It’s been a while since I’ve posted much about waterfalls. I haven’t really seen too many in the past few months, and haven’t had much time to sit down and post about older ones. This weekend, though, I had a chance to take a trip to Oklahoma, partly because I knew there was a waterfall I wanted to see.
My father said to me, “I always thought Oklahoma was just flat.” And I’m guessing a lot of it could be… And yet, there are hillier areas. In the eastern portion of the state, you can find Natural Falls. In the center of the state, you can find Turner Falls, hidden among the Arbuckle Mountains. The area is surprisingly beautiful, and this is after it rained much of the time. (I think I enjoyed the fact it was about 40+ degrees warmer than home.)
Both of them are about 70′ tall. Turner Falls is often called the tallest, but Natural Falls seems equally as tall. Turner Falls is wider, though. What I liked about Turner Falls was the geology surrounding the falls. It almost seemed as if there were the remnants of lava flows from long ago, as the rock seemed very similar to ones I had seen in lava fields in California and Hawaii. The colors of the rocks and the tree leaves made the falls even more interesting. The rainy weather meant the falls were also flowing well. Overall, it was definitely cool to see Turner Falls. And if you have the time, go searching for what I believe are a few other falls in the area.
Directions:
- Follow I-35 south from Oklahoma City (or north from Dallas). If you are heading south, you would pass the town of Davis, and then you would see a sign for Turner Falls. In the daytime, it was pretty hard to miss.
- Exit I-35 at those signs. (If you’re headed north, there’s a sign also.)
- Follow US-77 to the Turner Falls Park entrance. If you miss the entrance, you would loop right back around to I-35.
- The entrance fee in winter is a very nice $4 per person (compared to the summer rate of $12 per person). There is a short hike to the falls.
Accessibility: 10/10 (easy)
Distance of Hike: 0.1 miles (along a paved path)
Height: 77′
Turner Falls in late November 2014
Where in the World is Turner Falls?
The Waterfall Record 
Good old Turner Falls… You did a nice job keeping the bathrooms out of frame and making the waterfall look like it was in a natural setting. It is a pretty good falls but I always found the development around it to be excruciating. If you ever head back there, I can point you to two more falls that are right around the corner from Turner. Price Falls is the best, and possibly even nicer that Turner Falls. However, if you do go back and the conditions are right, you really need to see Post Oak Falls. It is by far the best in the state, given its gorgeous location in the Wichita Mountains. At about 50 feet high, it is not the tallest but its overall beauty is tough to beat:
http://www.summitpost.org/post-oak-falls/274596
There is a shorter, 10 foot fall nearby too. The Wichitas are by far the most beautiful spot in Oklahoma:
http://www.summitpost.org/wichita-mountains/812124/c-274583
Thanks! It helped that I showed up on a day when it was raining and so there were very few people there. I had much of the place to myself. I had read about Price Falls, but hadn’t heard about Post Oak Falls, so you’ll have to direct me to those!