state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
in northwestern
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
. The majority of the highway is in Woodward County, though the northernmost are in Woods County. SH-50 runs near two state parks and has a lettered spur that goes to each of them.
SH-3
The Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King (company designation S-61) is an American twin-engined anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter designed and built by Sikorsky Aircraft. A landmark design, it was one of the first ASW rotorcraft to use turboshaft engi ...
between Woodward and Seiling. Much of the first section of highway runs through the Moscow Flats area west of the
North Canadian River
The North Canadian River is a river, long, in Oklahoma in the United States. It is a tributary of the Canadian River, draining an area of U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset/Watershed Boundary Dataset, area data covering North ...
. The highway crosses Indian Creek, a tributary of the North Canadian, before crossing the river itself. SH-50 intersects US-412 between Woodward and Mooreland. SH-50 turns east and
overlap
Overlap may refer to:
* In set theory, an overlap of elements shared between sets is called an intersection, as in a Venn diagram.
* In music theory, overlap is a synonym for reinterpretation of a chord at the boundary of two musical phrases
* Ove ...
s US-412 to Mooreland.
Upon reaching Mooreland, SH-50 splits off to the north. On the northern outskirts of town, SH-50 intersects one of its spur routes, SH-50B, which connects Mooreland to
Boiling Springs State Park
Boiling Springs State Park is a park built northeast of Woodward, Oklahoma, USA. It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
History
The park originated in the 1930s and was named for its springs. The road then turns northeast toward
Alabaster Caverns State Park
Alabaster Caverns State Park is a state park approximately south of Freedom, Oklahoma, United States near Oklahoma State Highway 50. The park attracted 24,706 visitors in FY 2016, The lowest count of the three parks in its part of Oklahoma. ...
. As the highway approaches the park, it spawns a spur leading into the park, SH-50A, before continuing northeast, clipping the northwest corner of the park boundary. The road then gradually eases into a more northerly heading as it approaches the Cimarron River.
SH-50 bridges the Cimarron River south of
Freedom
Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...
, in the process leaving Woodward County and entering Woods County. The road then passes through the west side of Freedom. After leaving the town, the road continues due north to its junction with US-64, where it terminates.
History
State Highway 50 was first commissioned on March 2, 1927, running from State Highway 47 in Mooreland (later SH-15, present-day US-412) to US-64 and the original State Highway 1 north of Freedom. Between January 1, 1929, and March 1, 1930, the highway was extended west along US-64, then north along a segment of old SH-1, passing through
Lookout
A lookout or look-out is a person in charge of the observation of hazards. The term originally comes from a naval background, where lookouts would watch for other ships, land, and various dangers. The term has now passed into wider parlance.
...
and ending at the Kansas state line. On November 1, 1954, State Highway 34 was extended to follow SH-50 in
concurrency
Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to:
Law
* Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea''
* Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...
north of US-64.
SH-50 underwent a major realignment on October 6, 1958, bypassing a gravel section with a straighter paved route. At the same time, SH-50A was established to connect the new road to Alabaster Caverns. Around this time, SH-34C, formerly a continuous highway linking SH-34 to Boiling Springs State Park and onward to SH-50, was split into two highways, with the middle section through the park being decommissioned. The section of highway east of the park was renumbered to SH-50B.
Also occurring on October 6, 1958, was the southern extension of SH-50, starting at US-183/270/SH-3, continuing north to SH-15, and continuing east along SH-15 to Mooreland, where it linked up with existing SH-50. The extension would not be shown on state highway maps until the 1960 edition, however.
The highway was at its greatest extent from 1958 to 1964, when it started at its present-day southern terminus and continued all the way north to the Kansas state line. However, virtually all of the highway north of Freedom was concurrent with another route. On November 9, 1964, SH-50 was truncated to end at its present-day northern terminus at US-64.
In the early 1980s, a new bridge was built across the Cimarron River south of Freedom. SH-50 was realigned to use this new crossing on April 6, 1981. No changes have occurred to the highway since then.
Spurs
SH-50 has two lettered spurs. They each run to a state park.
SH-50A
SH-50A connects SH-50 to
Alabaster Caverns State Park
Alabaster Caverns State Park is a state park approximately south of Freedom, Oklahoma, United States near Oklahoma State Highway 50. The park attracted 24,706 visitors in FY 2016, The lowest count of the three parks in its part of Oklahoma. ...