Here’s a Great Plains site that I have never been to, but looking at some of the photos of the Gloss Mountains makes me want to check it out for sure. I love learning about new places on the Great Plains and the list is growing!
The Gloss (or Glass) Mountains got their name from the concentrations of the mineral selenite that sparkle on the tops of the mesas.
Oklahoma operates Gloss Mountain State Park which preserves 640 acres of the site. There are no overnight facilities at the park, but there are numerous hiking trails that can get you into the “backcountry.”
Gloss Mountain State Park is in Major County about 45 miles west of Enid, Oklahoma. This is probably too far east for the Great Plains Trail to connect to, but it’s just one more example of the diversity and grandeur of the whole region.
4 Responses
Glad to you post on this spot. It is a great little oasis of public land out there and quite scenic too. It is my experience that western Oklahoma is surprisingly diverse, even for the already surprisingly diverse plains. You should check out the Antelope Hills, which used to (sort of) mark the international border between the U.S. and Mexico. They also lie very, very close to the 100th Meridian!
You really know your stuff! I’m impressed. And it’s true, the more I look at western OK, the more I like what I see. I’m due for a trip there so I can get a first hand look.
I was in grad school in Dallas for four years and I was desperate for places to go hiking. Everyone pointed me to the Hill Country but once I discovered the Wichitas, I pretty much abandoned east Texas and explored Oklahoma. I still spent a fair amount of time in the Transpecos and the Caprock, but those were further away and took real time commitment. I could do the Wichitas from Dallas as a long day or a great weekend. I fell in love with it all. It also gave me some perspective on what was beautiful. I grew up in Northern California and I had a pretty high standard on what was and was not beautiful. Time in the Plains changed my perspective a lot and now I really love the Plains too, much to my wife’s chagrin. The same holds true for the desert. I would not have sneezed at place in New Mexico in my ante-Texas days but now I think about going back there every day. Not that this is about me, but it is the context for why I find your blog so enjoyable.
Where are you planning to go in Oklahoma? I sure hope the Wichitas are on the agenda…
I’m glad to hear that the plains altered or added to your sense of beauty. I’m really starting to feel that’s one of my main objectives in trying to create the Great Plains Trail. The whole place is just so underrated. I grew up in Minnesota, and then spent a lot of time in Wyoming, and those are two places I love, but it was all the stuff in between that grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go. The plains were neither here nor there, but the transition fascinated me. Oklahoma has always been south of my typical radar, but that’s all the more reason to check it out – the Wichitas for sure, but also Black Kettle National Grassland which is right near where you were mentioning earlier. About 5 years ago, I did manage to make it to Black Mesa, and I really enjoyed the canyon country out there . . .