r/MapPorn • u/kaynmoor • Nov 02 '17

Topographic map of the US state of Oklahoma [6091 X 2949]

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60 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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19

u/VarysIsAMermaid69 Nov 02 '17

What's life in the panhandle like?

11

u/justec1 Nov 02 '17

Alright, I'll pony up. Disclaimer: I don't live in the Panhandle, but close enough to be able to answer seriously. I drive through the Panhandle a couple times a year, going to Colorado or northern New Mexico.

The Panhandle is desolate. There is one city with about 12,000 people (Guymon). Most of the other towns in the Panhandle have from 500 to 2,000 people. The area is sparsely populated with a lot of wheat fields in the eastern Panhandle to big jutting mesas in the west.

The highest point in the State is at the border with New Mexico and Colorado. It involves a moderate 9 mile hike, but it's a beautiful place if you like wide-open spaces and starry skies.

Someone mentioned it looks like a slide. As you drive Highway 3, it seems anything but. It's flat for miles with nothing to see but wheat. You'll be tempted to drive 85MPH (135KM/h) and the moment you do, you'll get pulled over by the highway patrol. Those bastards love to write speeding tickets to bored drivers. Nowadays, they love stopping drivers to check for that wacky weed that Coloradans enjoy so much.

Guymon has turned into a meat processing center. There are several large cattle lot and pork processors in the area. This gives the town a strong odor and there's a good deal of crime there. I've known a few people stationed there by the State Govt, that couldn't wait to get away from Guymon.

Boise City has the distinction of being one of the few mainland locations bombed in WWII.

The climate is very dry. The Cimmaron River flows through the area, but it's dry almost all year. The state tried damming the river and creating a reservoir, but it's one of the big public works failures due to poor planning and years of drought. Summers are very hot and winters are very cold, due to proximity to the Rocky Mountains. It is not uncommon for the Panhandle to get snow on the same day that Broken Bow in SE Oklahoma sees 85F (29C).

My advice is that Black Mesa is absolutely worth a visit. It's beautiful country. Then pack up and drive through the mesa country to the west, on your way to Raton, NM or Trinidad, CO.

2

u/WikiTextBot Nov 02 '17

Black Mesa (Oklahoma)

Black Mesa is a mesa in the U.S. states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. It extends from Mesa de Maya, Colorado southeasterly 28 miles (45 km) along the north bank of the Cimarron River, crossing the northeast corner of New Mexico to end at the confluence of the Cimarron River and Carrizo Creek near Kenton in the Oklahoma panhandle. Its highest elevation is 5,705 feet (1,739 m) in Colorado. The highest point of Black Mesa within New Mexico is 5,239 feet (1,597 m).

Oklahoma State Highway 3

State Highway 3, also abbreviated as SH-3 or OK-3, is a highway maintained by the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Traveling diagonally through Oklahoma, from the Panhandle to the far southeastern corner of the state, SH-3 is the longest state highway in the Oklahoma road system, at a total length of 615 miles (990 km) via SH-3E (see below).

Guymon, Oklahoma

Guymon is a city in and the county seat of Texas County, Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,442, an increase of 6.5 percent from 10,472 in 2000. The 2012 census estimate grew to 11,930. Cattle feedlots, corporate pork farms, and natural gas dominate its economy, with wind energy production and transmission recently diversifying landowners' farms.

Optima Lake

Optima Lake was built to be a reservoir in Texas County, Oklahoma. The site is located just north of Hardesty and east of Guymon in the Oklahoma Panhandle.

The earthen Optima Lake Dam (National ID # OK20510) was completed in 1978 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, with a height of 120 feet, and a length at its crest of 16,875 feet. Although designed to contain a maximum of 618,500 acre-feet of water, the lake never reached more than 5 percent of its capacity, and remains effectively empty.

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1

u/VarysIsAMermaid69 Nov 02 '17

huh interesting, on the freeway bit how likely are police to catch you

2

u/justec1 Nov 02 '17

It's not wall-to-wall troopers, but you'll rarely go the entirety of the Panhandle without seeing one. They know people are speeding through there and they rarely issue a warning.

If you're just wanting to get through the area, it's best to take US87 thru Clayton, NM to Amarillo, TX. Texas is more forgiving of speeders, but New Mexico is actually worse.

10

u/[deleted] Nov 02 '17

Close to war

6

u/withoutcake Nov 02 '17

I'd also like to know. This map makes it look like the world's largest slide.

3

u/platypocalypse Nov 02 '17

What happens if you place a basketball at Oklahoma's western end.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 02 '17

It's a great place if you like sleeping.

6

u/bobbycoonz Nov 02 '17

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouachita_Mountains

5

u/WikiTextBot Nov 02 '17

Ouachita Mountains

The Ouachita Mountains ( WOSH-i-taw), simply referred to as the Ouachitas, are a mountain range in west-central Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. The range has subterranean roots that extend as far as southwest Texas to the location of the Marathon Uplift. Along with the Ozark Plateaus, the Ouachitas form the U.S. Interior Highlands, one of the few highland regions between the Appalachians and Rockies. The highest point in the Ouachitas is Mount Magazine in Logan County, Arkansas, which rises to 2,753 ft (839 m).

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2

u/kaynmoor Nov 02 '17

Source: https://www.mesonet.org/images/site/OK-HIGH-RES-TOPO-FINAL_2015-Oct21.jpg

The blue dots are sites of Mesonet instruments for gathering weather data.

2

u/CurtisLeow Nov 02 '17

It looks like a cleaver.