Early visitors to the plains of southwest Oklahoma encountered an oasis in the middle of an area known as the “Big Pasture”. A vast shallow lake that smoldered with plumes of waterfowl rising in such large flocks that they darkened the skies. The area was called Hackberry Flat because of the hackberry forest found around the seasonal wetland.

Comanche Chief Quannah Parker once owned this land and recounted Indian legends of tremendous amounts of game that could be hunted within Hackberry Flat and the hackberry forest. President Theodore Roosevelt knew of Hackberry Flat as well. In 1905 he hunted wolf in the area with Jack “Catch’em Alive” Abernathy.

Near the turn of the 20th century local residents using hand shovels and mule teams set out on a Herculean effort to drain the wetland for use as farmland. A massive ditch, some four miles long, 20 feet deep and 40 feet across, was excavated. The soil was fertile, but farming the flood-prone landscape proved difficult.

More than 7,100 acres of former southwest Oklahoma farmland, once one of the nation’s largest Playa Lakes, has now been restored to it’s wetland glory. More than 35 miles of water control structures and ditches and a 17- mile water delivery pipeline from Tom Steed Reservoir ensure that winged visitors of all shapes and sizes will find a suitable stopping place.

Hackberry Flat is a premier destination for birders, especially for its high concentrations of shorebirds and waterbirds, including Whooping Cranes. More than 200 species have been identified during surveys, with such rare and uncommon species as the black-necked stilt, stilt sandpiper, and snowy plover being seen. Sheer numbers of birds make this area stand out as one of the best anywhere. Even though shorebirds are present year round, the best months for observing them are March-May. Best months for waterfowl observation are February-March.

To reach Hackberry Flat, from the intersection of Hwy 5 and Hwy 183 in Frederick, go 1 mile south on 183. Turn east onto Airport Rd and go three miles, then follow the blacktop road as it turns south and go about four miles.