Turner Falls
Turner Falls
LocationTurner Falls Park, Interstate 35, Davis, Oklahoma, United States
TypeFan
Total height77 feet
Swimming at Turner Falls

Turner Falls is a waterfall on Honey Creek in the Arbuckle Mountains of south-central Oklahoma, United States, 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Davis.[1][2] With a height of 77 feet (23 m), Turner Falls is locally considered Oklahoma's tallest waterfall,[3] although its height matches one in Natural Falls State Park.[4]

Turner Falls and the blue hole are dangerous and have claimed people's lives every year. Only experienced swimmers should swim there.

History

Mazeppa Thomas Turner, a Scottish immigrant farmer who married Laura Johnson, a Chickasaw woman, settled in the area in 1878 and discovered the falls. The falls were named for him.[2][5]

Recreational use began in or before 1868. At the time, Turner Falls was located in Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation.[6]

Today, the falls are part of Turner Falls Park, a city park operated by the city of Davis, Oklahoma.[5] The Falls cascade into a natural swimming pool, one of two such pools within the park,[3] and these are popular tourist destinations in the summer.[7]

The city of Davis acquired the park in 1919 and operated it until 1950. It then leased the facility to other interests until 1978, when it resumed control.[2]

The park covers 1,500 acres (6.1 km2), and also contains nature trails, caves and other interesting geological features. It also has a walk-in castle,[3] originally built in the 1930s as a summer home for Dr. Ellsworth Collings, a professor and later Dean of the School of Education at the University of Oklahoma.

References

  1. ↑ Turner Falls Park, retrieved January 30, 2009
  2. 1 2 3 Sanchez, Joe. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. "Turner Falls." Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Turner Falls Park, Davis, Oklahoma, Chamber of Commerce
  4. ↑ "Oklahoma Waterfall Study underway". Oklahoma's Own. News on 6 Now. March 9, 2010. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2012. ...several waterfalls could surpass Natural Falls and Turner Falls as Oklahoma's tallest.
  5. 1 2 History on official website, retrieved January 30, 2009
  6. ↑ Charles Goins, Historical Atlas of Oklahoma (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2006), plate 105.
  7. ↑ Turner Falls Location and Park Info, Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department
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34°25′31″N 97°08′55″W / 34.42528°N 97.14861°W / 34.42528; -97.14861

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