Oklahoma is BEAUTIFUL! 😍 (Visiting Southern Oklahoma's BEST nature spots!)

We just had no idea that scenery like this existed here in Oklahoma. We've spent the last week in our 43rd state, Oklahoma, including driving part of Route 66 from Tulsa to Oklahoma City and exploring and eating all around OKC. And for our final adventure here in Oklahoma, we're going to be road tripping across the southern part of the state to experience some of the state's beautiful nature spots. You may not necessarily think of nature and the outdoors when you think of Oklahoma, at least we didn't for many years, but there are some gorgeous spots here in the state. And for our first stop on our road trip, we're heading to the Wichita Mountains. So you may be thinking, wait, there are mountains in Oklahoma? Well, there's actually a handful of mountain ranges in the state and the Wichita Mountains here in southwest Oklahoma rise up to over 2,000 feet, which aren't the tallest mountains by any means, but they tower over the otherwise relatively flat landscape. They are a part of the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, which is Oklahoma's largest wildlife refuge containing more than 59,000 acres. And as the name wildlife implies, it's not just a scenic place to hike and explore. It is home to tons of wildlife. Due to the area's rocky soil, agriculture is difficult, which has made the mixed grass prairie a haven for traditional grazing species like American Bison, Rocky Mountain Elk, and Whitetail Deer. Speaking of wildlife, we're about to get in a Texas Longhorn Jam. Hook em! I can sense all of the OU fans watching this video just at what we just did and what we just said. There is a lot to do out here and we have a few spots that we're going to check out. And first we're going on a hike that came highly recommended to us from multiple locals in OKC. Elk Mountain, which is about 2.3 miles round trip and has 570 feet of elevation gain. This is awesome. The views from up here are so stunning and we're going to start sounding like a broken record, but we just had no idea that scenery like this existed here in Oklahoma. And I just cannot believe we have not explored the state sooner. We were told that once you get to the top, go to the right towards some boulders for even more views. So we're going to head over there, wander around a little bit, and find a good spot to watch the sun set. All right, now it's time to book it down so we can limit how long we have to hike in the dark. We're just walking down the trail. Just got dark. Heard something scurrying on the side of the trail. Saw a big giant elk running across and then he ran on this ridgeline up here. He just staring us down. So cool. Cool, but also kind of scary. So we're going to keep the pace going. This morning we're going on a longer adventure here in the Wichita Mountains. We're going to combine two different trails, the 40 foot hole and the bison trail. And we're not totally sure how long it'll be because they're two separate routes on all trails, but we think it'll be over six miles and there should be some really cool features along the way. And hopefully we'll get to see some more bison. Oh wow, look at this. Check that out. This is the 40 foot hole. It's a canyon that's been carved by this creek. It just pops out of nowhere. Yeah. So down towards the end of the canyon, there is a gorgeous cascading waterfall. It looks like it's three tiered. And there's kind of this nook in the canyon where you can kind of hike down some rocks and get right down to it. Pretty sure there's an otter in this water, an otter in the water. How cool. I didn't even know they were in Oklahoma. Yes. We finally spotted some bison and they are the perfect distance far enough away that we're in no danger, but close enough that we can see them. So fun fact about the bison in the park is that they are all descendants of 15 bison that were sent down here by train from the Bronx zoo in New York city in 1907 to repopulate their native territory. We have a couple more spots we want to check out in the area, but before we do, we came back to our campground to whip up a quick lunch while we're in the area. We're staying at the Doris campground, which costs 26 bucks for a site with electric, which isn't too bad. And we're making our go-to easy meal, Trader Joe's Southwest salad with carnitas. Sonic. You can't come to Oklahoma and not go to Sonic. For those of you unfamiliar with Sonic, Sonic's a fast food chain that actually started here in Oklahoma and is popular mostly in the South, but they do have locations all across the U.S. You basically drive up and order at this intercom type system. But if you're like us and you're too tall to fit underneath the awning, you just order on the app. And if you're lucky, you'll get a car hop that'll roller skate out to you. They have burgers, chili cheese dogs, tater tots, and delicious drinks. And all I could think about on the hike was just how refreshing a Sonic drink would be. They also have the best ice strawberry limeade for the win. Before we head back to the Wichita mountains, we're making a quick stop in medicine park, which was founded in 1908 as Oklahoma's first resort town. And it quickly became a vacation spot for many big names like president Theodore Roosevelt, Al Capone, and many other politicians and outlaws. In the 1920s, it fell into decline until in 1984, the town's charm was rediscovered and a period of revitalization began. The town grew and its resort roots re-emerged. The cobblestone cabins were renovated and more businesses began opening up. This town is so dang cute and one really cool feature of the town is Bath Lake, which is the town's swimming hole. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, you can pay three dollars per person if you're not a resident to go swimming here. And this is a pretty neat spot to go take a dip. For our final stop in the Wichita mountains, we are driving up Mount Scott for sunset, which is the highest point in the wildlife refuge at 2,464 feet. To get to the summit, you can either drive or hike up the road, but on Fridays through Sundays, to prevent having cars and people all on the road together, they actually have set hours that you can hike up versus drive up and we'll link to that info below. The views from up here are absolutely insane and every single direction has a completely different view. I am so glad we finally made it out here. Me too! This morning, we're driving two hours east to Turner Falls in the Arbuckle Mountains, which is Oklahoma's largest waterfall at 77 feet. So there is a fee to enter Turner Falls, which can be paid in advance and it varies by season and day of the week. We're here on a weekday in the fall and it's only $9 per person, but it can be up to $20 per person on the weekend in the summer and we hear it gets pretty crazy busy here in the summers. But so far today, it's only us and one other car in the parking lot. This water is so beautiful and so clear and there must be a lot of minerals in the water because on the waterfall itself, there's just tons of mineral buildup making like a really interesting kind of face of it. This is one of the first nature spots I ever learned about Oklahoma many years ago and it is just so cool to finally see it with my own eyes. There's also a few caves here you can check out if you're feeling adventurous, but there's also a castle. So there's really no historical significance of this castle, but it was built in the 1930s by Dr. Ellsworth Collins, who was a professor at OU and it was used partially as a ranch headquarters and also as his summer home. And I gotta say, one, having a castle as a summer home, pretty baller. Two, having it right by a gorgeous waterfall, even more baller, as Dr. Ellsworth really had it figured out. It's a face and pie hole. So many people that we've met since being here in Oklahoma told us we had to go eat at Mears while in the Wichita Mountains and get their burgers, homemade ice cream, and pies, but unfortunately they were closed all the days that we were there. But a friend in OKC told us another iconic place to eat here in southern Oklahoma is Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies, so we're gonna get our pie fix here instead. As the name implies, unlike most pies which are baked, these bad boys are fried. So how they make these is they roll out some dough, put a scoop of filling in there, and then they form it into this handheld looking shape, and then they fry it for three minutes. So they have sweet and savory options, so we got a Polish one with sausage and potato and a blackberry. The savory ones are made to order, so this thing came out piping hot, so we had to wait a couple minutes to try it, but man, it is delicious. There's nice pieces of sausage in there, and then these potatoes are so creamy. I think there might be cheese in them, but I think the star is the breading on the outside. It's just nice and light and delicate and perfectly fried. So the fruit ones don't come hot, they come room temperature, but since they had to cook Adams, they made me a fresh one, and it's a very delicate little buddy. I've already ripped it open a little bit. Oh, look at this gooey blackberry. We asked the girl working what her favorites were, so we got her two favorites because there were just so many choices. We had no idea what to pick. Solid, solid choice on the blackberry. This crust is insane. The kind of handle part's nice and thick and crispy, but then you have like the flakiness on the sides. I am voting for all pies to be fried because I think they're better fried. For the rest of the day, we're driving two and a half hours northeast all the way to the other side of the state to Talimena State Park. We're staying in one of their RV sites tonight, and tomorrow we're driving the Talimena National Scenic Byway. The Talimena National Scenic Byway is a 54-mile drive that starts in Tallahena, Oklahoma and ends in Mena, Arkansas, hence the name Talimena, and traverses the Ouachita Mountains, which are one of the highest mountain ranges between the Appalachians and the Rockies. It is said to be an amazing drive to see fall foliage, and we're here on November 2nd, so we're hoping we didn't miss it, but based on our drive-in yesterday, I think we might be here just in time. The views from this drive are incredible. We're only a few minutes into it, and the scenery is already breathtaking. This reminds me a bit of the Kankamagus Highway that we did last fall in New Hampshire, or the drive we did at Shenandoah National Park, Skyline Drive. I just cannot believe we're in Oklahoma right now. Like, my entire life, I didn't even know mountains were in Oklahoma, and this is what I've been missing out on. There are some trails out here, but they all seem to be really long, so we're I read there's at least 22 of them. This is just blowing me away. This area, and especially this drive, is so gorgeous. We are about to enter Arkansas, but don't worry, we're gonna hop back into Oklahoma in a little bit. You may remember a couple years ago, we filmed a handful of videos in Arkansas, and in our opinion, it's one of the most underrated states, especially if you love the outdoors, so we could not pass up the chance to come back. We have made it to Mina, Arkansas, which marks the end of the Talimena National Scenic Byway, but before we head back into Oklahoma, we're going to stop at a cool little coffee shop called the Washita's. That coffee shop was incredible. We just love the vibe and the decor in there. They also serve pizza and beer, so they have a little something for everyone, and the town itself was also very quaint and historic feeling. One of the best things about road tripping is just stumbling upon gems like that, that you maybe had never heard of before, or maybe wouldn't have gone to otherwise. Road tripping has just opened our eyes to so many new places, but now it's time to head back to Oklahoma. Tonight we're staying at Willow's at Watson in Watson, Oklahoma, which we actually booked on the Dyrt Pro. We've mentioned the Dyrt Pro before and how we love its offline maps, plus National Forest and BLM camping overlays to find free camping, but free camping isn't really a thing here in Oklahoma, and one huge perk of the Dyrt Pro is that you can save some money on select paid campgrounds. We booked this campground directly on the Dyrt using our pro discount, which was 10% for this campground, and also had all booking fees, which definitely can add up when paying for camping. Totally covered. And we saved $13 on our stay tonight, which is like four, five, depending where you go, six tacos. If you'd like to try the Dyrt Pro for free for a whole month, you can use our code A-PLUS-K, or click the link in the description and pin comment below. But we are pretty stoked about this site. We're not usually big fans of RV parks, but this one's pretty new, has Wi-Fi, has full hookups, and just check out this view. This should be a pretty sweet spot for sunset tonight. Yep, as suspected, solid sunset spot. For our final stop here in Oklahoma, we've headed a little under an hour south to Beaver Bend State Park. This park is located along Broken Bow Lake in the Mountain Fork River and costs $10 per car for non-Oklahoma residents for the day. It's popular for hiking, fishing, water activities, and camping, but unfortunately we're a bit short on time. So we only have time to do two quick hikes, and we're starting with the Cedar Bluff Nature Trail, which is a quick 0.9 miles. Holy smokes. These fall colors are stunning. That may be one of the best bang-for-your-buck hikes that we've done in a while. It only took us about 30 minutes total, and the views were incredible. And for our next and final hike here in the park, we're gonna hike the Friends Trail Loop, which is only about one and a half miles round trip. And instead of viewing the river from above, we're gonna be walking alongside it. May both be pretty short, but both of them have been pretty steep. Growing up, I thought Oklahoma was flat. That is not the case. We made it down to the river, which is the star of this hike, and just look at this spot. It is gorgeous with the water just rushing through here, and then you see all these kind of slats of rocks here. It's a very unique sight. Never seen that before. This is yet again another area of Oklahoma that is just completely blowing us away. As we mentioned in our first Oklahoma video, despite growing up in Texas, we had never spent any time here in Oklahoma. And I think we've made it pretty clear in our Oklahoma videos, but just in case we haven't, we have loved our time here. Our goal with our drive back down to Texas was to share some more underrated spots, and we can confidently say Oklahoma is very underrated. With that said, it's time to head back to Texas for a much-needed travel break. But before we end this epic year of travels, we have a few fun stops planned along the way. She's got tater tots. I'm carefully crafting my tater tots. I didn't want to tell everyone I got tater tots, but they're really good I didn't even know they had elk in Oklahoma. Oklahoma? More like Elk-lahoma.