While spring travel has been put on hold because of the COVID-19 crisis, the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department has worked to provide resources to help entertain and inform Oklahomans and future travelers during their time at home.
The TravelOK.com staff has created a Stay-At-Home Guide that is available at TravelOK.la/StayAtHomeGuide. It includes:
• Links to virtual tours of Oklahoma tourism attractions
• Links to live streaming events around the state
• Lists of restaurants and other Oklahoma businesses offering curbside pick-up, delivery services and online shopping opportunities
• Downloadable Oklahoma travel guides
• A printable coloring book featuring illustrations from the 2020 Oklahoma Travel Guide
The TravelOK.com team has been working hard to keep the site’s thousands of attraction and event listings up-to-date with any temporary closures, rescheduling of events and other changes. The department encourages all business owners, managers and event organizers who have a presence on TravelOK to contact the team at Update@TravelOK.com with any updates on their business.
A wide selection of Oklahoma travel brochures remains available for order and download free at TravelOK.com/Brochures. Downloadable PDF versions of all Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department guides are available, and the Department also has added digital versions of many guides created by businesses and tourism organizations around the state that participate in its brochure distribution program.
The department will continue to ship print brochure orders as long as it is safe for the staff to do so, but customers should allow a few days longer for delivery than usual.
There are several guides on TravelOK.com that can be useful resources for educators and parents working with children. Many of the department’s guides, including its Long Road to Liberty, Indian Country and Rhythm and Routes guides, contain large amounts of historical information about the state, and a downloadable Oklahoma student guide that contains historical and geographical information is available at TravelOK.com/Students.
Other news from the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department
• Oklahoma Tourism Information Centers are still temporarily closed to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, but exterior restrooms at the Blackwell (Interstate 35), Sallisaw (Interstate 40) and Erick (Interstate 40) centers remain open for travelers.
• Oklahoma State Park lodges and restaurants, nature centers, group camps/dining halls, community buildings and playgrounds remain closed to visitors. Many tent campgrounds and public restrooms within the parks are closed to limit the spread of COVID-19, as are many privately operated entertainment and food vendors. Park cabins, most RV sites, as well as outdoor public spaces and some restrooms, will remain open at this time. All state park golf courses remain open except for Grand Cherokee Golf Course. Cherokee Landing State Park has been closed temporarily due to COVID-19 and recent park flooding, and the cave tours at Alabaster Caverns State Park are temporarily suspended. As situations can change quickly, visitors are encouraged to visit okstateparks.camp/COVID-19 and watch the Oklahoma State Parks Facebook page (Facebook.com/OklahomaStateParks) for the latest updates.
• The number of restrooms and tent campsites in each state park have been limited to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and staff throughout all the parks have been working to continuously clean throughout the day, focusing on high-traffic areas and high-touch surfaces. Large group gatherings are not allowed at the parks at this time.
• All park visitors are expected to follow proper social distancing procedures. The department wishes to remind visitors that travelers from certain areas are subject to a 14-day quarantine from the time they enter Oklahoma, meaning they cannot interact with the public or park staff, use public park bathrooms or enter any park structure for the first 14 days that they are in Oklahoma. For more information, click here.
• For those who have little ones who are missing their favorite Oklahoma State Parks activities, there are two downloadable nature study challenges available online at okstateparks.camp/GetInvolved.
• Oklahoma Today magazine plans to continue publishing on schedule every two months. The magazine’s latest issue should reach subscribers in late April and will include a special section about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre featuring a history of the event, a portfolio of poetry and art by black Oklahoma writers and artists, and an overview of some of the businesses currently operating in the modern-day Greenwood District. Readers can visit OklahomaToday.com to subscribe to the magazine or for bonus content, including blogs, a podcast and the magazine’s archives.
• “Discover Oklahoma” television show is still expected to air at its normal time of 6:30 p.m. Saturday on KFOR, “Oklahoma’s News Channel 4” in Oklahoma City; KTUL, “Oklahoma’s Channel 8” in Tulsa; KSWO, “7 News in Lawton” and on KTEN (channel 10.3) in Sherman/Dennison and Ardmore/Ada. Because the “Discover Oklahoma” staff is observing social distancing and many attractions, restaurants and businesses have suspended or limited service, the show’s team is not shooting new stories or episodes but is working on existing stories. To view previous episodes of the show, visit DiscoverOklahomaTV.com or YouTube.com/DiscoverOklahoma.
• The Department’s Oklahoma Road Trip project remains on hiatus. The Oklahoma Road Trip is a 52-week video series that follows the travels of a film crew from Broken Arrow-based Retrospec Films on short trips around the state. In the meantime, the first 32 episodes are available for viewing at RoadTripOK.com and on the TravelOK.com YouTube page at YouTube.com/TravelOK.
• Customers can still order from the ShopTravelOK.com store, although availability of some items might be limited because of supply chain issues caused by the coronavirus.
For the latest information on the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department and tourism attractions and events around the state, visit TravelOK.com or follow the Department’s social media accounts.
Follow the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department on social media
Twitter: Twitter.com/TravelOK
Facebook: Facebook.com/TravelOK
Instagram: Instagram.com/TravelOK
Pinterest: Pinterest.com/TravelOK
YouTube: YouTube.com/TravelOK
About the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department
The Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department works to preserve, maintain and promote the state’s natural assets and cultural richness through tourism. The Department’s Travel Promotions division administers programs designed to build awareness of the state as a destination and educates on the economic importance of the Oklahoma travel and tourism industry. The staff also oversees the agency’s marketing and promotions efforts along with operating Tourism Information Centers located at major entry points around the state. To learn more about the Department, visit TravelOK.com.
