Oklahoma, United States: Towns to Explore on Foot

Things to do in Oklahoma range from exploring Indigenous history and urban culture to discovering plains, forests, wetlands and ancient mountain landscapes. Known as the “Sooner State,” Oklahoma is a place where many American regions meet—and where the past remains visible in its languages, communities and cities. Neywo has free audio guides for four cities in Oklahoma, with 122 narrated places in total.

What to see and do in Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a large and varied state, so its most interesting places are spread across several different landscapes and urban centers. These are some of the best towns to visit in Oklahoma and the main starting points for exploring the state.

Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City is one of the state’s two main economic anchors, alongside Tulsa. Three major interstate routes meet here, reflecting the city’s role in Oklahoma’s wider transport network.

The city also offers some of the state’s most distinctive museums and cultural sites. Neywo’s Oklahoma City guide includes the Paycom Center, the American Banjo Museum, the First Americans Museum and the Museum of Osteology among its 57 narrated places. The First Americans Museum is particularly relevant to understanding Oklahoma’s history, which is inseparable from the forced removal of American Indians and the continuing presence of Indigenous communities.

Tulsa

Tulsa is the other major urban center in Oklahoma, and its metropolitan area forms part of the region where nearly two-thirds of Oklahomans live. It is also one of the best places to experience the state’s cultural variety, including pockets of jazz culture and the work of African American, Mexican American and Asian American communities.

Neywo’s Tulsa guide includes 63 narrated places. Among them are Boston Avenue Methodist Church, 108 Contemporary, the Bob Dylan Center and Gilcrease Museum. Together, these places reflect the city’s religious, artistic and cultural life.

If you are researching Tulsa as part of an Oklahoma trip, it makes a useful contrast with the state capital: both are major urban centers, but each presents a different side of Oklahoma’s history and culture.

Sulphur

Sulphur is another place to include in an Oklahoma itinerary. Neywo’s guide covers one narrated place there, Calcasieu Parish.

The town belongs to a state whose landscapes change noticeably from west to east. Oklahoma slopes from high plains on its western boundary toward lower wetlands in the southeast, with forests, prairie and mountain areas appearing across the state.

Tishomingo

Tishomingo is home to the Chickasaw Capitol Building, the single narrated place included in Neywo’s guide to the town. It offers a way to connect travel with the history of Indigenous nations in Oklahoma.

The state’s Indigenous story reaches back to the last ice age. During the 19th century, the federal government forcibly removed tens of thousands of American Indians from ancestral homelands across North America and transported them into Oklahoma and surrounding lands. That history still shapes the state, where 25 Indigenous languages are spoken and 14.2 percent of residents identified as American Indian in the 2020 census.

Indigenous history and living languages

Oklahoma’s name comes from Choctaw words meaning “people” and “red.” Choctaw Nation Chief Allen Wright suggested the name while imagining an all-American Indian state controlled by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. That vision was not realized, and a later attempt to establish an all-Indian state called Sequoyah also failed. However, its convention helped lay the groundwork for the Oklahoma Statehood Convention.

The Land Rush of 1889 opened formerly American Indian-owned lands to settlers. This event lies behind Oklahoma’s nickname, “The Sooner State.” The state’s history is therefore not only a story of settlement. It is also a story of removal, resilience and continuing Indigenous presence.

Language remains an important part of that present. English is Oklahoma’s official state language, while Cherokee and Choctaw are the two most commonly spoken Native North American languages. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language in the state. In Tahlequah, a Cherokee language immersion school teaches children from preschool through eighth grade, supporting the Cherokee Nation’s long-term effort to develop new speakers and encourage the use of the language at home.

Plains, forests, wetlands and mesas

Oklahoma’s landscape is more varied than its image as a wide prairie might suggest. The state lies between the Great Plains and the Ozark Plateau, and also includes the Cross Timbers and the United States Interior Highlands. Ancient mountain ranges, prairie, mesas, eastern forests and wetlands all form part of its natural setting.

This meeting of landscapes gives Oklahoma a high rate of biodiversity. It also places the state in a transition zone between semiarid conditions in the west, humid continental conditions in the north, and humid subtropical conditions in the east and southeast. Severe weather is part of life across much of this region.

Route 66 and a state built around movement

Oklahoma has long been connected to movement across the United States. Its history includes forced removals, cattle drives and settlers claiming newly opened land. Today, its position within the Interstate Highway system continues that pattern of connection.

The state has more than 12,000 miles of major roads, including the longest drivable stretch of Route 66 in the nation. Oil, natural gas, agriculture and cattle remain important to its economy, alongside aviation, telecommunications and biotechnology. Oklahoma City and Tulsa connect these industries to the wider country through their metropolitan economies and transport networks.

Explore Oklahoma with Neywo

Neywo offers free audio guides for four cities in Oklahoma: Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Sulphur and Tishomingo. Together, they cover 122 narrated places across seven walking tours. Narration is available in 11 languages.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. You can use the guides to explore Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Sulphur or Tishomingo, then continue discovering the wider United States with Neywo.