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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