Tulsa tourist information

Tulsa is the second-largest city in Oklahoma. As of 2003 the estimate for the city population was 387,807. Tulsa is the 45th largest city in the United States and the 93rd largest city in North America. It is the county seat of Tulsa County.

The part of the state in which Tulsa lies is often referred to as "Green Country," a reference to the Oklahoma Department of Tourism's designation for Northeastern Oklahoma. Also, once coined as "America's Most Beautiful City" in the middle part of the 20th Century by magazines and as a tourism tactic, the nickname remains as a tribute to Tulsa's heritage in art (the city spends millions of dollars each year in public art), its art deco architecture, its 6,000-acre park system, and its location in a typically-lush area of the Ozarks foothills.

Tulsa is the cultural and arts center of Oklahoma, boasting several world-renowned art museums and the third largest instance of art deco architecture in the country, behind New York City and Miami, Florida. Many of Tulsa's downtown skyscrapers and also entire neighborhoods were constructed with art deco architecture, and the city is often referred to as "Terra Cotta City," accordingly.

In 2005, Tulsa was selected as one of "America's Most Livable Large Cities."

Tulsa, located in the northeastern corner of Oklahoma, lies between the edge of the Great Plains and the foot of the Ozark Mountains in a generally forested region of rolling hills.

The city serves as the gateway to "Green Country," a popular and official designated name for northeast Oklahoma due to the region's dense green vegetation and relatively high amount of hills and lakes compared to that of Central and Western Oklahoma (which have geography similar to "the Great Plains" region of the U.S.). Northeastern Oklahoma contains more than half of the state's registered state parks and six of Oklahoma's 11 ecosystems, as well as the state's most diversified agricultural economy and outdoor sports and recreation industry.

Tulsa is also near the heart of Tornado Alley, a region known to experience more tornadoes on average than any other area in the world.

The city is split by the prominent Arkansas River, with the largest portion occupying the eastern bank. Tulsa is heavily wooded, with abundant parks and water areas including Woodward Park, McClure Park, LaFortune Park, Florence Park, Chandler Park, and over 6,000 acres of public park space. Mohawk Park, location of the Tulsa Zoo, contains 11 km² (2,800 acres) and is the largest park in Tulsa and the 3rd largest municipal park in the United States.

The city's RiverParks Authority maintains an extensive park system along the Arkansas River, housing picnic areas, playgrounds, public art and plazas, and an extensive bike and hiking trail system. In addition, the city has been enticing developers to develop along the river. The "Riverwalk Crossing," a dining, shopping and entertainment walking district aside the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks, is the most recent realization of those plans. Other river developments are currently under construction or planned from Sand Springs on the north end of the river, to Bixby, on the southern part of the river.

Things to do
With the city's interesting mix of Southern settlers, Northern oilmen, and Western ranchers and thanks to Tulsa's location in an area rich with Native American history and culture, the city and surrounding areas are home to many unique museums and attractions.

Tulsa’s culture is apparent in the city’s most prominent art museums, the Philbrook Museum of Art, and Thomas Gilcrease Museum of Art. The Philbrook is a fine art museum on the former estate of oil pioneer Waite Phillips. The museum is the largest estate in one of Tulsa’s former oil baron neighborhoods noted for impressive and elaborate art deco style mansions. Distinguished for original artwork, the museum building itself is an award winning piece of artwork. The expansive grounds of the museum are an elaborate and recently renovated garden. Thomas Gilcrease Museum of Art houses the largest collection of American Western and American Indian art in the United States, and is located north of downtown Tulsa in the Osage Hills. The new Oklahoma Aquarium is the state’s only freestanding aquarium, and boasts a 500,000 gallon walk-through shark tank, located in the suburb of Jenks, Oklahoma.

Other important museums and cultural centers include: the new the Tulsa Air and Space Museum, the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art, which houses the largest collection of Judaica in the Southwest United States, the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, the Tulsa Geosciences Center, the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, Oklahoma, Tulsa Historical Center, next to the Tulsa Garden Center, the J.M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum, home of the largest private gun collection in the world, and Greenwood Cultural Center, which preserves the history of The Black Wall Street prior to the Tulsa Race Riot.

Parks, Gardens and Nature Preserves
The City of Tulsa manages 140 parks covering roughly 6,000 acres, featuring nature centers, golf courses, 21 swimming pools, 156 sports fields, 115 playgrounds, 123 tennis courts, 25 water playgrounds, The River SkatePark, 60 picnic shelters, 14 community centers, fitness facilities, gymnasiums, meeting rooms and facilities, trails and more. The Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum, north of the city in Mohawk Park, was named in 2005 as "America's Favorite Zoo" by Microsoft Game Studios as a promotion for their "Zoo Tycoon 2" computer game. The city parks system also operates an “Urban Wilderness Area” covering a nearby mountain, featuring hiking trails and scenic vistas. It is called the "Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area" and is located on the east bank of the Arkansas River overlooking downtown Tulsa.

Performing Arts
Tulsa's performing arts community has had a significant influence in American pop culture history. Cain's Ballroom, often considered the birthplace of Western Swing because it was the headquarters of Bob Wills, has played host to a number of famous musicians. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Tulsa’s “Discoveryland!,” is designated as the official performance headquarters of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Oklahoma”, and features a western town and daily performances in summer. The Tulsa Performing Arts Center, is the largest and primary performing arts venue in the city, but other performing arts theaters include: The Brady Theater, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Clark Theatre, the The Nightingale Theater, and the Tulsa Spotlight Theatre. Theater groups in Tulsa include, Theatre Tulsa, Tulsa Ballet, Tulsa Opera, Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, and Tulsa Oratorio Chorus.

Festivals and Events
Tulsa’s diverse culture is well represented has a wide variety of events year-round, the largest of which being the Tulsa State Fair, ongoing in late September and early October, which attracts over 1 million people during its few-week span.

Tulsa’s Oktoberfest was recently named one of the 10 in the world by USA Today.

Among the most popular events are, Tulsa Mayfest, Tulsa Oktoberfest, the Juneteenth Blues and Jazz Festival, the OK Mozart Festival in nearby Bartlesville, the Blue Dome Arts Festival, and the Gateway Balloon Festival.

Amusement Parks
Tulsa currently has two main amusement park attractions.

Bell's Amusement Park, a Coney Island-style amusement park, features Oklahoma’s largest wooden Roller Coaster and one of the tallest drop-towers in the southwest.

Big Splash water park, located next door to Bell’s Amusement Park, features several multi-story waterslides and a large wave pool.

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