The Best Small Towns in Oklahoma to Chill Out In 2024
Oklahoma is known as "The Sooner State" due to the large number of pioneers who entered Osage territory without permission. Fortunately, you can legally visit some of Oklahoma's most beautiful small towns to chill out in 2024. With the second-largest population of Native Americans after California, it is important to be mindful and respectful when exploring Native American territories such as Broken Bow and Pawhuska. One also should offer their respects to the many historic figures that contributed to the development of small towns like Muskogee, Stillwater, and Bartlesville. However, whichever town you choose first or last, let your eyes behold the beauty and majesty each of Oklahoma’s small towns have to relax in 2024.
Stillwater
Stillwater, an hour away from Oklahoma City, has been largely hailed as America’s friendliest college town. It is here where one can find the Oklahoma State University, a haven for many aspiring scholars and also a place that has garnered many national championships in wrestling. Aspiring wrestlers or wrestling enthusiasts can admire the trophies earned by the university’s alumni at the Heritage Hall Museum and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
One can listen to a unique genre of music called Red Dirt, which famed musician Bob Childers invented in Stillwater to honor the lively attitudes and atmosphere of Oklahoma. Those who enjoy fishing and recreational activities can seek leisure and enjoyment in the waters of Carl Blackwell Lake, Boomer Lake, and Lake McMurtry. Or you can take pictures of kangaroos and camels at the Lost Creek Safari.
Broken Bow
Broken Bow is a resplendent vacation spot for individuals who want fresh air and brisk landscapes. Among the many areas visitors can gallivant and saunter about is Beavers Bend State Park, home to many of Oklahoma’s beautiful wildlife, such as black bears, bald eagles, and other wild animals. The Forest Heritage Center Museum is a good place to study and be informed about the local wildlife in the Hochatown area in case you want to be prepared for the unexpected.
Most of all, the Mountain Fork River and the Broken Bow Lake are awesome bodies of water to go splashing about, especially the latter with its dozens of islands. But if you would rather stay within the safe town boundaries of Broken Bow, perhaps you can be interested in the Gardner Mansion & Museum with its Native American artifacts and articles from 1884.
Eufaula
On the shores of the Gentle Giant known as Lake Eufaula is the eponymous town of Eufaula. Only 32 miles south of Muskogee, one can swim and fish on the largest and most peaceful lake in Oklahoma. In addition to Lake Eufaula’s humungous charm, Eufaula hosts carnival rides and picnics at Lake Eufaula State Park and Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park during wonderful Whole Hawg Days, which happens on the last weekend of July.
Furthermore, the townsfolk celebrate Oktoberfest in October and laud a Barktoberfest for dogs and other pets everywhere. The Eufaula Area Museum elaborates on Eufaula’s enthralling past, while the Creek Nation Casino Eufaula serves as a lavish destination for gamblers and risktakers alike. And if you want to sleep peacefully in Eufaula, the Lakeside Inn, Snug Harbor Cabins, and Huckleberry Lodge on Lake Eufaula have all the amenities you will need.
Medicine Park
The best remedy for your daily exhaustion and recurring stress is often a much-needed vacation somewhere. One of the best vacation spots in Oklahoma is none other than Medicine Park, Oklahoma’s first resort town, only 15 miles away from Lawton. Medicine Park is so luxuriating and stress-relieving a destination that even historic personalities like President Theodore Roosevelt, Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, and Jack Abernathy spent their hiatus in Medicine Park.
Today, Medicine Park mainly accommodates soldiers from Fort Still who have finished their Basic and AIT training. Walk the same routes historic heroes and modern soldiers took towards Medicine Park’s many attractions, such as the shores of Bath Lake and Lake Lawtonka and the forests around the Wichita Mountains. Immerse yourself in 60,000 acres of serene wildlife in the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge, the climb to the summit of Bison Mountain for a perfect scenery of Medicine Park.
Guthrie
Guthrie’s downtown is the largest Historic Preservation District in the US since its founding in the 1800s. Only about 32 miles from Oklahoma City, visitors can be entreated to modern produce from the old-school Frontier Drugstore Museum, while the Oklahoma Territorial Museum & Carnegie Library informs one and all about the early pioneering lifestyle and the tribulations Guthrie’s settlers underwent to construct their beloved abode.
However, Guthrie also happens to be one of the most haunted locations in the state. There is even a Guthrie Ghost Walk for those curious or brave to enter these ghost-swarmed domiciles. If you are not enthused with spirits, then get your own spirits soaring with exhilarating paintball fights and other sports at the Avid Extreme Sports Park.
Sulphur
The town of Sulphur is so named after the small quantities of sulfur in some of the cleansing springs in the Cold Springs Campground. Ironically, although there is not much of an abundance of this element from the periodic table in Sulphur, one should still take care when stepping into one of the cleansing springs in the Cold Springs Campground. However, if you prefer to remain dry, you can always traverse the trails and treks of the Arbuckle Mountains, which the Native Americans once called “the land of rippling waters.”
You will find an even greater abundance of streams, lakes, and swimming holes rather than cleansing springs. For example, there are Little Niagara Falls and Lake of the Arbuckle in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, where you can take home-worthy photographs. And if you want to know more about Sulphur, then see the exhibits and artifacts at the Arbuckle Historical Museum.
Bartlesville
Feel relaxed and chill while strolling through Bartlesville’s quaint and convenient attractions. Ascend to the top of the Price Tower, the only skyscraper in Oklahoma that famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed. Listen to many global musicians at OK Mozart, Bartlesville’s awesome musical event held every year in June.
But most of all, appreciate Bartlesville for being the staging ground for Frank Philip, an oil entrepreneur who founded many globally-acknowledged oil companies such as Phillips Petroleum Company, ConocoPhillips, and Phillips 66. One can learn all about Frank Philip and his companies at the Woolaroc Museum in the Osage Hills, which is also a wildlife preserve, a wedding venue, and an art gallery for several masterclass artworks Philip collected.
Pawhuska
Pawhuska, nearly 25 miles from Bartlesville, is named after Osage chief Paw-Hiu-Skah which means “White Hair.” It is now the tribal capital of the whole Osage Nation, and has been the setting for notable modern Wild West movies. Among them is Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, where Pawhuska was where the FBI conducted their first major case on the terrible Osage Murders.
This ancient town was also the birthplace of Ben Johnson, an Oscar-winning cowboy whose history can be appreciated at the Osage Nation Historical Museum. For those of you who want a better immersive experience of Pawhuska’s wild side, then head over to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve to see bison, deer, and coyotes. Or you can venture into the Osage Hills State Park for the lavish waters of both the Bluestem Lake and Bluestem Falls.
Muskogee
Lounging on the banks of the Arkansas River and about 50 miles from the city of Tulsa is the historic settlement of Muskogee. In this sublime town, one can enter a World War II submarine in the Muskogee War Memorial Park called the USS Batfish, which now serves as a museum about marine warfare. For nature-lovers and outdoor-goers, you can traipse through Muskogee’s arboretum or along the numerous trails in the Honor Heights Park.
Dive into Native American lore at the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, where artifacts belonging to the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee, and Seminole nations are in full display. Some might fancy learning about famous musical concerts at the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. Probably the most thrilling attraction in Muskogee is the medieval-style Castle of Muskogee since it has its own Renaissance fair.
Embark on a thrilling adventure through the Sooner State. In a land where wind turbines power communities and the precarious Tornado Alley threatens most, the best small towns in Oklahoma to chill out in 2024 are safe and perfect destinations for visitors from all over the United States and beyond. Still, you ought to explore these towns sooner rather than later to beat the tourist traffic. The watery paradises of Eufaula, the cleansing springs of Sulphur, and the cinematic landscapes of Pawhuska are sure to attract hundreds of people with their uniqueness and delights.
