This Oklahoma Scenic Byway Is The Road Trip Of A Lifetime
Half a billion years ago molten rock cooled into the granite that now forms the Wichita Mountains. The 93-mile Wichita Mountains Scenic Byway threads through that ancient range in southwestern Oklahoma. President Theodore Roosevelt set much of the land aside in 1905 as the nation's first big-game preserve. Bison arrived from the Bronx Zoo two years later, and their descendants still graze the refuge today. One caution before you go: this corner of Oklahoma sees violent storms in summer and ice in winter.
Day 1: Apache to Doris Campground
The byway runs in both directions, so road trippers can start at either end. Most begin in the small town of Apache, north of Lake Ellsworth, at the Apache Veterans Memorial Park on the north side of the route. From there one option heads south toward Lake Lawtonka, a 25-to-30-minute drive past Ring Top Mountain. The other climbs north to Carnegie for about half an hour, then turns left on 4th Street toward Mountain View, roughly 10 minutes on.
Whichever leg you pick, the road eventually bends south through a set of switchbacks, with views of Saddle Mountain and Hobbs Canyon on the way down to Meers Store and Restaurant. This cash-only lunch spot is famous for its longhorn burgers, barbecue, and homemade chili, so bring bills and come hungry. Five minutes on lies Parallel Forest, a grid of some 20,000 red cedars planted by federal foresters in 1912 as an erosion experiment. The dead-straight rows have made the place a magnet for ghost stories and local legend over the decades. Another five minutes brings you to the Holy City of the Wichitas, home to a passion play staged since 1925 amid stone replicas of Jerusalem's Holy Land.
Past the Holy City the road continues by Lake Jed Johnson and old homesteads such as the Ingram House, deep inside the roughly 59,000-acre refuge. Cap the day at Doris Campground beside Quanah Parker Lake. Sites book up months ahead through Recreation.gov, so reserve early and note the dates that suit your trip.
Day 2: Doris Campground to the Final Stretch
Morning near the campground puts several peaks within reach. Little Baldy makes a quick hike of under a mile, while the longer Narrows Trail by Lost Lake Dam rewards anyone wanting a harder walk before the drive resumes. The route turns back near Big Four Mountain about 15 minutes on, then doubles toward Mount Scott, whose paved three-mile road climbs to a 2,464-foot summit overlooking Lake Lawtonka.
Roughly half an hour further sits Medicine Park, a cobblestone resort town founded in 1908 on Medicine Creek. Stop at the White Buffalo Trading Post for Native American crafts and road-trip supplies. Lake Elmer Thomas Recreation Area, about 10 minutes away, adds swimming, fishing, and shoreline picnic spots. Guest houses and lodges dot this stretch for anyone tempted to stretch the trip an extra day or two.
The byway winds down past Love's Travel Stop and the fast-food strip in Lawton. Drivers looking to keep going can pick up the Edna Wennessee Memorial Highway along Lake Lawtonka, passing Bubba's Gas and Shop, a cluster of RV parks, and the Sunken Bridge Yacht Club on Highway 58 before rejoining Highway 19.
Charting New Horizons
The Wichita Mountains Scenic Byway packs a full education in southwestern Oklahoma's landscape and history into two unhurried days. Between the passion play at the Holy City and the bison herds of the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, few short drives cover as much ground. Travelers with more time can tackle the Talimena Scenic Drive across the wooded ridges toward Arkansas, or trace Oklahoma's long stretch of Historic Route 66. On each drive you see a different side of the state, and you head home with gift-shop finds and a camera roll worth keeping.
