OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma is not a place where you are going to open your door and be enveloped in a forest trail in 15 minutes. Instead, the doggie hiking delights are tucked into different corners of the state almost as if by planning. Eastern Oklahoma is laced with four mountain ranges, most notably the Ouachitas and their unusual east-west orientation. Beavers Bend State Park on Broken Bow Lake and the Mountain Fork River is a star here. Moving to central Oklahoma the Wichita Mountains - some of the oldest rock on the planet some 500 million years in the making - stand out, literally, for your dog. The boulder scrambling through the Charons Garden Wilderness Trail and journey to the granite domes of Elk Mountain are highlights here. Heading north your dog can walk along an ancient seabed at Salt Plain State Park and dig for crystals when the beds are open. Finally, just before the Sooner State breathes its last in the west a switchbacking trail leads to the 4,973-foot roof of Oklahoma on Black Mesa. Nothing grows high enough here to obscure the view of even a dachshund on this canine hike. Don’t try hunting the state’s highest waterfall - dogs are forbidden in Turner Falls Park. In the big cities dogs can enjoy Myriad Botanical Gardens in Oklahoma City and the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness outside Tulsa.

The Best Day Hike You Can Take With Your Dog In Oklahoma

Summit Trail
Black Mesa Nature Preserve • Kenton

The “black” in the mesa in the far northwest tip of the Oklahoma Panhandle is a layer of lava rock that coated the region about 30 million years ago. The mesa is also the highest point in Oklahoma at 4,973 feet.

The ascent to the roof of the Sooner State covers 4.2 miles and is dead flat the first half of the way before Seaman begins switchbacking up the rear of the mesa. There is nothing growing high enough to obscure the view of even a dachshund on this canine hike.

The Summit Trail is an easy go for Seaman with a wide, paw-friendly trail save for the slopes of volcanic residue on the mesa. Total elevation gain is 600 feet. As he rises your best trail companion will be scanning a landscape unlike any other in Oklahoma.

Once on top another level 15-minute hike is required to reach the red granite monument marking the actual highpoint. This will not be the summit of Black Mesa, only the highest spot to stand in Oklahoma. Dirt scars across the flat top lead to overlooks of three other states: Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. There is little shade and no water out here, however, so take the proper precautions.

The Nature Preserve is a lonely 15 miles northwest of the small Black Mesa State Park where you can camp, hike a couple of short nature trails with Seaman and let him enjoy swimming in Lake Etling if water conditions are right.

HIKING TIME: 3-4 hours

(from the book 300 Day Hikes To Take With Your Dog Before He Tires You Out: Trails where you won’t be able to wipe the wag off your dog’s tail)