Oklahoma City

Understand

Oklahoma City is the largest city in the state, as well as its political, cultural, and economic engine. The city is the nation's third largest city in land area (620 sq miles / 1,600 km2), just behind Jacksonville, Florida (759 sq miles / 1966 km2) and way behind Anchorage, Alaska (1698 sq miles / 4398 km2). It is about the same size as Greater London, an urban area with 13 times as many inhabitants. The city is the 20th largest city in population in the nation (655,000 in 2019), and the largest city in the five states on the Great Plains (Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota). After decades of suburban sprawl and attempts at "urban renewal", a burst of investment during the 1990s gave it additional big city attractions and a pleasant quality of life that often surprises visitors from other cities, making Oklahoma City more of a tourist destination in itself. Oklahoma's state capitol building is the only capitol in the world with an oil well under it. Although its legal description is Capitol Site #1, it is referred to as Petunia #1 because it was drilled in the middle of a flower bed.

Geography

Oklahoma City is in the Frontier Country region of central Oklahoma, in the Southern Plains of North America. Contrary to popular belief, the geography is not flat and treeless (like in the true high plains) but rather gently rolling hills covered in places by dense low trees, shrubs, and grasses. The city is roughly bisected by the North Canadian River, which has been partially renamed the Oklahoma River in a flight of civic exuberance. The North Canadian is not very impressive as rivers go. It was once substantial enough to flood every year, wreaking destruction on surrounding homes, until the 1940s when the Civilian Conservation Corps dammed the river and turned it into essentially a wide ditch for the next 50 years. In the 1990s, as part of the citywide revitalization project known as MAPS, the city built a series of low water dams, returning water to the portion of the river that flows near downtown. The city also has three large lakes. Lake Hefner and Lake Overholser are in the northwestern part of the city. The largest, Lake Stanley Draper, is in the far southeastern corner of the city.

Climate The weather ranges from cold and windy in the winter to hot, humid and windy in the summer, with a chance of flash floods and tornadoes in between. Daytime summer temperatures average around 94 °F (34 °C). Average heat indices are around 97 °F (36 °C) during the day and 74 °F (23 °C) at night throughout the summer. It is not unheard o

Getting there

By plane 1 Will Rogers World Airport (OKC IATA). This airport offers over 180 flights a day, including non-stop service to over 30 U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Washington, DC. The airport (built in the 1960s) has completed the first phase of a major expansion and modernization project and is implementing the second phase of the expansion, adding additional gates and visitor amenities. (updated Apr 2021) 2 Wiley Post Airport (PWA IATA) (off Rockwell Ave, between NW 50th and NW 63rd St; about 10 miles (16 km) north-northwest of Will Rogers.), [email protected]. Control tower operations, 7AM–10PM. If you want to fly in yourself, this is the place to go. Nine runways handle more than 200 private planes and corporate jets arriving and departing each day. After you land, taxi over to the Oklahoma Museum of Flying in Hangar 24, and then go to the Runway Café in the main terminal for a huge cinnamon roll, or to find out what the lunch special is. Open to the public, including people who arrive by car.

By train

Amtrak offers daily service from Fort Worth, Texas via its Heartland Flyer train, which can be boarded at 3 Santa Fe Depot, along E.K. Gaylord Blvd between Sheridan Ave and Reno Ave in the Bricktown neighborhood of downtown. The Heartland Flyer has connections to other regional Amtrak lines in Fort Worth. Plans have been proposed to expand the line north to Wichita, KS, and eventually onward to Kansas City.

By car Oklahoma City is at the intersection of two of the nation's longest continuous interstate highways, I-40 and I-35, as well as I-44. It is also on historic Route 66.

By bus 4 Greyhound Lines, Flixbus, 1418 E Reno Ave, ☏ +1. Connects Oklahoma City to Dallas, Flagstaff, AZ; St Louis (via Tulsa); etc. (updated Jul 2024)

Getting around

Getting around Oklahoma City is easy by car. If you're coming to OKC, you will likely want to either rent a car or plan on staying around downtown, because public transportation is rather limited. There is pretty good bus service around downtown, to the airport, and to the cluster of museums and attractions in the northeastern part of the city, but if you want to explore the rest of the city without renting a car, you'll either have to use the not-too-stellar parts of bus system or call a cab. A streetcar system operates in downtown. If you happen to have or rent a car, then getting around OKC is very simple. The streets are laid out in a grid, with named streets running north and south and numbered streets running east and west. The main thing to remember when driving the city is that when you're on the north side, the numbered streets increase from south to north, while on the south side they increase from north to south. (NW 23rd street is a very different place from SW 23rd street, and you don't want to get them confused.) Aside from that minor issue, navigation is a breeze: there are very few one-way street mazes or "Texas Turnarounds" to worry about, and the interstates in town are usually not congested, except during rush hour and construction. The city is reasonably bicycle-friendly in the Midtown areas of Oklahoma City due to the numerous through residential low-traffic streets. In other areas of the city, bicycle travel is more difficult due to the lack of low-traffic through streets. By bus: Embarkok provides local bus service. The most helpful bus routes for tourists are:

Route 050 Downtown Discovery runs from the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum to Bricktown, with stops near the downtown transit center, Red Earth Museum, Myriad Gardens and Amtrak station. Route 003 N Kelly goes to the zoo and science museum from the downtown transit center.

See

Many of the attractions are near downtown or on the north side of town. Highlights in downtown are Bricktown, the city's fast growing entertainment district and tourist showpiece, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, home to the largest collection of Chihuly glass in the world as well as an arthouse/revival theater and a restaurant, and The Myriad Gardens, an impressive urban park with a seven-storey botanical garden. North of the museum is the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, which commemorates the Oklahoma City bombing. The memorial is one of the most visible attractions in the city, and its saddest, which has posed some problems for the city's tourism department. The outdoor symbolic memorial is free and open 24 hours a day, while the very well done Memorial Museum (in the former Journal Record Building next door) can be visited for a small fee. Many of the neighborhoods in the immediate vicinity of Downtown are textbook examples of urban blight, but to the northwest of downtown is a cluster of interesting early 20th century neighborhoods near the campus of Oklahoma City University. In the Northwest, the most notable are The Paseo, a ramshackle artist colony in a 1930s-era urban neighborhood, and "Little Saigon" or as it's officially known, the Asian District, home to the city's large Vietnamese and East Asian community. The Paseo was built in conscious imitation of Kansas City's Country Club Plaza in the early 20th century, but has since developed a gritty bohemian character that can feel like a breath of fresh air. Dozens of art galleries, restaurants, clothing stores and other related businesses are clustered in the area. The Paseo is actually only a single street lined with Art Deco Spanish revival buildings, but theme had been applied to much of the surrounding neighborhood, including a stretch of storefronts on NW 23rd street, sort of the main street of the Northwest side. West of the Paseo along Classen Boulevard is the Asian District, home to the city's majority Vietnamese Asian community. After the fall of Saigon in 1976, one of the cities picked by the US government for the relocation of refugees was Oklahoma City. Since then, these refugees have been joined by later immigrants from Vietnam and other southeast Asian nations, and by Vietnamese Americans from elsewhere in the country. The district is home to many great restaurants, and to Super Cao Nguyen Supermarket, the largest Asian market in the state. Just west of the Asian District is Oklahoma City University which features a small art museum and a variety of cultural events and p

Do

Water Taxi of Oklahoma offers a narrated canal cruise on the Bricktown canal. The Oklahoma City Thunder National Basketball Association team play in Bricktown. Frontier City is a Wild West-themed amusement park in the city's Northeast with roller coasters and water rides. The Wheeler Ferris Wheel at Wheeler District offers rides overlooking Oklahoma River and the downtown skyline.

Buy

Village Park South. On North May Avenue, between Hefner and Britton. It has the best resale shop in the village, a local Curves, Hi Performance Sporting goods, and many other shops. (updated Dec 2016)

Eat

Oklahoma City can hold its own with any other cosmopolitan city with its availability of diverse and quality eateries, but what is true Oklahoma City fare is probably its bar-b-que and steakhouse options. Some, like Cattleman's, are iconic, and guaranteed to add that special touch to your Oklahoma City trip. For eating on the fly, there are several franchises like Rib Crib and Freddy's Frozen Custard around the city that will take care of bbq and dessert cravings in a pinch.

Drink & nightlife

"Last call" is 2AM in Oklahoma City and its environs. Liquor stores are permitted to open six days a week from 6AM to 9PM (by state law) and on Sunday from noon to midnight (depending upon the county). Oklahoma's prices for spirits and wine tend to be lower than that of nearby states, including Texas. Beer and wine can be sold at grocery stores and other shops, but hard liquor is sold in bars, restaurants, and liquor stores. That being said, Oklahoma City has a lively nightlife scene in places like Downtown and the 39th Street Enclave. There are Henry Hudson's locations throughout OKC and surrounding suburbs which offer a casual bar atmosphere with occasional karaoke. Also, monthly drink and appetizer specials. For a microbrewery tour, try Belle Isle Brewery in the Northwest district or Coop Ale Works, on the western side of town at 4745 Council Heights Rd.

Go next

Norman, a short drive south of downtown Oklahoma City, is its largest suburb and the home of University of Oklahoma, which has beautifully landscaped Victorian campus and several fine museums. Edmond is a rather affluent suburb due North of Oklahoma City. It has some great qualities, including nice restaurants, the third largest university in the state University of Central Oklahoma and some quaint, quiet neighborhoods near its uniquely successful downtown business district. Tulsa is a 100-mile (160-km) 1.5-hour drive east on Interstate 44, and is known as the Oil Capital of the World. Dallas and Fort Worth are only 3-4 hours south on Interstate 35. You can also follow Route 66 to Los Angeles and to Chicago.