Turner Falls tumbles 77 feet down the dark red cliff into a large pool surrounded by sandy beaches and tall canyon walls. It’s a paradise tucked away in the rugged Arbuckle Mountains of South Central Oklahoma about an hour and a half north of Dallas/Fort Worth.
When you get to the park a few miles west of I-35 don’t be fooled by the entrance. The natural swimming pool below the main road is just a diversionary tactic to attract the teenagers who prefer water slides, diving boards, and swings to lounging in a cool pool and the roar of the waterfall.
Keep going past the little guardhouse where the attendant collects your entry fee of $7 per person. Before you go in to the store/snack bar be aware that they have a killer gift shop with Indian trinkets and geological samples, besides the usual assortment of T-shirts and flip-flops.
Keep driving through the park down the low water crossing where the creek cleans the underside of your vehicle. If you roll your windows down and feel the air, you’ll discover that the temperature is several degrees cooler than it was at the entrance to the park.
This idyllic little meadow can be your home for the weekend or the week if you rent one of the cabins along the road. Looking at the creek, it is hard to believe that such a small ribbon of water could have cut the deep canyon walls that rise hundreds of feet on either side.
The rock in the park is among the oldest in the U.S. and is comparable to the Grand Canyon and the Black Hills of South Dakota. Throughout the region are wonderful rock formations. Some are jagged outcroppings while others are worn smooth and covered with grass.
Don’t stop and admire the geological wonders above your head yet. There will be plenty of time for that later. Keep moving until you pull into the parking lot at the entrance to the falls. If not for the parking lot, this area would be scenic enough for a picnic. The towering cottonwood trees rustle in the breeze as the creek gurgles over a shallow, rocky bed. Everything gets progressively more beautiful, so that you are positively giddy with anticipation.
But you still have to hike into the “Gem of the Arbuckle Mountains” as the local Chamber of Commerce calls the deep, water-filled hole. It’s a pretty good hike back to the falls even on a paved sidewalk, so travel light. There is a seasonal snack bar and restrooms at the beach.
The trail from the parking lot follows a meandering Honey Creek. Surrounded by near-barren wastelands, the narrow valley is a lost world of plants and birds. Along the way you’ll pass the ruins of the professor’s castle. A teacher at a local college built a rock summer home on the steep canyon so he could study the local ecosystem.
Not too much farther up the trail you will round a bend in the sidewalk and from behind a big rock will appear the multiple spigots of Turner Falls. How can you resist rushing to its cool waters? How can you resist ripping off your clothes and screaming sacred words as you dive belly-first into the emerald waters? How can you? But please do.
People have been coming to the relaxing waters of Turner Falls longer than they have been keeping records. The Anglo settlers discovered it in the mid-1800s and by 1868 it was Oklahoma’s first park and is now run by the city of Davis. The 1,500-acre preserve has offered generations a pristine recreation environment. Cabins rent for $55 to $70 a night. Camping spots and screened shelters, with or without hookups, range from $20 to $10 a night. Besides swimming, there are hiking trails and caves to explore. For more information, call 580/369-2917 or log on to www.turnerfallspark.com.
584th in a series. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of Day Trips 101-200, is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.
This article appears in August 16 • 2002.
