Amazing landscapes and extreme experiences await you in northwest Oklahoma. Natural wonders like ever-changing sand dunes, hidden caverns, intriguing salt plains, iconic buttes and magnificent mesas are some of the compelling scenic highlights in this startingly diverse region. Northwestern Oklahoma is the geographical region of the state of Oklahoma which includes the Oklahoma Panhandle, stretching to an eastern extent along Interstate 35, and its southern extent along the Canadian River to Noble County. Northwest Oklahoma is also known by its Oklahoma Department of Tourism designation, Red Carpet Country, which is named after the region's red soil and alludes to the metaphor that the panhandle is a "red carpet" into Oklahoma. The area is anchored economically by Enid, which also contains the region's largest commercial airport. Other important cities include Guymon, Ponca City, Woodward, and Alva. Generally dry and flat, Northwest Oklahoma also contains an allotment of mountain ranges and mesas, a testament to the Southwest Tablelands ecoregion that dominates the area. Canyons and grasslands, such as the Rita Blanca National Grassland, help to give Northwest Oklahoma a distinctive Southwest-like landscape, differing from most of the state. Black Mesa, the state's highest peak, is part of a large range of mesas in the panhandle which stretch into New Mexico. Another mesa range, the Glass (or Gloss) Mountains, sits in the center of Northwest Oklahoma, just south of the Cimarron River along Highway 412. (Information retrieved from the Oklahoma Travel Guide and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Oklahoma). |
