flower Moon and Nefarious. That does sound like a good research topic. I wonder of they take advantage of the different regions or just focus on low costs in the metropolitan areas. I did NOT like that Tulsa Kings series at all. I don't think Taylor Sheridan is an Oklahoma fan. He filmed the Bass Reeves series in Texas!!!
Of interest: Oklahoma’s East and Southeast Ouachita Mountains are lower in elevation than Oklahoma’s rather flat panhandle. i.e. Oklahoma’s highest point is not in its mountains.
Oklahoma IS cool 10-12 billion a year in tourism revenue with 20-25 million people visiting yearly. Oklahoma has views that will challenge even the most spectacular view from any other state in the union.
@@planetbell1 between referee high school basketball games when I was young, working in the oil field, and driving a grocery delivery truck… And also a socially unacceptable amount of booze cruising, I can take you all over Northwest Oklahoma.
The photo in your thumbnail wasn't shot by you. It's a copyrighted photo I took in 2012 at Flatside Pinnacle. It is in the Ouachita Mountains, but it's in Arkansas not Oklahoma. It's available to be licensed for a nominal fee. Otherwise I'd appreciate it if you'd take it down.
