Take a Hike – In Oklahoma
The book, Oklahoma Hiking Trails published by the University of Oklahoma press, is the most comprehensive book about hiking trails in the state.
A list of Oklahoma’s best hiking trails can now be found online.
Kent Frates, an Oklahoma City attorney, and Larry Floyd, a photographer and writer from Yukon, have been hiking together for 15 years. Last year they published Oklahoma Hiking Trails, unquestionably the most comprehensive listing of the best hiking trails in the state.
Now, the two men have a website, (http://www.bestoklahomatrails.com) which lists all of the book’s 61 hike routes with the length, difficulty and location for each.
Their book also can be ordered on the website, but Floyd said he and Frates both wanted to make sure the information about the trails was shared with everyone online.
“Whether anyone buys our book we still want these routes available to the public,” Floyd said.
“If you Google hiking trails in Oklahoma or anything similar, a number of websites appear on the search-results page, but all are almost worthless when it comes to providing any meaningful listing of hiking trails in the state. Maybe our site will alleviate this problem.”
Either Frates or Floyd hiked every trail in researching the book.
Prior to working on the book, they had spent most of their 15 years of hiking together outside the state of Oklahoma. Floyd is a member of the Highpointers Club, a group of individuals which makes it their goal to hike to the highest point in every state.
It was Frates’ idea to visit every Oklahoma trail they could find and write a book because information was so scant about hiking in Oklahoma.
“We really didn’t know what was available in Oklahoma,” Floyd said. “What we found was there is good hiking in Oklahoma but it (wasn’t) well-documented and it was difficult to find the trailheads.”
Their website also contains scenic photos from the Oklahoma trails and a contact page with their email addresses. Floyd said they hope that fellow hiking enthusiasts will contact them with trail updates.
“We have found trail signs and even trailheads morph with an alarming frequency, so we appreciate any input we can get from hikers to keep new information available.
“We plan to start a hiking blog on this site before long to keep new information on hiking routes available to everyone and to include in any future book revisions.”
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[...] Oklahoman has an interview with Oklahoma City attorney, and Highpointer Larry Floyd, a photographer and writer from Yukon [...]