Oklahoma Hill Country

[cjohnson.405]

I moved to far East Edmond last summer and have been driving all over the area and east into Luther. Some of the views on tops of hills and in neighborhoods are amazing.

We have found cool natural formations (small caves and rock formations), awesome vistas, and beautiful heavily treed steep hill drives. We've stopped at old cemeteries, cruised down 66, and eaten in some out of the way places.

Just my opinion but this area looks like the Texas Hill Country. It's just missing the quaint artist towns with cool festivals.

[Bunty]

The wooded hill country also extends to southwest and south of Stillwater from where you can get a good panoramic view of OSU and Stillwater as below. In the west half of picture it's easy to make out the Kerr-Drummond, Scott, Parker and Wentz dorms, and to the right, the OSU library, the student union and then the massive T. Boone Pickens Stadium. On the right half it might be easy for some to pick out the First Baptist Church and the new 5 story Payne County Jail behind it. To the right, the red building is the 3 story VFW building. Near the horizon, the long white masses are industrial plants. To the far right are the two buildings of Stillwater Milling and a water tank.



A closer view of the right 1/3 of the above scene can be seen below:

[BG918]

I think the closest thing to the Texas Hill Country in Oklahoma are the Arbuckles. The geology and vegetation in that area is very similar.

[Platemaker]

Relating to environment and geology... here is a maps of the EPA's Level IV ecosystems in Oklahoma:


This link gives you a description of each region... it's amazing how varied this state is. Growing up in the far SW part of the state (before seeing the bulk of Oklahoma) my impression of the state was cactus and sagebrush... I'd have labeled Oklahoma 100% southwestern... Altus' ecoregion is 27m 'Red River Tablelands... the description says 27m 'has a higher proportion of southwestern flora than elsewhere in Oklahoma; lotebush, ephedra, tobosa grass, agarita, and pencil cholla occur.' But then you look to every other corner of the state and you find something opposite. It's truly a state that defies the standard regional definitions of North, South, West, Midwest, etc.

http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/ecoregi...vel_iii_iv.htm

Here is the same info over google maps... you can zoom into street level to see that OKC exists in 27d (Prairie Tableland) in the west and northwest, 27o (Cross Timbers Transition Zone) for the bulk of the city, & 29a (Cross Timbers) in the east and northeast.

http://www.plantmaps.com/interactive...ons-l4-map.php