Gloss Mountain State Park, Trip Report

Oklahoma State Park #4.

This is the first park I’ve visited that did not have a park office, but I was still able to get my “I was there” sticker.

As I mentioned in the last post, I did this one in combination with Boiling Springs State Park. The plan was to wake up extra early, visit Boiling Springs, and then get to Gloss Mountain State Park before it hit 80°F. Well, I woke up late, and I stayed at Boiling Springs too long, so by the time we got to Gloss Mountain, it was around 82°F.

From the last trip with my son and his big lab, I learned that dogs may not enjoy hiking above 75°F. I thought we would try the hike anyway since my dogs are smaller and more in shape.

We made it up the dozens of stairs that led to the top, but when it came to going up to the summit, Marco Polo, the Adventure Dog, was not having it. So we had to go back down, and he immediately ran under the car to catch some shade.

I really thought this would be a one-and-done state park, but no, it is not. I’m looking forward to returning when its cooler and actually going on the summit. 

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Trip Report: Boiling Springs State Park

Oklahoma State Park #3.

This was my first two-hour drive from home, and the temperature was going to be above 80°F, which is my peak comfortable temperature. So I was supposed wake at 4AM to get out of the house by 5. So that i can visit Boiling Springs and Gloss Mountain.

I was only supposed to be at Boiling Springs for an hour so that I could hit up the second park before the day heats up. It should have been doable because, according to AllTrails, Boiling Springs only had one hiking trail that was around a mile.

I was again surprised. I ended up walking around three different trails for almost three hours.

There was a small spring i.e Boiling Springs, but the best thing was the trees. They were big beautiful and dead. 

They were spooky, scary trees.

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Fort Cobb State Park; Trip Report

Oklahoma State Park #2

The Oklahoma winds finally died down long enough to finally break in the two-person inflatable kayak I ordered from Amazon. After all, this is an adventuring site, not just a hiking blog.

My hubby accompanied me on this trip because I’m way too scary to have tried this on my own.

Like Red Rock Canyon and Roman Nose State Park, Fort Cobb Oklahoma State Park is less than 1hr 30 min from OKC. Fort Cobb only has one hiking trail, so I don’t think we missed much by not hiking.

We arrived at the welcome center, and I got more park stickers than I should have. The attendant (a super nice lady) recommended that we go to the Sycamore Rd day-use area to drop in our kayak.

Great advice, because there were life jackets at the site.  The universe was looking out for me because I only had some travel pfds that had to be inflated. Ironically, Princess Lola and Marco Polo the Adventure Dog had better life jackets than we did. Which is fine because I was more worried about them jumping into the water than us.

It took about five minutes to air up the kayak with the provided air pump. Then it was quick and easy to put the kayak in the water and hop in. Side note: We did practice setting up at home a few weeks ago before we took it out.

Quick Kayak review: INTEX Challenger Inflatable K2 Kayak did the job, and we enjoyed it. It was tight, but there was enough room for me, the hubby, and two small dogs. Princes Lola stayed calm and relaxed as she sat in my lap. While Marco Polo, the Adventure Dog, sat behind me. He kept moving from side to side, causing the kayak to lean a little. Other than that, I felt safe in the Intex two-person kayak, and it was easy to paddle. Like I said, though, it was a calm day. It was so calm that if we didn’t paddle the kayak, we would simply stay in one place.

After around 30 minutes, we packed it up, making sure to wipe it down so that it wouldn’t mold in the bag. 

Fort Cobb is a much smaller park than Roman Nose, but I still had a great time. We enjoyed the drive out and back. We even stopped in the city of Chickasha on the way home and had some burgers.

Roman Nose State Park, Trip Report

Oklahoma State Park #1

This was my first time at Roman Nose State and like Red Canyon Adventure Park it was a short 1hr21 minutes from the OKC, but there was no entrance fee.

The drive took me through a very flat area, and it was windy, so the song “Oklahoma” kept playing on repeat in my head.

Once I arrived, I parked at the lodge/ visitor center (super nice customer service, btw), got my “Roman Nose Lodge” sticker, and the dogs and I headed to our hike. The “Canyon Loop” trailhead was behind the dumpster a few feet from the lodge entrance.

I didn’t worry too much about getting lost because, overall, the trails were short, but I still checked AllTrails at every intersection anyway. How did people even hike without the internet? Also, this trail had lots of little bridges. I love bridges.

Anyway, it took an hour and 2.6 miles to finish the Canyon loop. I really wanted to try the paved ADA loop, but the trail wasn’t shady like the Canyon Loop, and it started raining harder. Also, it’s springtime in Oklahoma, and I was worried about severe weather rolling in.

ADA TRAIL

Unlike like our last hike, the doggies did not get any stickers in their feet. So that’s always a plus!

I’m looking forward to returning to try the other hiking trails, and maybe bring a bike or some roller skates on the paved ADA path and maybe try the lodge’s restaurant. Maybe visit the General Store the attendant at the front desk bragged about. Maybe even try some kayaking. There was so much I didn’t get to see!

Red Rock Canyon

Oklahoma State Parks #0

Full confession: Red Rock Canyon is not a state park. I did not know that when I was working on my itinerary for the month. I came here on an elementary field trip when I was a kid, and I had such a great time that I’m including it anyway. It was a state park until 2018 when the state returned it to the City of Hinton to save money. Alltrails, the app I use to find trails, still calls it a state park.

Red Canyon Adventure Park is a short 1hr21 minutes from the OKC with a $10/car entrance fee.

Because I suck at reading maps, it took me a while to find any trailheads, so I parked in the day-use area and followed the road until I found a trail.   

The name of the trail on AllTrails vs. the map I got at the entrance is a lot different, but since I used AllTrails exclusively on the trail, I’m going to use their names for the trail. The dogs and I hiked the Outer Loop. Thank gawd for AllTrails cause I’m sure I would have been lost for hours on end because the trails were badly marked, especially at the top. Still had a super fun time. There was a little campsite/meeting stop halfway through the trail that made me wish I had packed a picnic. But the dogs did have snacks, so we stopped, drank water, and they snacked.

I would think twice before I brought the dogs again. The area was full of sticker weeds that would stick in their paws.

Overall, I had a great time. It was a good day and a short trip. I’m looking forward to visiting the park again to try some of the other trails, maybe try out one of the glamping tents, and see if my new adventure wagon can handle their overland paths.