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Black Mesa

Black Mesa, the highest point in Oklahoma at 4,973 ft. above sea level, is about 45 mi. long and 7-8 mi. wide. Parts of the mesa extend into New Mexico and Colorado.

Black Mesa was formed when Piney Mountain volcano, in southeastern Colorado, erupted, thus creating the Cimarron Valley and the mesa.

The area features:

  • Diversity of plants, animals, birds
  • Clear skies and beautiful sunsets
  • Laid-back lifestyle

Black Mesa Nature Preserve

The Black Mesa Nature Preserve features a hiking trail to the top of Black Mesa. The preserve is a cooperative project between The Nature Conservancy and the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department. The round-trip hike takes 4-6 hours.

  • Sign-in at Black Mesa State Park
  • Granite marker at top identifies highest point (confluence of OK, CO, NM)
  • Parking area ~5 miles north of Kenton
  • Take water, look out for rattlesnakes, wear sturdy shoes

Black Mesa State Park

Black Mesa State Park is home to Lake Carl Etling, and is located approximately 32 miles west of Boise City.

  • 33 modern RV sites and many primitive sites
  • 22 picnic tables and modern group pavilion
  • Group camp has 9 bunkhouses, a dining hall with equipped kitchen, a duplex and bathhouse. Reservation taken for each year beginning January 1
  • Ropes Rescue Course
  • Open Year-Round. Call 580-426-2222 for more information

Lake Carl Etling

Lake Carl Etling has 159 surface acres and 5 miles of shoreline on the lake.

  • Ideal for sports fishermen
  • Trout stocked November to April
  • Trout Derby sponsored by the Chamber toward the end of March (call for information)
  • No watersport activities

The Santa Fe National Historic Trail

The Santa Fe Trail, a commercial trade route between the United States and Mexico, saw active traffic from the 1820’s through the 1880’s.

Autograph Rock, where travelers carved their names in a sandstone face, is a certified site and open to the public by permission only.

Contact the Cimarron Heritage Center Museum at 580-544-3479 for permission and information.

  • Cimarron Route of Santa Fe Trail passes NE to SW in county for about 65 miles
  • Santa Fe Trail Exhibit and video available at the Cimarron Heritage Center
  • Santa Fe Trail Daze includes a free bus tour of Autograph Rock and Kenton area.
  • Santa Fe Trail Tour on the first Saturday in October, follows the trail

Boise City

Boise (rhymes with “voice”) City, the county seat since 1908, is the hub of the county.

  • First of three known cities in continental U.S. bombed during WW II – memorial located at Chamber caboose
  • 6 major highways run through the town
  • Boise City Independent School District No. 2 is the largest in the state
  • 9-hole city golf course & swim pool
  • Cimarron County Fair Buildings available for reunions & meetings
  • Home to the Cimarron Heritage Center Museum

Cimarron Heritage Center Museum & Information Center

Open Monday-Saturday from 10:00-12:00 and 1:00-4:00. Closed major holidays.

  • Bruce Gold designed home
  • French Building exhibits tell the comprehensive history of county & area
  • Restored Santa Fe Depot & Blacksmith Shop
  • Homestead Dugout & Windmill Exhibit
  • Edgington Building filled with restored tractors, vehicles, wagons & buggies
  • More antique machinery on grounds

For more information: 580-544-3479

Cimarron Heritage Center Museum & Information Center

Open Monday-Saturday from 10:00-12:00 and 1:00-4:00. Closed major holidays.

  • Bruce Gold designed home
  • French Building exhibits tell the comprehensive history of county & area
  • Restored Santa Fe Depot & Blacksmith Shop
  • Homestead Dugout & Windmill Exhibit
  • Edgington Building filled with restored tractors, vehicles, wagons & buggies
  • More antique machinery on grounds

For more information: 580-544-3479

Events

Santa Fe Trail Daze, scheduled for the first full week-end in June, is the county’s major event. The week-long events include a parade, pioneer queen coronation, bus tour, music-art-quilts by area artists, World Championship Post Hole Digging Contest, ranch rodeo, community church service and much more.

  • Farm Show – second Tuesday in January
  • Trout Derby – toward end of March
  • Kenton Easter Pageant – Easter Weekend
  • Cimarron County Free Fair – September
  • Santa Fe Trail Tour

Dinosaurs

Many types of dinosaurs, large and small, roamed roamed the northwestern part of the area when it was a peninsula with swampy, marshy land during Jurassic times.

  • 18 tons of fossilized bones removed in 1930’s
  • Replica of femur bones is at the site where a prized Apatosaurus was excavated, 80% complete.
  • A Saurophaganax, the Oklahoma State Dinosaur, was found in Cimarron County
  • Full scale replicas of above specifies are found in the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History in Normal, OK
  • Dinosaur tracks in creek bed strata believed to be Iguanodon 

No Man’s Land

Cimarron County, historically, was an area populated with few settlers and regulated by virtually no law. Sheep and cattle ranchers entered this area long before it was opened to homesteaders.

Farming and ranching constitute the economic base of the county.

Other notes of interest:

  • Only county in U.S. that touches 4 states other than its own
  • Resources include clear skies, no stoplights, low humidity, friendly people
  • County seat is Boise City, 1438 pop.
  • Other towns are Keyes, Kenton, & Felt

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