Great Salt Plains offers treasured pastimes By Elaine Warner
Diggin’ It
Native American tribes came to the area to harvest salt many centuries before American expansion onto what is now Oklahoma’s Great Salt Plains. Photo by Elaine Warner
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POST FRAME
ow!” That’s a common re- action from visitors who mount a small tower that overlooks a good portion
of Oklahoma’s 25-square-mile Great Salt Plains.
“It’s like looking at the Arctic,” Zoe McAden, a visitor from England, said. A vast expanse of white spreads out on
fl at-as-a-pancake land with a hazy blue line between earth and sky indicating the 9000- acre Great Salt Plains Lake.
Within this area of Alfalfa County in the northwest part of the state, visitors can view one of Oklahoma’s most interesting geo- logical phenomena, experience some of the state’s best bird-watching, hike, camp, swim and simply get away from it all.
The Park at the Heart Great Salt Plains Lake and dam were built in 1941. The 840-acre Great Salt Plains State Park, which hugs the shore near the dam, was completed in the late ‘50s. The park’s six popular log cabins are clean, comfortable and provide all the com- forts of home. All visitors need to bring is food. Linens and kitchen utensils are pro- vided and each cabin has a stove, refrigera- tor, microwave and television. A community center for groups needing more space is available. Other options include tent and RV camping areas and an equestrian campground.
The park boasts approximately 12 miles of trails for mountain biking, walking, hik- ing, swimming and horseback riding. There are picnic areas and playground equipment scattered through the park.
With the ongoing drought, the lake level is below average and boating and fi shing have been affected. Park Manager, Russell Nickel, a member of Alfalfa Electric
Cooperative, is optimistic, however. “Fishing will come back after the drought,” he said.
Hopefully, recent rains will speed the process.
Pass the Salt
One of the most popular pastimes in the vicinity is crystal digging. A large portion of the salt flats lies within Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, another of the organizations working to manage this unique part of Oklahoma. Long before any organized supervision, the Salt Plains were used by both Native Americans and wildlife. The Refuge was created in 1930 as a breeding ground and feeding area for birds migrating through on the Central Flyway. While the woods and wetlands of the refuge are important to many species, the salt fl ats are essential to two rare birds that nest on the salt—the Interior Least Tern and the Snowy Plover. Because of these birds’ nesting habits, the salt fl ats are closed be- tween October 16 and April 1 each year. From April to mid-October tourists take over for the dirtiest clean fun available in Oklahoma—digging for selenite crystals. Beneath the crusty surface, salt in the soil combines with gypsum to create ornately geometric structures. Those found here are unique in the world because they contain hour-glass-shaped inclusions. Between 25,000 and 40,000 diggers come to the area during the annual fi ve-and-a-half month open season.
For the Birds
Year-round, birders come to the area where, since the refuge opened, well over 300 species have been spotted. Ducks,
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