Oklahoma is home to a plethora of beautiful landscapes. Black Mesa, an area of land that covers Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma, is one of the best places to take in the natural sights of the Sooner State.
“Black Mesa provides guests with some of the best stargazing in the state,” says Chase Horn, the communications director for the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department. “The dark skies bring hundreds of visitors to the park every year for the annual Okie-Tex Star Party, and it’s the perfect spot for astrology enthusiasts to view the Perseid meteor shower.”
The short grass prairie has abundant wildlife including mountain lions, butterflies and Texas horned lizards.
In fact, says Horn, “Black Mesa State Park is also the only place in Oklahoma where you can find bighorn sheep.”
In centuries past, the area was home to the Plains Indians, including Anasazi, Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. Evidence of Indian habitation dating back thousands of years has been found in caves around Kenton.
The area was also home to outlaws during the early 20th century, such as William Coe and Black Jack Ketchum. The Panhandle, then a no man’s land with very little law enforcement, saw an influx of criminal activity until it was eventually settled by miners and farmers.
As for the present day, the mesa still has plenty for travelers.
“When visiting Black Mesa State Park, guests have the opportunity to hike the 8.4 mile round trip to the state’s highest point,” says Horn. “The park has 25 RV sites and 25 campsites, so guests can stay overnight and take advantage of some of the darkest skies on publicly accessible land in the country.
“The park has taken steps to minimize light pollution, like putting up shielded lights, to make sure stargazers have an amazing view,” he says.
Along with the beautiful views and other wildlife, there are also plenty of birds for those looking to catch a glimpse of golden eagles, scaled quail, black-gilled magpies and pinyon jays. Prehistoric-centered activities exist as well.
“There are dinosaur footprints on private land next to the park that guests are allowed to visit,” says Horn. These tracks were discovered in the 1980s and due to erosion, only a third of them still remain today.
Although the mesa itself has been around for quite some time, the park isn’t nearly that old.
“Black Mesa became a state park in 1959 and gets its name from the layer of black lava rock that coated the mesa years ago,” says Horn. “If you hike to the highest point, you can see this volcanic field in the distance including Sierra Grande, an ancient shield volcano, and Mount Capulin, a cinder cone volcano,” Horn says. Both volcanoes are extinct but offer stunning views from the highest point in Oklahoma.
