Red Rock Canyon State Park
in southwest Oklahoma is an
hidden oasis on the prairie.
Travelers on the California Trail
sought refuge from the heat and
other danger in the canyon's cool
interior. The ruts from the wagons
trains can still be seen in the red
sandstone rock on the California
Trail Nature Trail.
The canyons in this area were
carved slowly over time by water
draining the plains. The forest
system within their protected
walls are some of the most diverse
forests on the Great Plains.
Ferns, mosses and wildflowers
typically associated with eastern
forests support bird life like the
Eastern wood-pewee, wood thrush,
white-eyed vireo and Louisiana
waterthrush, more commonly
seen in the Ozark Mountains.