Oklahoma Byways: The Cimarron Heritage Trail Byway

The Cimarron Heritage Trail Byway is located in Cimarron County in the panhandle of Oklahoma. It begins East of Keyes at US 56 traveling west to Boise City then proceeding west on state highway 325 through Kenton to the Oklahoma/New Mexico state line.

The panhandle region of Oklahoma is a unique asset to the state’s diversity. The region hosts many opportunities for individuals or groups to enjoy the great outdoors and take advantage of various activities bringing them closer to the natural side of life. The Cimarron Byway is a kaleidoscope of habitats, geology, and history covered throughout its range. So whether you’re just looking to reflect and take a break from the fast paced world or looking for your next great adventure the Cimarron Byway should be your next destination.

Hitching Post B&B: 1-888-279-7397 or 580-261-7424

Black Mesa B&B: 1-800-866-3009

Kenton Kabins: 580-261-7447 or http://www.geocities.com/Kenton_merc

Hoot Owl Ranch:580-261-7789 or hootowl@ptsi.net

Cimarron County Unique Features

Unique County to the United States Cimarron County, Oklahoma is the westernmost county of the panhandle of Oklahoma. It is the only county in the United States that touches four other states. Those states and locations are northeast New Mexico, southeast Colorado, southwest Kansas, and the panhandle of Texas. Highway 287 (the future Ports-to-Plains Corridor) passes north/south through Cimarron County. Highways 64 & 56 are the major east/west highways. Boise City is located in the center of Cimarron County.

Three State Marker
This monument marks the spot were three different states meet including: Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado.

Dinosaur Tracks

There are three sets of tracks in the creek bed- the main set, a shallower but similar set about 50 yards upstream, and a smaller and much more eroded set downstream. These tracks are in Jurassic formation (sand-stone)- 150 million years old.

Dinosaur Pit

During the 1930’s, several dinosaur quarries were opened and excavated. More than 18 tons of fossilized remains have been taken from Cimarron County quarries. Five distinct species of dinosaurs were found in the same quarry. Other quarries in the same general area have yielded the remains of giant mammoths.

Sante Fe Trail

History of the Santa Fe Trail

The Cimarron route of the historic Santa Fe Trail lies within 16 miles of the Black Mesa. Following Mexican independence from Spain in 1821, both U.S. and Mexican merchants were anxious to begin commercial trade between their respective countries. Using trails and watering holes that were familiar to the Plains Tribes, American traders developed an 860 mile wagon route which linked Missouri with the bustling community of Santa Fe. From 1821 to 1846 this international trade route carried needed materials from the U.S. into northern Mexico and brought silver, furs, and wool to Missouri. Although the importance of the Santa Fe Trail began to decline with the arrival of the railroad in the 1860’s, this route continued to be used for freight and military purposes until the arrival of the steam locomotive in 1880. (Packet Information)

Autograph Rock

Autograph Rock was a stopping off place for the wagon trains to make repairs, rest, and recover from disease. It has a year round spring for watering the animals. This Rock has over 500 documented “signatures” from many who traveled the trail. The landowner, the National Park Service, and the Cimarron Heritage Center Museum have an agreement whereby the visitors to this site are controlled by the landowner and the museum. Visitors must receive permission to visit and access is controlled. Grass conditions permitting, the site is open from April to September. No visible directions or signage will be permitted. The site has not been destroyed by the public and is still pristine

Trail Swales Viewing

Cimarron County has some of the best preserved sites along either route of the Santa Fe Trail. Most of the sites are on prairie grassland that has never been broken out for farming. Arial photos of the trail are spectacular. Thousands of wagons, laden heavy with goods, traveled the trail throughout the years creating swales side by side. The idea was to get across the prairie as fast as possible, so when open there would sometimes be five to six lines of wagons traveling together.

Black Mesa

Highest Point in Oklahoma So-where's the highest point in Oklahoma? Right in the northwest corner of Cimarron County! This "high point," also known as Black Mesa, extends into Colorado and New Mexico since it's about 55 miles long and up to several miles in width, depending on where you're standing. Black Mesa is great for hiking, bird watching, native plants, and of course the best night skies in America! Black Mesa is 4,973 feet above sea level, and a granite monument marks the high-point, which can be reached by hiking a 4.2 mile trail to the top. A trailhead parking area has been created by the partnership of the Oklahoma Nature Conservancy and the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation. For more information on Black Mesa, contact Black Mesa State Park at 580-426-2222 or the Cimarron County Chamber of Commerce.

Black Mesa State Park
(http://www.oklahomaparks.com/detail.asp?id=1%2B5U%2B3584)

Whether you are climbing nearby Black Mesa, following the fossil footprints of dinosaurs, hiking the petrified forest trail, or fishing in Lake Carl Etling, Black Mesa State Park is your gateway to this ruggedly beautiful part of Oklahoma.

This park is in Oklahoma's panhandle and got its name from the layer of black lava rock that coated the mesa about 30 million years ago. The Nature Preserve is located 15 miles from the state park and features Oklahoma's highest elevation at 4,973 feet above sea level. Black Mesa State Park is adjacent to Lake Carl Etling and offers RV, tent campsites, picnic facilities, boat ramps and a mooring buoy, trout fishing in season, a playground, restrooms with showers and a group camp with bunkhouses. NOTE: There is no boat access to Lake Carl Etling at this time. For specific lake conditions, please contact the park office.

Features/Facilities: 349 Park Acres • -Acre Lake Carl Etling • 64 Campsites • Group Camp (capacity of 120) • Black Mesa Preserve • Hiking Trail • Boating • Fishing • Playground (Source Oklahoma Parks Website)

Unique Landforms around the Black Mesa
Among unusual rock formation in the canyon country of Black Mesa area is one characterized as “The Old Maid’s Profile”. Another is known locally as “The Wedding Party”, represented by huge pinnacles properly positioned as the bride, groom and minister. A massive cluster of smaller pinnacles represents the wedding guests facing the principle characters. (Cimarron Conservation District Guide)

Black Mesa Nature Preserve
(http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/oklahoma/preserves/blackmesa.html)
Located in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, Black Mesa Nature Preserve consists of approximately 1,600 acres. In 1991, the Conservancy conveyed its property to the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department with restrictions regarding development and other use. The preserve protects about 60% of the mesa top in Oklahoma in addition to talus slopes and plains habitat. A native granite monument marks the highest point in Oklahoma - 4,973 feet above sea level.

The Black Mesa area supports 31 state rare species (23 plants and 8 animals) and 4 community types. Here, the Rocky Mountains meet the shortgrass prairie and it is unique in that it represents an area where many species are at the easternmost or westernmost portions of their range.

Vegetation on the top of the nearly flat mesa comprises a Bluestem-grama shortgrass community. The mesa's talus slopes support a One-seed juniper/shrub oak community, while similar slopes of neighboring smaller buttes support a one-seed juniper/pinyon woodland community. The plains below the mesa support a shortgrass prairie. Black Mesa is a birder's paradise any time of the year. Golden eagles, scaled quail, black-billed magpies and pinyon jays are just a few of the birds that may be observed. Black bear, bobcat, mountain lion, mule deer and antelope are some of the mammals that may be seen in the mesa region.

The Preserve is open dawn to dusk only. Allow at least four hours to walk from the parking area to the top of the mesa and back. No restrooms are located on the preserve and camping is not allowed, but both are available at Black Mesa State Park, about 15 miles away. For more information, call 1-800-654-8240 or go to the Oklahoma State Parks website. (From the Nature Conservancy’s Web Site)

History of the Black Mesa

The layers of rock which comprise Black Mesa reflect over 140 million years of geological history. The top of the Mesa consists of black lava rock. It is believed that about 30 million years ago this area was blanketed with a basaltic lava flow that originated in the Piney Mountains of present-day southeast Colorado. Molten lava covered an extensive area, flowing down ancient stream and river valleys. Since that time, natural erosion has carved away erodible soils that were beneath the lava cap. The present-day valleys that lay between the region’s mesas are the gaps that have been left as this erodible material has been carried downstream by eons of rain and snowmelt. Significant erosion likely occurred during the Ice Age, when rain and snowfall rates were much greater then today. Black Mesa, which rises about 700 feet above the surrounding plains, is gradually shrinking in size as erosion and gravity slowly slough away the flanks of this ancient landform.

Beneath the black lava cap in descending order but increasing age are: Sands and gravels of the Pliocene Ogallala Group; thick cross-bedded sandstone of the Cretaceous Dakota Group; gray shale and sandstone of the Cretaceous Purgatoire Formation. The Black Mesa region contains the fossilized remains of dinosaurs from the Jurassic and Triassic Periods. Based on the work of paleontologists, it is believed that a variety of dinosaurs lived here as far back as 140 million years ago. This region was a swamp, and featured such plants as giant ferns, cypress and palm-like trees. Among the dinosaurs that roamed this vast area were: Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Ornithopoda.

Of a more recent age, yet still over 10,000 years old, are the local bone remains of an extinct horse, mammoths, bison and other Ice Age creatures that were hunted by paleo-indian groups. (Cimarron Packet)

KENTON

The Town of Kenton
This town was settled in the 1890’s. In its early years, Kenton was booming and progressive, with many businesses and a newspaper. Kenton is the only town in Oklahoma that is on “Mountain Time”.

Kenton Museum
Kenton is home to a small house that is now a museum, but don’t let size throw you off, as it is full of all sorts of area history.

Boise City

Cimarron Heritage Center

This museum helps preserve the rich history of Cimarron County from the prehistoric through the present. The museum is open Monday through Saturday and is closed on major holidays. Exhibits include: Bruce Goff designed home, exhibits explaining the comprehensive history of county and area, restored Santa Fe Depot and Blacksmith Shop, homestead dugout and windmill exhibit, tractors, vehicles, wagons and buggies, and Chimmy (the metal dinosaur).

Bombing Memorial Boise City

was the first of three known cities in the continental U.S. bombed during World War II. The memorial commemorates this event and is located at the Chamber caboose.

Historic Courthouse

This historic Cimarron county landmark is in the middle of the Boise City traffic circle. Mormon Battalion Marker A marker commemorates the Mormon infantry march from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, California, during the Mexican-American War.

Golf Course

Stopby for a quick game of golf on Boise City’s 9-hole course.

History of the Region

Agriculture and Farming

The Cimarron County area has become diversified in its economic growth. The production of feed grains contributes greatly to the economy of Cimarron County and the surrounding area. Improved farming techniques and present research are helping to maintain high yields. Irrigated land has decreased in Cimarron County due to the cost of natural gas needed to fuel irrigation engines. Along with numerous individual ranchers, Cimarron County has three feedlots and one dairy. A grape vineyard for wine production is in its infancy as a diverse crop. Producers are currently experimenting with soybeans, cotton, potatoes, grass seed production, and other crops.

Ranching

Ranching in the area dates back to the 1870’s and has been a major industry in the region since that time.

Dust Bowl

By the time Cimarron Territory was organized as part of Oklahoma Territory, the settlers had arrived and to farm over-graze the land. This over-grazing and farming along with the driest summer on record led into the “Dust Bowl Era”. During these dry years, excessive heating of bare soil caused the winds to be abnormally strong. During the 1930’s there were numerous severe dust storms. (Conservation Guide)

Cowboys

In addition to cattle drives and ranching, some outlaws were also present in the region historically. Some of these famous outlaws included the Coe Gang and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Outlaws led primarily by the Coe Gang set up a small fortress just southeast of Black Mesa know as “Robbers’ Roost”. Because of the menace to wagon trains, Kit Carson was ordered in 1865 by the U.S. War Department to establish a military post in New Mexico Territory to secure the Santa Fe Trail. Carson did establish Camp Nichols in the area, but it was located three miles from the territory line in No Man’s Land. The camp was abandoned later the same year; however, rock ruins still outline the camp today.

Tribes

Prior to settlement by pioneers, this region was part of the homeland of such Plains Indian tribes as: Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne and Arapaho. The Plains tribes lived a nomadic life as they followed the vast herds of buffalo which roamed the Great Plains. For thousands of years, small bands of Native Americans traveled across this vast, open land in pursuit of wild game. The bison or buffalo provided food, clothing, shelter, and implements. Until the 1700’s Plains Tribes had to hunt buffalo on foot. Hunting techniques included stalking individual animals or stampeding a herd into a box canyon or over a cliff.

With the settlement of the Southern Great Plains by the Spanish and Mexican cultures, domesticated horses became available to the Plains Tribes. By the 1700’s most of the Plains tribes owned horses. The horse dramatically changed the lives of these native people by allowing them to become more mobile. Tribes who effectively used the horse for hunting and warfare dominated the plains region. The Kiowa and Comanche were particularly well-known as excellent horsemen. The Plains Indians aggressively defended their homeland against intruders. Wagon trains on the nearby Santa Fe Trail were subject to Indian attack. Following the Civil War, the U.S. Army focused much of its attention on removal of these tribes from the Plains. The extermination of the buffalo, along with the Army’s bloody campaigns against the southern Plains tribes in 1867-69, eventually forced these tribes to live on reservations in southwest Oklahoma. Their nomadic, free-ranging, way of life had sadly come to an end.

Oil and Gas History

Production of oil and gas has been going on in Cimarron County since the drilling of the Ramsey oil well north of Boise City in 1926. The first gas well was drilled during the early 1940’s in the Keyes field north of Keyes by the Pure Oil Co.

The Cimarron Heritage Trail Byway Eco-Experience

Activities along the Byway

Activities:Stargazing; Fishing and Camping; Roadside Geology; Wildlife Observation; Bike Riding and Hiking; Horseback Riding and Ranch Life; Bird Watching; Golf Course & City Park.

Habitats along the Byway

Habitats: Southern Short Grasslands; Playa Region; Marsh Land; Dry Mesas; Juniper-Pinyon Woodlands; Juniper-Shrub Oak Woodlands.

Flora and Fauna along the Byway

Plant Communities: The Cimarron Byway presents an interesting array of plant communities thanks in large part to its proximity to the Rocky Mountains. Black Mesa is a unique blending zone especially for plant communities including: short grass prairie, the playa/marshlands in the region, to shrub oak-pinyon-juniper woodlands. Travelers during some parts of the year (spring –summer) (fall) may be fortunate and greeted with a vast palette of colors from various wildflowers painting the countryside. Many of these plants cannot be found in any other part of Oklahoma.

Trees: One-seeded Juniper; Rocky Mountain Juniper; Mountain Mahogany; Gambel Oak; Pinyon Pine; Peachleaf Willow; Sandbar Willow.

Other Plants: Skunkbush; Yucca; Sand Sagebrush; Western Prickly Pear Cactus; Walking-Stick Cholla; Pencil Cactus.

Wildflowers: Globe Mallow; Missouri Evening Primrose; Thread-leaved Thelesperma; Prairie Ragwort; Prairie Verbena; Wavy-leaved Thistle; Dotted Button Snakeroot; Loco Weed (Stemless Loco); Smooth White Hymenopappus; Rock Daisy; Snow-On-The Mountain; Indian Blanket; Indian Paintbrush; Large-Flowered Penstemon; Missouri Goldenrod; Prairie Lily; Texas Berlandiera; Thorny Mimosa; Western Wallflower; White Milkwort; Yellow-flowered Bladderpod.

Grasses: Buffalograss; Blue Grama; Hairy Grama; Little Bluestem; Prairie Threeawn.

Animals along the Byway

The Cimarron Byway is teaming with an array of interesting life, perfect for the wildlife enthusiast. Whether you’re an avid outdoor person or roadside viewer there are many opportunities to glimpse this unique part of Oklahoma. Many opportunities are available for photography, bird watching, fishing and hunting. Below are a few highlighted species present along the Byway.

Mammals of Interest:

Black Bear; Pronghorn; Mule Deer; White Tailed Deer; Bobcat; Porcupine; Mountain Lion; Prairie Dog; Coyote; Badger; Swift Fox; 13-Lined Ground Squirrel; Blacktailed Jack Rabbit.

Birds of Interest:

Golden Eagle; American Kestrel; Swainson’s Hawk; Red-tailed Hawk; Chihuahuan Raven (White-necked Raven); Scaled Quail; Pinyon Jay; Black-Billed Magpie; Burrowing Owl; American Avocet; Roadrunner; Western Kingbird; Western Meadowlark; Lark Sparrow; Plains Titmouse; Mockingbird; Curve-billed Thrasher; Rock Wren; Mountain Chickadee; Western Bluebird; Red-Breasted Sapsucker; Canyon Wren; Bohemian Waxwing; Evening Grosbeak.

Reptiles and Amphibians:

Prairie Rattlesnake; Collared Lizard; Tiger Salamander; Green Toad; Coach whip; Ornate Box Turtle; Texas and Short Horned Lizards; Great Plains Skink; Western Plains Garter Snake; Eastern Blackneck Garter Snake.