Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa

Best time to travel: May-Sept
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Art museum with expansive formal gardens located in Tulsa, opened in 1939
  • It is located in a former 1920s villa, “Villa Philbrook”, the home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his wife Genevieve
  • Showcasing nine collections of art from all over the world, and spanning various artistic media and styles, the cornerstone collection focuses on Native American art featuring basketry, pottery, paintings and jewelry

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City

Best time to travel: Sept-Nov
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Museum in Oklahoma City with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts
  • The facility also has the world’s most extensive collection of American rodeo photographs, barbed wire, saddlery, and early rodeo trophies
  • Museum collections focus on preserving and interpreting the heritage of the American West

Oklahoma City National Memorial

Best time to travel: Sept-Nov
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Memorial in Oklahoma City that honors the victims, survivors, rescuers, and all who were affected by the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995
  • The memorial is located in downtown Oklahoma City on the former site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which was destroyed in the 1995 bombing
  • The national memorial was authorized on October 9, 1997, by President Bill Clinton’s signing of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Act of 1997
  • The memorial was formally dedicated on April 19, 2000: the fifth anniversary of the bombing

Myriad Botanical Gardens, Oklahoma City

Best time to travel: Sept-Nov
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Botanical garden and interactive urban park located in Oklahoma City
  • The Gardens is home to multiple tiers of densely landscaped areas that surround a sunken lake
  • Its primary feature is the Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, a 224-foot living plant museum featuring towering palm trees, tropical plants and flowers, and waterfalls

Oklahoma City Museum of Art

Best time to travel: Sept-Nov
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Museum located in the Donald W. Reynolds Visual Arts Center in Oklahoma City
  • The museum features traveling special exhibitions, original selections from its own collection, a theater showing a variety of foreign, independent, and classic films each week, and a restaurant
  • OKCMOA also houses a collection of Chihuly glass among the most comprehensive in the world

Bison Pasture Trail, Chickasaw National Recreation Area

Best time to travel: March, Oct
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Chickasaw National Recreation Area contains many fine examples of 1930’s Civilian Conservation Corps rustic National Park Service-style architecture
  • CCC workers created pavilions, park buildings, and enclosures for the park’s many natural springs
  • Named to honor the Chickasaw Indian Nation, who were relocated to the area from the Southeastern United States during the 1830s
  • The park’s springs, streams, and lakes provide opportunities for swimming, boating, fishing, picnicking, camping, and hiking

Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa

Best time to travel: May-Sept
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Museum in Tulsa housing the world’s largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, as well as a growing collection of art and artifacts from Central and South America
  • The museum is named for Thomas Gilcrease, an oil man and avid art collector, who began the collection
  • He deeded the collection, as well as the building and property, to the City of Tulsa in 1958