Lakeshore Trail

The Lakeshore Trail circles the shoreline of Lake Altus-Lugert adjacent to the Quartz Mountain Arts and Conference Center, offering a flat and scenic walk combining views of the reservoir with close encounters with the granite boulders and rocky outcrops that define the Quartz Mountain landscape. The lake was created by the Lugert-Altus Irrigation District to provide water for southwestern Oklahoma agriculture, and it now serves as a major recreation destination for boating, fishing, and wildlife observation. American white pelicans, double-crested cormorants, and numerous duck species use the lake during migration and winter, and bald eagles are frequently seen perched on shoreline trees during the colder months. The granite domes and scattered boulders along the shore provide nesting habitat for prairie falcons, a cliff-nesting raptor that survives in the rocky terrain of the Wichita Mountain outliers. The trail is suitable for all fitness levels and offers consistently interesting scenery with the lake on one side and the rocky mountain landscape on the other. Sunset walks are particularly popular when the granite boulders glow orange and the lake surface reflects the fading colors of the western Oklahoma sky.