Medicine Park, OK

The village's longest-running dining room, set in a cobblestone building on the creek and known for hand-cut, flame-grilled steaks and pork chops with bread and honey butter. The sit-down dinner spot in a town otherwise built around cafes and burgers.

A casual creekside cafe with a patio right over Medicine Creek, doing Southern comfort plates, fried appetizers, po'boys, and big breakfasts. The draw is as much the turtles and fish under the deck as the generous, unfussy food.

A tiny, cozy breakfast-and-brunch spot within walking distance of the cabins, turning out waffles, bagel sandwiches, and egg plates. The village's go-to morning stop before a day in the mountains.

A plant-leaning cafe and bar doing organic bowls, protein shakes, and craft coffee on a shaded, pet-friendly patio, with local art on the walls and live music on weekends. The relaxed, lighter counterpoint to the town's steak-and-burger spots.

A National Register store in a near-ghost hamlet famous for the Meersburger, a seven-inch patty ground from the owners' own pasture-raised longhorn herd. A destination burger stop with cobbler for dessert and a cash-only, old-store atmosphere.

A creekside bar and grill on the cobblestone strip doing burgers and bar food from a glass-enclosed patio over Medicine Creek, with pool tables and live music on weekends. The village's main hangout for a beer, a burger, and a band.

A roughly 2.4-mile out-and-back that climbs the granite face of Elk Mountain to a broad summit of boulder fields and slabs, with long views over the refuge lakes and prairie. The signature Wichita Mountains hike, moderately tough on rocky footing.

A rugged trail through the refuge's designated wilderness, threading boulder rooms, a creek with small waterfalls, and a notoriously tricky boulder field at the halfway point. The most technical hike in the Wichitas, for hikers comfortable with rock-hopping and route-finding.

A short climb of under a mile up a small rocky knoll near the Doris Campground, gaining a little elevation for outsized views over the nearby lakes and hills. The family-friendly Wichitas hike that gets you a summit view without a long trek.

A short out-and-back to an overlook above a deep granite canyon, with the option to drop down and rock-hop the creek through the canyon itself. A scenic, varied hike that rewards a little scrambling with views into one of the refuge's prettiest gorges.

The 60,000-acre national wildlife refuge that surrounds Medicine Park is itself the trail destination — dozens of unmarked routes fan out across granite peaks, bison prairie, and lakes, with the marked Elk Mountain, Charons Garden, and Lost Lake trails as the anchors. Drive the refuge roads at dawn and dusk when the bison herds move to water and the light is low over the granite.

A 3-mile loop inside the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge circling the serene Lost Lake through oak and juniper woodland, with regular bison and deer sightings. One of the gentler marked trails in the refuge, with enough lake views and wildlife to make it worthwhile for families.

A small but well-stocked aquarium and natural-sciences center with over 90 fish, reptile, amphibian, bird, and mammal species plus a six-acre native botanical garden. Feeding shows for the otter and the fish and a touch tank make it an easy family stop in the village.

A 60,000-acre refuge of granite peaks, prairie, and lakes where free-ranging herds of bison and Texas longhorn share the land with elk and a busy prairie dog town. The defining outdoor draw of the area, with scenic drives, wildlife viewing, and trailheads all inside the gates.

The most accessible high point in the Wichitas, with a paved road switchbacking to a summit at over 2,400 feet and a 360-degree view of lakes, prairie, and wind farms. The classic drive-up overlook, and a hiking destination on weekend mornings when cars are kept off the summit road.

A 2,398-acre reservoir at the foot of Mount Scott with 21 miles of shoreline, a day-use swimming beach, boat ramps, and campgrounds. The area's main water-recreation lake for boating, fishing, kayaking, and a mountain-backed swim.

The heart of Medicine Park: a dammed swimming hole on Medicine Creek ringed by the round-cobblestone buildings that give the village its look, built when this was a mineral-spring resort town. The walkable strip of cobblestone shops, cafes, and footbridges along the creek is the reason people come.

A 66-acre site inside the Wichita Mountains built of native granite to resemble Jerusalem in Biblical times, home to the country's longest-running Easter passion play. The chapel, replica buildings, and the Christ of the Wichitas statue make it a quiet, free walk among the granite outcrops year-round.

The orientation point for the 60,000-acre refuge, with well-designed exhibits on the mixed-grass prairie, the granite mountains, and the free-ranging bison, longhorn, and elk herds. Rangers here hand out maps and steer you toward where the wildlife is moving that day.

A near-ghost hamlet north of the refuge that was a gold-rush boomtown around 1901 and is now essentially one historic store on the National Register. The tin-roofed building and its surroundings are a snapshot of turn-of-the-century Wichita Mountains mining country.