Travertine Creek – Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Sulpher, Oklahoma

The recent rash of 100+ days is enough to drive anyone to the nearest source of water for a cool-off. Since an adult can only stand in the backyard and spray themselves with the hose, so many times before the neighbors start to talk, I scoured the OK Tourism site (http://www.travelok.com/) for a swimming hole where we could go dip our toes.  There are many beautiful respte in our state to get wet, but we wanted something special. We found it at Travertine Creek, located in the Chicaksaw National Recreation Area, in Sulpher.  The entire national park encompasses much of the city of Sulpher, including the Lake of the Arbuckles, but the Travertine Creek area is located just West of downtown Sulpher, “…Go through town, when you come to the three way stop sign, turn right, take the first left, follow the signs…” were the  instructions given by a park employee when I called.

The creek runs along a winding road  in a series of pools and falls with pull offs to stop and just jump in. The big draw of the area is Little Niagara, a stair stepped flagstone pool deep enough to jump into off of the falls. However, it draws quite a crowd, and if you prefer something more intimate, drive the winding road, and pull off where you find a spot.  There are campsites once you pull into the Travertine creek area, and several more scattered around about the area.  Once we finally found a stop, by the time we hiked down to the creek we were hot! But the sight or the babbling brook  that greeted us was a welcome oasis to the days of heat we’d been enduring. The water is the crystal blue stuff of the imagination, and boy is it cold! There are trails to follow up to the source of the creek but this trip we were happy to find our own pool fed by a lovely tumbling waterfall to plunk down into.  The pool was deep enough it sit chest deep in, and the falls were a simple tumble off, no taller than our eleven year old. However, the murmur of the falls, and the wind in the trees made the place feel like magic. As we sat in the cool water it was as though our bodies were being reset. There is something so soothing about a waterfall. And to sit in your own personal private pool complete with waterfall is akin to a day at the finest spa.

Our day at Travertine creek was only a toe dip into everything that the Chickasaw National Recreation Area has to offer, but it was a well-deserved ---and relished--- taste.