Western Oklahoma: Quartz Mountain, Red Rock Canyon & Wichita Mountains

Quartz Mountain rises dramatically from the surface of Lake Altus-Lugert — a mass of 1.4-billion-year-old quartz-granite boulders that push through the shortgrass prairie with no transition. The bouldering trails climb through fractured granite with views across the lake and the Wichita Mountain foothills. The geology here is part of the same ancient formation as the Wichita Mountains 50 miles east.

The large reservoir formed by the Mountain Park Dam on the North Fork Red River is ringed by the Quartz Mountain landscape — bright red-orange sandstone and exposed granite. Boat rentals and paddleboard access from the Quartz Mountain Lodge marina.

The state park lodge restaurant serves lunch overlooking the lake from a wide dining room — the view of the granite outcrops reflected in the water is the main feature. Sandwiches, soups, and Oklahoma staples.

The Quartz Mountain complex hosts the Quartz Mountain Summer Arts Institute each year — the facility is designed around arts programming and the visual relationship between the built environment and the granite landscape is well-considered. The outdoor amphitheater faces the lake.

A well-regarded steakhouse in Altus, the Jackson County seat — hand-cut steaks from Oklahoma-raised cattle, served in a comfortable dining room with a clientele of farm families and oil-field workers. Straightforward and excellent.

Traditional, country-style American meals served in a historic building dating to the early 1900s.

A hidden 200-foot-deep sandstone canyon carved into the Permian red beds of central Oklahoma — the walls are the red-orange color of the Painted Desert, and the 1.5-mile trail through the canyon floor passes under overhanging cliffs and through narrow passages. The canyon was a stop on the Chisholm Trail cattle drives of the 1870s, when the difficult crossing was one of the most dangerous obstacles between Texas and Kansas.

A Weatherford institution named in honor of the blues guitarist born in Linden, TX — good home cooking in the Custer County seat, with catfish, chicken-fried steak, and cobbler that represent the western Oklahoma lunch tradition.

A hidden canyon park in the Blaine County sandstone — the spring-fed swimming pool at the canyon floor is a startling turquoise color in contrast to the red-orange canyon walls above. The canyon trails connect the natural pool, the historic lodge, and several overlook points. Roman Nose is one of Oklahoma's most scenically surprising state parks.

A Weatherford steakhouse in the Custer County tradition — ribeyes, hand-cut chicken-fried steaks, and house-made pies in a comfortable dining room. Weatherford is the midpoint between the Red Rock Canyon country and the Wichita Mountains.

A well-regarded dinner spot near Hampton Inn Weatherford.

Over 600 free-roaming bison graze the Wichita Mountains landscape alongside longhorn cattle, elk, and white-tailed deer — the refuge is one of the oldest federal wildlife preserves in the country, established in 1901 to save the southern plains bison from extinction. Drive the Wildlife Refuge Road at dawn for the best chance of encountering the main herd.

A paved road climbs to the 2,464-foot summit of Mount Scott — the exposed granite peaks of the Wichitas are 500 million years old and the views across the refuge and the shortgrass prairie to the south are among the most distinctive in Oklahoma. Elk are commonly visible from the summit in the early morning.

A well-regarded Lawton restaurant with a rotating seasonal menu — one of the better kitchens in southwestern Oklahoma, drawing on Gulf Coast seafood and local produce. A genuine bright spot in a region not known for its restaurant culture.

A comprehensive regional museum documenting the cultures, natural history, and industry of the Great Plains — the collection covers Comanche and Kiowa history alongside the homestead era and the oil-field equipment that followed. The outdoor exhibits include a full-scale fur-trade fort.