Oklahoma’s Best Fall Foliage Destinations

It's about this time each year when that first cold front comes through Oklahoma, we start to wonder when the leaves will start to change. The state takes on a warm-color tone, the yellows, oranges, and red. Everyone looks forward to that short time when the scenery improves before everything dies. It's a good time to be in Oklahoma.

Sure, the colors of fall aren't as vibrant here as they are in other places around the country. We'll never be as colorful as the Northeastern US, and you'll never find a sea of yellow aspens like you'd see driving through the Rockies, but Oklahoma is full of colorful surprises.

This is something I think every Lawtonian wished we had done better. Generations past planted an over-abundance of what we call scrub-oak, cottonwoods, Bradford pears, and those bubble-gum pink crepe myrtles. While the pear trees will eventually turn colors for a day or two, the overwhelming majority of Lawtons trees turn brown and dormant in the plainest fashion.

Don't be fooled by the lack of tree diversity here in Lawton. It's not like that everywhere.

Around the Sooner State, there are no less than fourteen different scenic fall color trails to see the colors of fall throughout. Thirteen of them you'll have to take a drive to experience, but those travels will pay dividends in beauty.

While on average, most of these places peak in the last week of October and the first week of November, this year has been different. You may be able to stretch those averages an additional week in some places.

While it'd be almost impossible to see every scenic place in one season, stranger things have happened. If I were you, and I was really looking for a colorful pop of fall, I'd stick to the top three recommended places to see fall colors below.

You have time to plan your trips to experience the colors of an Oklahoma fall.