Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma

The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, the oldest managed wildlife preserve in the United States, is a 59,020-acre preserve located about 20 miles northwest of Lawton  in southwestern Oklahoma.  It has protected unique wildlife habitats since 1901, when it was designated as a Forest Reserve by President William McKinley.

In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt renamed it as a game preserve, and it has since provided a habitat for large native grazing animals and Texas Longhorn cattle.  Bison, elk, deer and prairie dogs are a few of the animals residing in this prairie community.From an estimated 60 million bison, less than one thousand could be found on the Great Plains in 1900.   The Wichita’s original subspecies of elk was hunted to extinction in 1881, but later the Rocky Mountain elk was established on the preserve.

Same goes for the Longhorn:

However, you notice that the sign doesn’t mention the somewhat aggressive prairie dogs:

Prairie dogs are burrowing creatures named for their habitat and their warning call, which sounds like a dog’s bark. They are highly social, living in “prairie dog towns,” and they even greet each other with a “kiss.”  Their tunneling systems help channel rainwater into the water table, thereby preventing runoff and erosion.  The tunnels can extend to approximately 15 feet deep and 100 feet laterally and are insulated with grass.  Because they are seen as pests on farms and ranches due to their burrowing behavior, places like the refuge are important for providing a place for these comical animals to thrive.

Several various natural attractions of the refuge are open to the public, including the Refuge Visitor Center, picnicking and camping areas, and approximately 15 miles of designated hiking trails.  There are over 22,400 acres of wildlife habitat open for hiking, wildlife observation, photography, backcountry camping, mountain climbing, and recreation.  As our family hikes and climbs along the various trails and mountains of the Wichitas, we learn about the wildlife and habitat, as well as the environment that provides a unique home to many plants and animals.  The grasslands of this mixed-grass prairie receive about 30 inches of rain per year, and the grass itself has a dense root system network that protects the soil from erosion, drying winds, droughts, and wildfires.  Not only are there over 80 types of grasses in the refuge, this area also includes rocklands and oak woodlands.  In fact, the crosstimbers here were considered so impenetrable in the 1700s and 1800s that Washington Irving described it “like struggling through a forest of cast iron.”

The rocks on the refuge include Permian Redbed, granite, rhyolite, gabbro and quartzite.  The Permian Redbed is a conglomerate that has been used to build the cobblestone buildings that exist in this area.  Many of the boulders in this area have been nicknamed “Rainbow Rocks” due to the colorful lichen that grows on the bare rock.

Lichen is a mixture of algae and fungi living in harmony. They dissolve and erode the rock and minerals to make soil.

And here are additional pictures of our hikes across the refuge over the past couple of years.  We have always found a new, exciting discovery every time we visit! For directions on how to get to any of these sites, please feel free to email me using the Contact Me button on the right.