| The steep green ridges of the Kiamichi Mountain Range dominate much of the landscape of southeastern Oklahoma. This is a vast wilderness area covered with big pine timber, mountain streams, abundant wildlife, and few people. There are many clear rivers that swell from springs in the mountains. One of those is the Kiamichi River. As the river comes down from the mountains, it flows through rolling green hills that are densely forested. Big Kiamichi Ranch lies along the river and it borders the 35,000 acre Hugo Lake Wildlife Refuge. This preserve has an 18,000 acre waterfowl refuge lake and 17,000 acres of river bottom forest. | |
About ten miles southeast of the town of Antlers, Oklahoma a good gravel road ends at a big iron gate where you enter Big Kiamichi Ranch. This vast wilderness ranch has only a barbed wire fence between it and the wildlife refuge, so animals move freely back and forth. The ranch has some open fields with a few cattle, but it is mostly covered with a mature forest. A network of roads and trails wind through the ranch, and they are great for hiking, mountain biking, or horse trail rides. Five clear spring fed lakes can be found in the openings in the forest.
There is a herd of white tailed deer that feed on the heavy crop of oak acorns. A large flock of turkey lives year round on the ranch. They roost high in the trees at night. Bobcats and coyotes roam the ranch at night. | |
Fishing is a main even on the ranch. Each of the five catch and release lakes are stocked with species such as Florida largemouth bass, northern largemouth bass, bluegill and red eared perch. Each lake has a different mix of fish species. One cold clear spring-fed lake has exclusively smallmouth bass and bluegill. Smallmouth are big jumpers. You can have lunch on a big picnic table next to a lake.
The lakes are filled with flooded timber. Mallard, pintail, teal and especially wood ducks come off the waterfowl refuge lake and spend their days on the ranch lakes. This is a bird watchers paradise, with some of the rarest species protected here.
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A two-story ranch house sits on top of a hill in a grove of trees. You can sit on the front porch in a rocking chair and look out between two giant red oak trees down into the valley to see the creek below. It is totally peaceful, since it is two miles back up the road to the nearest house. The ranch is open year-round as an Oklahoma Guest Ranch. You can spend a quiet weekend or a week of vacation staying in the ranch house. You can roam the ranch and the mountains to the north, canoe down the river, and barbecue on the hilltop in the evening. Contact us for reservations at 936-273-5064 or bevandmartha@comcast.net
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