Quite Possibly the best national park that you have never heard of. The former Platt National Park, located inside what is now Chickasaw National Recreation area, is a hidden treasure. Sit back and I will tell you why your sanity needs a trip to Platt National Park in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area even if just for the day.
On the road to adventure
It was a bit of a drive from the DFW metroplex (about 3 hours) but well worth the trip. We took a mix of I-35(bleh) and back-roads up, as is our style, enjoying the wind in our hair and the sun on our faces as we cruised along in my wife’s Jeep. As the Chickasaw National Recreation Area wilderness surrounded us, and we neared our destination, the trees grew taller and the road more hilly.
Expect the Unexpected
Good temps and clear blue skies made for a fantastic day. I always plan for the weather, but revel in it when perfect. We came with the intent to hike, photograph, explore, and relax, and we did, but having passed multiple inviting-looking swimming holes on the way, we decided to make a quick trip into Sulpher, Oklahoma for swimsuits and towels.
Amenities
Travertine creek, which is mostly created by springs, runs under the nature center. Imagine the number of spiders under there… on second thought don’t. The nature center houses a gift shop, information center, and a mini museum/zoo of sorts, as well as externally accessible bathrooms (which my wife tells me were very clean).
Geology nerd info time!
Basically Travertine is a form of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3). Which is any of multiple rocks and minerals; most commonly like Limestone(a sedimentary rock), Calcite(a mineral) , and Aragonite(a mineral), but there are others. As stated by that sign, Travertine is deposited by springs. So it is sedimentary, but it is often crystalline because the precipitate environment needed to grow stuff like Calcite exists in springs. Most of the rock I observed sticking out of the ground would better be called a conglomerate, essentially a natural cement with mostly small rounded rocks referred to as cobbles bound together by a sedimentary material, in this case limestone. Some small amounts of chert and other quartz relatives exist with occasional metals, mostly iron. There are multiple formations and groups you may encounter in the park, mostly Pennsylvanian and Devonian in age, So roughly between 300 and 400 ma. Now back to the facilities review.
Trails
The park and recreation area is pretty large with lots of trails. They vary in difficulty, terrain, and likelihood of encountering other hikers. Standard hiking advice applies. Take plenty of water, don’t pet it if it’s wild (especially if you don’t know what it is), wear comfy shoes, take nothing but pictures leave nothing but foot prints, have bug spray & sunscreen, carry a first aid kit, and have something to call for help with in the case there is an emergency.
The trail was shaded most of the way, not oppressively hot, and had good signage. The path was also wide, level, and graveled. Exhausting the trails to the springs we took them downstream from the nature center and they were much the same. All very nice with occasional bathrooms. More downstream as there were now campsites and swimming holes.
Springs
Antelope springs feeds into Travertine creek enlarging it and forming a long shallow pond filled with water plants, fish, and turtles. Which for some reason I didn’t photograph.
Swimming
The swimming holes, which I did not photograph out of respect for the privacy of the people swimming, are deep slow moving pools with a depth of about 8-10 feet of cool water. There are waterfalls made of buildups of Travertine, Tufa (another type of limestone flowstone), and boulders of conglomerate. Check the pictures below to get an idea of what the rock is doing. The ledges and waterfalls form nice places to dive in. The areas alongside the pools are either sandy or graveled (to prevent erosion) and provide great places for your towels and other stuff. There are nearby picnic tables and plenty of shade so you don’t roast while out of the water, even if it’s the dead heat of summer.
Other places and things to do in the park
There are 2 lakes in the Chickasaw National recreation area. There is the small Veterans Lake, which has fishing, hiking, picnicking, swimming, horseback riding, bicycling, and small boating. And the much much larger Lake of the Arbuckles, at which there isn’t any lake type activity I could think of that you can’t do in it. There are multiple pavilions that you can rent for parties, a flower garden, playgrounds, bird watching and the list goes on.
Stuff outside the park to do
Sulpher, which butts right up against the northern edge of the park, has a casino/hotel & spa as well as multiple restaurants, fast food, and some shopping despite still being a small town.
In the area there are numerous rental cabins, RV parks, and Hotels.
For more things to do in the area check the map page. As I explore it will get populated with flags on things I have checked out.
Or if you have a suggestion, just drop me a note via the contact US page.
Wildlife
There was a lot of wildlife in the park. We saw multiple lizards, fish, turtles, birds, insects, butterflies, frogs, dragonflies, etc. Below are a few I got a shot of.
The Fungus Among Us
All in all, we had a great time at Platt National Park, and will definitely be returning. The only negative about the whole park was a couple ticks that crawled up on me because I forgot the bug spray. Don’t forget the bug spray.
