Salty Plains

 We had to drive almost 3 hours straight West to find the sun...but we FOUND OUT FOLKS!  It's in Jet, Oklahoma at the Great Salt Plains National Park.  This place is really quite amazing.  I look at it and think, "How in the world is this in Oklahoma?"  For all those parents out there with boys (girls might like it too but boys LOVE it), I would recommend taking a day trip out to Jet, OK.  There's nothing to do or see in Jet besides the Salt Plains.  And, I am NOT exaggerating.  There is a motel, a gas station, a post office, a bank, and a couple burned out buildings that line Main St.  That's it folks.  You just visited Jet, OK.  Do not be dismayed though.  Drive 5 miles west for the Salt Flats, and 5 miles back east for the Great Salt Lake (for some fishing) and you have a pretty fun day actually.  


A few helpful hints if you do decide to make this journey:
1.  Stay the night in Enid.  Believe me, you will be thankful you didn't pick the cities around the Salt Flats to stay the night.
2. Bring LOADS of bottled water and sunscreen.  This white salts reflects off the white sand just like you were at a Florida beach.  I reapplied several times and am still pretty burned today.
3. Bring REAL shovels and digging tools.  Unless someone has been there before you to already start the digging process those cheapy plastic sand toy things are not gonna slice the mustard.
4. Bring a Ziplock or container of some sort to take home all your crystals your kids will unearth.
5. Bring a change of clothes.  Mainly for the kids, but you might want one too.  Salt, mud, dried water, bugs, and sand will be covering every inch of your body, hands, and hair.
6.  I would also bring chairs to sit in or beach towels to lay on.  What you see is what you get.  No water. No chairs. No bathrooms.  No people (sometimes).  It's a very peaceful, amazingly beautiful place but comes with no amentities (so you will need to bring those).

Lastly, I would suggest you make this a day trip (as in at least 24 hours) because you will not want to miss the Gloss Mountains National Park while so close to it either.  We stayed the night in Enid and did this also, and then made the drive back home.  I have heard many good things also about Little Sahara State Park and Alabaster Caverns in Freedom, OK.  There are plenty of places to go and see up in Northwest OK that I had never even dreamed of.  It's really a gorgeous place full of fields, gravel roads, peace, and the brightest blue skies.  I am glad we took our boys to see this part of our state!