Encompassing Oklahoma's southeastern border,
the Cypress Swamps & Forests (aka South Central Plains)
is replete with outdoor recreation, American Indian heritage
and small-town charm. Water sports abound at Hugo Lake State
Park and Raymond Gary State Park, while wildlife of all sorts
can be found at the Little River Wildlife Refuge, where mallards,
wood ducks and raccoons share the cypress swamps with alligators
and beaver. Immerse yourself in the heart of the Choctaw Nation
with a visit to the historic Wheelock Academy, a former boarding
school for Choctaw females that's being lovingly restored by
the Choctaw people.
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Counties: |
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McCurtain, Choctaw, Bryan, Atoka and Pushmataha
Counties
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Area of OK: |
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Far Southeast Oklahoma
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Major Cities: |
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Broken Bow, Idabel and Hugo
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Outdoor Activites: |
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Camping, fishing, hunting, jet skiing, water skiing, boating,
canoeing, hiking, cycling, bird watching, horseback riding
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Wildlife: |
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Deer, elk, antelope, bobcat, coyote, wolves, river otter,
alligators, duck, pheasant, quail, numerous bird species,
315 vertebrate species are native to this ecosystem
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Of Interest: |
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- Ouachita National Forest (South portion)
- Museum of the Red River in Idabel, housing over
20,000 objects in its collection of Native American and
Pre-Colombian art and artifacts.
- Raymond Gary State Park – Hugo Lake
- Fort Towson Historic Site - This frontier fort
operated from the 1820s until the 1850s by the U.S. Army
and by the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Site of
Confederate General Stand Watie's surrendered to the Union
in 1865.
- Little River Wildlife Refuge - This bottomland
hardwood habitat is home to mallard and wood ducks, bald
eagles, hawk, turkey, alligators, beaver and raccoon
- Hugo Lake State Park
- Wheelock Academy, a National Historic Landmark,
was a school for American Indian girls for 72 years; closed
in 1955, it's now being restored by the Choctaw Nation.
- Showmen’s Rest in Mt. Olivet Cemetery -
the final resting place for “All the showmen under
God’s Big Top". Also the resting place for World
Championship cowboys Freckles Brown and Lane Frost.
- For more than 50 years, Hugo has been a haven for off-season
circus folk and is known as Circus City, U.S.A.
- Pine Creek Lake
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Annual Events:
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- 1830s Fur Traders Rendezvous (Fort Towson Historic Site)
(Feb)
- Wheelock Spring Festival (Millerton) (May)
- Grant's Bluegrass Festival (Hugo) (Aug)
- Fall Festival (Idabel) (Oct)
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Terrain Description: |
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Locally termed the "piney woods," this
ecoregion of mostly irregular plains was once blanketed by oak-hickory-pine
forests, but is now predominantly in loblolly and shortleaf
pine. |
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Back To Ecoregions Map
Click photo to view the full picture.
Lake Hugo
Raymond Gary State Park
Museum of the Red River
Museum of the Red River
Mount Olivet Cemetery - Hugo, OK
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