Black Mesa - highest point in Oklahoma

This is the highest point in Oklahoma. It's in the panhandle, just inside the state line, where Black Mesa winds into the state from New Mexico and Colorado. It's a mildly strenuous hike to the monument - about an hour and twenty minutes from the parking area, as I recall. But it was well worth it, for the solitude and for the beautiful vistas of the mesa country. Don't go if you're loathe to mammoth-sized grasshoppers and alien bugs that look like little armored spacecraft. When I was up there (October '95), I could pick out several landmarks way off in the distance: Rabbit Ear Mountain to the south in New Mexico, Sierra Grande to the west in New Mexico, and Tecolote Mesa to the north in Colorado. Bonus: there's a petrified dinosaur footprint track not far down the road from the trailhead parking area.

Cary Todd is a big fan of this part of Oklahoma. If you're interested in learning more about Cimarron County, click here to visit his page.

Page last updated 26 August 2000.