Most Popular PlacesRandom PlaceListsItinerariesAdd a PlaceDownload the App The Tar Pits ‘The Mother of the Sea’ (Sassuma Arnaa) The Dodder Rhino St. Patrick’s Church 8 Gargoyles and Grotesques Hiding in Plain Sight 13 days ago The tar in its natural surroundings sshelle / Atlas Obscura User Not all tar is in the pond or ditch sshelle / Atlas Obscura User The tar in its natural surroundings sshelle / Atlas Obscura User Not all tar is in the pond or ditch sshelle / Atlas Obscura User The tar in its natural surroundings sshelle / Atlas Obscura User Not all tar is in the pond or ditch sshelle / Atlas Obscura User The tar in its natural surroundings sshelle / Atlas Obscura User Not all tar is in the pond or ditch sshelle / Atlas Obscura User Oklahoma is known for its oil production. Normally, oil is trapped underneath impermeable rock and must be pumped out of the ground.
Sometimes there is a gap in the impermeable rock, and oil oozes out of the ground. As the gaseous part of oil evaporates, it leaves behind the solids, which become asphalt. This is the ‘tar’ found in tar pits.
There are few tar pits in the world, one of which is in southwest Oklahoma on the grounds of Fort Sill. The tar pits were noted by early explorers, and the local Native Americans used to put it on saddle sores of horses. It is not as grand as the tar pits of La Brea in Los Angeles, California, but it is a tar pit nonetheless.
Actually it's more of a tar 'seep', as it is basically a stream of tar oozing from a pond with tar seepage at the bottom. There are no mammoths or saber-toothed tigers in the tar. Some tar in the pond runs down a nearby ditch, and some tar is naturally oozing out of the same ditch.
Parking is about 50 feet from the pond; the ditch is coming out of that. The ditch runs hundreds of feet. The exposed tar hardens over time, but just underneath the hardened crust is fresh tar and it is slippery, so care must be taken on hot days not to permanently damage items including cameras, clothes, etc.
Nearby sticks and rocks allow play with the tar. Some of the random tar seepage has a hardened crust, and broken slowly will look like a half-baked brownie, with fresh tar on the inside. Get more unusual and extraordinary places each week with the Atlas Obscura Places newsletter.
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