Oklahoma outdoors: Quartz Mountain State Park and Lake Altus-Lugert
Some of the rugged scenery around Quartz Mountain State park
Perusing some of the cool places to go around Oklahoma, I remembered a place I visited a couple of years ago that left a favorable impression on me: Quartz Mountain State park and lake Altus-Lugert.
Here’s a write-up from OutdoorsOK.com:
Lake Altus-Lugert in southwest Oklahoma is located just east of Lugert. Lake Altus-Lugert has 49 miles of shoreline and 6,260 surface acres. Lake Altus-Lugert lies next to the unique and beautiful Quartz Mountain. The lake is surrounded by rock boulders and rolling granite mountains. Rainbow Trout are stocked for winter fishing during the annual trout season, which runs November through March. There is also a 3600 acre public hunting area north of the lake.
Talk about fun! Trout fishing, hiking, climbing, you name it.
During my visit there, my wife and I, plus her family stayed at a cabin near the state lodge. Nice, roomy, scenic, cheap. We had some great meals at the lodge (a place you need to see) and did some hiking around the hills that surround the lake.
Quartz Mountain State Park reminds me a lot of the Wichita Mountains. Same basic landscape, but the added benefit of a pretty cool lake in the middle.
For those of you who are into rock climbing, there are some well documented, superb routes in the area. Solid granite, lots of places to test your skills.
As with much of southwestern Oklahoma, I enjoy this part of the state particularly in the fall or winter. Fewer people, milder temps, and the snakes tend to be holed up during the colder months.
If you’ve read this blog much, you know I don’t mind traveling — sometimes a really long ways — to enjoy the outdoors. But there are a lot of places closer to home that are pretty incredible and won’t take multiple tanks of gas just to get there. Lake Altus-Lugert and Quartz Mountain State Park are a couple of such places.
Bob Doucette
bdoucette@opubco.com
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