Day Trips Around Oklahoma City for Memorial Day

Spring is in the air, and for many families in the Oklahoma City area, Memorial Day is the first nice long weekend they can spend outdoors. If you’re looking for a lovely day trip to take with your family, friends, or a significant other, the following destinations are just a stone’s throw away from the city. Whether you want to spend a relaxing day in nature, visit a fun college town, or have a wild west-themed day, the region around Oklahoma City has a lot to offer everyone.

Explore Great Salt Plains State Park

If you drive toward Kansas for 2.5 hours, you’ll come across the Great Salt Plains State Park. If you’re wondering how salt plains made their way so far inland, it’s because the park sits on the remains of a prehistoric inland sea. In addition to the salt flats, there’s still a saltwater lake in the area where you can swim, fish, canoe, and kayak.

In addition to marveling at the unique geographical features and nature here, the whole family will find fun things to do, as everyone can mine for selenite crystals in the salt flats. You won’t find such incredible crystal formations anywhere else in the world. This mining activity is offered from April 1 to Oct. 15, from sunrise to sunset.

You can visit the park at almost any time during the day, though the park’s office hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. On-site parking costs $10, and most of the activities, including biking, hiking, and swimming, are free.

Enjoy Nature at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

In the southwest of Oklahoma, you’ll find the grand natural sprawl of Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. The area is approximately 90 miles from Oklahoma City, usually less than a two-hour drive away. Stop for a bite at Meers Store and Restaurant before you arrive, rumored to have the best burgers in all of Oklahoma.

The refuge is an excellent destination for the whole family, as it’s home to some of Oklahoma’s most unique and majestic animals. This includes Texas Longhorn cattle, bison, Rocky Mountain elk, and a whole range of other wild animals. Drive through the refuge to see how many you can spot, and eventually, make your way up to the summit of Mount Scott.

Here, you’ll be rewarded with one of the area’s most stunning views of Lake Lawtonka below. You can also enjoy fishing, birdwatching, hiking, and kayaking. There’s so much to explore you might want to make a weekend of it.

Live It up in Tulsa

Sometimes a good day trip isn’t about escaping the city but experiencing a change of scenery instead. If you’re looking for a new town to explore, head to Tulsa, Oklahoma’s second-biggest city located just 100 miles away (approximately a 2-hour drive), to live it up.

Start your day by hiking the network of trails in the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness area. Then you can head to the Blue Dome, home of several excellent Tulsa restaurants, and grab a bite to eat before continuing with your day. Spend the afternoon exploring the Tulsa Arts District, with its many impressive historic buildings and galleries, and stop in at the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art to learn about local history and observe artifacts and arts, as Tulsa has also been the home of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation for centuries.

Finally, if you want to find one more museum to fill out your weekend, the Philbrook Museum of Art is definitely worth a visit, as it’s housed in a beautiful Renaissance-style building on gorgeous grounds. Entrance to the museum is $17 for adults and free for people 17 and under, making it ideal for a family trip.

Discover the Wild West in Hugo

Take your family three hours southeast of Oklahoma City and check out the town of Hugo, a former railroad hub and thriving Wild West city. Though the town is considerably less lively today, it bears a lot of the marks of its past on its streets. Stop at the Frisco Depot Museum  to see how Hugo was built, thrived, and eventually died down. Local Mount Olivet Cemetery also has a dedicated section for the rodeo and circus performers of the Old West buried there.

The town was actually named after the famous French author Victor Hugo, who wrote “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “Les Misérables.” When you’re done exploring the streets of the town, as a bonus for the kids, stop at the Endangered Ark Foundation. You’ll find a host of circus elephants that have been sent there to be cared for and looked after in their retirement. The foundation does great work in not only caring for these majestic creatures but also educating people on their efforts to save the Asian elephant species.

Learn About Chickasaw Culture at Tishomingo

The Chickasaw people are among the many Native American tribes that call the land of Oklahoma home. Drive around two hours southeast to get to Tishomingo, the center of the Chickasaw Nation, to learn more about the tribe’s culture, history, and arts. The town is named after a former chief of the Chickasaw, Tishomingo, who sadly perished on the Trail of Tears.

Start your day with a visit to Chickasaw Council House Museum and Chickasaw National Capitol building. Then you can wander along the Blue River, a great walking and fishing destination, or explore Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge nearby on foot.

Either way, you’ll find plenty to do in terms of culture, dining, history, and outdoor adventures in the historic trading center of Tishomingo while also learning a lot more about the Chickasaw People.

This Memorial Day weekend, pick one of the many incredible day trips available around Oklahoma City to explore the area’s nature, history, or wildlife while enjoying a beautiful spring day with family or friends. If you know of another day trip around Oklahoma City that we missed, contact us at Eskridge Lexus and let us know, as we’d love to include it in a future post.

Downtown Tulsa by Angela Severn is licensed with CC BY 2.0