Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

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Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

On 3 April 2024, Zosia Zgolak took a detour from Texas into southwest Oklahoma to visit Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge. Although low in elevation, the Wichita Mountains are surprisingly rugged and offer some interesting peak-bagging opportunities. Upon entering the refuge, we were dismayed to learn that the embedded Charons Garden Wilderness was closed to the public on this day likely because of a prescribed burn. As such, we were unable to hike our intended primary objective, Elk Mountain, and had to scramble, so to speak, to find an alternative. We eventually settled for an ascent of Eagle Mountain located near the south end of the refuge but outside the closed wilderness area. Still within cel phone coverage, I was able to download some route information from summitpost.org. Unlike Elk Mountain, there is no trail to the top of Eagle Mountain, and we would have to figure out much of the ascent route on our own. Although the refuge does not charge an entrance fee, the Boulder Cabin parking lot--the starting point for Eagle Mountain--is strangely a designated fee area. To avoid a possible citation, we parked just outside the gate (34.70179, -98.67658) to the parking lot.

A couple of bison were lounging near the parking lot as Zosia and I walked past Boulder Cabin to the Narrows Trailhead. We followed this trail for about 170 metres before taking a right fork which quickly dead-ends at West Cache Creek. After hopping across the creek, we bushwhacked uphill looking for the path of least resistance and generally made good progress until we reached the upper part of the mountain. Here, we ran into increasingly massive boulders which necessitated a lot of route-finding and also some thrashing through thorny vegetation. Near the top, there are at least a couple of different boulders that appear to be the true summit, and we ended up scrambling up the two most likely candidates. The second one we scrambled up had a rebar drilled into the top and turned out to be true summit.

For our descent, Zosia and I initially tried to retrace our steps, but we inevitably had to do more route-finding and scrambling to negotiate the maze of boulders on the upper mountain. Fortunately, we were able to avoid getting cliffed out and eventually muddled our way back to the easier sections that we came up. The rest of the descent went more smoothly, and after re-crossing West Cache Creek, we easily walked back to Boulder Cabin where the two bison were still hanging about.

	Because of a prescribed burn, Charons Garden Wilderness is closed to the public on this day. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	A couple of bison can be seen grazing near the Narrows Trailhead. In the background is Eagle Mountain.
	Historic Boulder Cabin serves as a rain shelter at the Narrows Trailhead.
	Zosia prepares to hop across West Cache Creek.
	Zosia scrambles over some boulders at the base of Eagle Mountain.
	Increasingly large boulders on the upper mountain make route-finding challenging. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia squeezes through a narrow gap between two boulders.
	Sonny tries to find an easy way to surmount this boulder which is possibly the summit of Eagle Mountain. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia scrambles up what turns out to be a subsidiary high point (547 metres) but not the summit.

Still worthwhile to scramble up the subsidiary high point.

In this view to the northwest from the subsidiary high point, the true summit of Eagle Mountain is the large boulder at left..

	Zosia scrambles up the true summit of Eagle Mountain.
	Zosia and Sonny take a selfie on the summit of Eagle Mountain (553 metres).

Some intriguing peak-bagging opportunities...

Here is the view to the northeast from the summit of Eagle Mountain.

	The subsidiary high point is at centre in this view to the southeast.
	Zosia thrashes through some nasty vegetation on her way down.
	The boulders on the upper mountain seemingly swallow up Sonny. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia drops down an awkward step.
	Zosia is happy that the bison are still lounging near the trailhead.
	One of the bison alertly stands up. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Total Distance: 2.4 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 2 hours 26 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain: 115 metres GPX Data

With some time to spare, Zosia and I drove to the Quanah Parker Lake Dam (34.71222, -98.64077) where we hiked up Little Baldy, a small but scenic summit overlooking the dam's namesake. In contrast to Eagle Mountain, a well-defined trail crosses the dam and runs nearly to the top of Little Baldy, and we made short work of the ascent. There is one mildly exposed step just before the top, but compared to the challenges we encountered on Eagle Mountain, this step was a cakewalk. The open landscape surrounding Little Baldy invites further exploration, but we simply returned the way we came.

	Zosia crosses Quanah Parker Lake Dam at the start of the hike to Little Baldy.
	Zosia follows a good trail that leads to Little Baldy.
	Some easy scrambling is required to surmount Little Baldy.
	Sonny and Zosia stand on the summit of Little Baldy (508 metres).

Lots of potential to wander afar here...

Here is the view to the southeast from the top of Little Baldy.

Never expected Oklahoma to be this beautiful!

Quanah Parker Lake attracts all the attention in this view to the east.

Total Distance: 1.4 kilometres
Round-Trip Time: 50 minutes
Net Elevation Gain: 54 metres

GPX Data

Continuing eastward, Zosia and I drove a paved road up Mount Scott, the second highest mountain within the refuge. From the mountain top parking lot (34.74401, -98.53186), we scrambled over a few boulders to tag the summit benchmark before returning to our car to eat lunch. It was a satisfying way to wrap up our visit to the Wichita Mountains, but we now have some incentive to return in the future to explore Charons Garden Wilderness whenever it re-opens to the public.

	A good road runs all the way up Mount Scott. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Sonny wanders among Mount Scott's summit rocks looking for the highest boulder. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia stands on the summit of Mount Scott (753 metres).
	Here is a view of Lake Lawtonka which is just east of Mount Scott.