Oklahoma State Parks
Many Of The Oklahoma State Parks Are Located Around Lakes In This Beautiful Mid-West State
There are exactly fifty state parks in Oklahoma and they range in size from the tiny 15 acre Snowdale State Park to Lake Murray State Park which covers a massive 12,496 acres. A large percentage of the parks are located around the lakes in Oklahoma.
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To See A List Of Oklahoma State Parks Just Click Here |
These lakes are nearly all man-made and have been created as a result of dams constructed during the middle part of the 20th century. They include The Grand Lake o` The Cherokees, Lake Texoma, Hugo Lake, Tenkiller Lake, Eufaula Lake, Keystone Lake and Lake Thunderbird. |
Early Morning Mist Over The Lake At Okmulgee State Park
Oklahoma gets its name from the Choctaw Native American words Okla and Humma meaning Red People.
Once Native American Territory, the land that became Oklahoma was home to more than thirty tribes. Many of these tribes were relocated from ancestral homes far to the east.
A number of the Oklahoma State Parks have a history associated with these tribes. For example, Okmulgee State Park gets its name from the Muscogee word for bubbling or boiling water and refers to nearby natural springs.
Another example of the Native American influence is Roman Nose State Park which is named after Chief Henry Roman Nose of the southern Cheyenne tribe.
Oklahoma is situated in the south central part of the United States in an area known as the Great Plains. Two of the Oklahoma State Parks pay tribute to this famous region. They are Great Plains State Park and Great Salt Plains State Park.
A Wheatfield In Oklahoma
It is not surprising with so much relatively flat land that agriculture is an important industry in Oklahoma, the state is the 5th largest producer of wheat in the country. However, it also has large quantities of oil and natural gas which make it a reasonably prosperous state.
However, the state is not just about the plains, praries and agriculture. There are attractive forests which cover almost a quarter of the land. There are also four small mountain ranges.
Wichita Mountains In Oklahoma
These are the Ozarks, Wichita Mountains, Arbuckle Mountains and the Ouachita Mountains. Indeed the Ouachita Mountains and the Ozarks are the only mountainous regions between the Appalachians in the east and the Rockies to the west.
Naturally a number of the Oklahoma State Parks are found in these mountains.
Natural Falls State Park features a beautiful waterfall in the Ozarks while Bernice State Park and Honey Creek State Park are located on the Grand Lake O` The Cherokees which nestles in the foothills of these same mountains.
The Mountain Lion Is Common In Oklahoma
The Oklahoma State Parks and the state as a whole is home to a wide variety of wildlife. There are deer, coyote, bobcat, elk, armadillo, prairie dog, fox and black bear. You can see bison on the prairie and where the swamps are located in the south east corner of the state, you can find alligators.
However, what is not often known about Oklahoma is that it has the largest mountain lion population in the country.
Every county in the state has reported at least one siting in the last few years. They have even been seen on the outskirts of Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
Here is a list of the Oklahoma State Parks.
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Here is a map of Oklahoma showing areas such as the Great Plains and the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains.
