Backpacker Magazine – October 2004

High Points: Black Mesa, Oklahoma

Welcome to this delightfully weird world of extremes.

by: Shannon Davis and Joe Glickman

Tags:
• Feature stories
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• Oklahoma
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Elevation: 4,973 feet

Summit

Oklahoma's hardscrabble panhandle is home to Black Mesa State Park, a delightfully weird world of extremes with an arid landscape of cactus, lava, and stunted junipers. At the end of an ambling 2.2-mile jeep trail, a series of switchbacks ushers you to an incongruously flat mesa that's more than 40 miles long with dwarf vegetation that resembles Homer Simpson's hair. Proceed south 1.1 mile to the 9-foot granite obelisk (if you're looking for extra high-point points, try standing on its scant square top). From there, it's just 1,299 feet to the New Mexico state line, 4.7 miles to Colorado, and 31 miles to Texas.

Contact: Black Mesa State Park, (580) 426-2222; www.oklahomaparks.com

USGS Topo: Kenton

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