The Wichita Mountains were uplifted between 290 and 330 million years ago, but the granite itself is far older -- roughly 500 million years. These are not towering peaks. Mount Scott, the highest accessible summit within the refuge, stands at 2,464 feet, rising only 800 to 1,000 feet above the surrounding prairie. But what they lack in height they compensate for in drama: steep, rocky faces of weathered granite jutting abruptly from flat grassland, scattered with boulders that make exceptional habitat for chartreuse-green lichen called Pleopsidium flavum. A disjunct population of bigtooth maple clings to sheltered ravines here, hundreds of miles from its nearest natural population in West Texas. The mountains are named for the Wichita people who inhabited the area centuries ago.

The refuge's institutional history reflects the shifting priorities of American conservation. President McKinley established the Wichita Forest Reserve in 1901. In 1905, President Roosevelt redesignated it as a game preserve. It became Wichita National Forest in 1907, the same year those Bronx Zoo bison arrived. In 1936, the designation shifted again to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge under the Bureau of Biological Survey, a precursor to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Today the refuge spans roughly 59,020 acres, hosting 806 plant species, 240 species of birds, 50 species of mammals, 64 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 36 species of fish across its 13 small lakes.

The bison herd now numbers about 650. Alongside them graze Rocky Mountain elk -- imported from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in 1911 to replace the extinct Merriam's elk that once roamed this region -- now the largest elk herd in Oklahoma at roughly 1,000 animals. Texas longhorn cattle are preserved here for their cultural and historic importance. White-tailed deer number about 450. Not every reintroduction succeeded: the refuge failed in its attempts to bring back the American pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, and prairie chicken. In 2020, the refuge joined the Department of the Interior's Bison Conservation Initiative, ending the practice of auctioning surplus animals and instead strengthening mechanisms for delivering bison to Native American tribes from federal herds.

Rock climbing arrived at the Wichita Mountains in the 1960s and 1970s, and the refuge has since become a regional mecca for the sport. Routes climb the granite faces of Mount Scott and formations like Echo Dome and Crab Eyes in the Charon's Garden Wilderness Area, which covers the rugged western portion of the refuge. Hikers share the trails with free-ranging bison, elk, longhorn, and prairie dogs. A narrow, winding road leads to Mount Scott's summit, offering a panoramic view that encompasses the entire refuge. Thirteen artificial lakes draw anglers for largemouth bass, sunfish, crappie, and channel catfish. Managed hunts cull excess elk and deer each fall, with hunters selected by lottery.

Among the more unexpected features of a federal wildlife refuge is a 66-acre site listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Holy City of the Wichitas. Built in the 1930s, it contains full-sized buildings designed to resemble biblical-era Israel, still used for the nation's longest-running annual Easter passion play. Nearby stands the Parallel Forest, a grove of large cedars planted in the early 1900s in rows exactly six feet apart, their geometric precision a strange contrast to the ancient, tumbled granite surrounding them. Man-made oddities aside, the refuge remains what it was meant to be: a place where the southern Great Plains can remember what they looked like before the herds vanished and the sod was broken.