While driving from Fort Worth to Wichita on our South Central Loop last spring, we took a small detour to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge near Lawton, OK. This turned out to be one of our favorite parts of the trip, a reprieve from what would otherwise have been an entire day of interstate driving. We spent a few hours taking in the spectacular scenery and wildlife as we hiked and drove around the refuge. As an added bonus, we almost had the park to ourselves since it was still early in the season.
The Wichita Mountains are home to a great variety of plant and animal species – over 1,100 in all. The 60,000 acre refuge was established in 1901 with the purpose of protecting this diversity while providing recreational opportunities for the nearby inhabitants. Today, two-thirds of the park is designated as a wilderness area. Elk and bison – at one time extinct in the region – now number in the hundreds thanks to repopulation efforts taken on by the Refuge.
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Happy National Trails day 2023!04.04.23 : Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads… In order to get to Mariscal Canyon, one of the most remote areas of the park, we had to drive 29 miles each way on “primitive dirt roads. Our big red truck opened up tons of new experiences in Big Bend.04.03.23 : Views from the top. We hiked the 10-mile round trip from Chisos Basin to the top of Emory Peak, the highest point in Big Bend. First pic is looking south over the South Rim toward Mexico, second one is looking north into Chisos Basin with Casa Grande Peak at the right.04.03.23 : Looking out through the V-shaped “Window” of Chisos Basin. We were on our way to the summit of Emory Peak along the Pinnacles Trail.04.03.23 : More sunrise scenes from our shipping container home Airbnb in Terlingua.04.03.23 : Waking up to sunrise over the Chisos Mountains and also my favorite desert plant, the ocotillo.
Love the kick and the travel reviews. Great Job Kickin Nick👍