We had a grouchy family this morning. We wanted to hike. We miss the mountains. We don't know where to go. We just moved from Colorado to Oklahoma City. As a friend who lives here said, "Oklahoma is not as bad as you think it will be. It really is OK." We agree. It really is "not as bad as you think it will be". The people are
incredibly nice. We found an organic, local grocery store where we can feed our foodie family. We found a bike shop to take our bikes to get adjusted after manhandling in the move. It is coming together. But, we needed to get outside!
We have been looking online for trail information and have not found much. Note: if you know of any good books or blogs on OK, PLEASE email us!!! Everyone keeps telling us about "THE mountain" in OK. We are headed there tomorrow. But, today we wanted a short family outing to just get OUT! After some looking on Google Maps, we decided to explore a wildlife refuge we spotted and see what we could find. Turned out, we found a nice gem in the city!
Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge is located in West OKC - north of Lake Overholser (just north of 39th Expy and between the John Kilpatrick Turnpike and N Council Rd). The Canadian River runs through this refuge and is dammed to the south. Much of the area is a marsh along the river. This gives rise to an large number of birds. The Audubon Society has a
short article along with an overview map.
We entered the area at gate 3 in the above link, accessible from County Line Rd, a dirt road intersecting 39th Expy (Hwy 66). It is a short drive down that road to the gate. There are no signs posted that restrict vehicle access, though there is a warning regarding this area being used for hunting. There are a number of hunting perches and chairs built into trees along the way.
We parked at the open gate and walked along the lightly used dirt road. There is no formal parking area and no facilities. No fee. To these recent Colorado transplants, the trees and grass seemed thick. We talked about how thick the forest seemed here and how many trees and vines we saw. The road was also thick in butterflies and toads. Butterflies landed on our daughter's flower printed dress (don't you wear flower printed dressed hiking?!) and tiny toads barely escaped our steps. A short ways up the road, there is a clearing to the right and the road curves left. If you walk into the clearing, you will find a sandy path down to a ladder and a small, wood dock on the North Canadian river. Just before this path, to the right, there was an overgrown path that led to a picnic table. The river was deeper than it appeared (at least 4 feet) with a decent current, so keep an eye on the kiddos!
We went back to the main road and continued for about a total of a half mile. By then, the sun was coming out (along with the heat and mosquitoes) and we were ready to turn back. This was a great first "hike" in Oklahoma. It would be an easy bike ride or good dirt road to run on. Bird lovers would take interest in the area (
http://okc-audubon.org/?cat=44). On our drive out, we spotted a hawk swooping down into the bushes on the side of the road (likely going after prey). After our "hike, we tried to drive down the road to see how far it goes, but deep ruts in the road and a downed branch prevented us from going more than a mile back.
Definitely worth coming back to for a run or bike ride! However, be aware of hunting season. We saw about 4 hunting stands along the road.
