loved visiting the area and thinking back to the way things were when Oklahoma was the western frontier.
The main attraction of this are is the western ware and saddle stores. Cowboy boots to fit all budgets from the cheap imported brands to the beautiful hand made in the US and every thing inbetween, you can even (without having to break the bank have them personal fitted at "Doc's" by Doc himself. The saddle stores still make and repair the on site giving a wonderful smell and atmosphere with the staff all very happy to give you the full history of there store.A visit to the cattleman stack house ( oldest restaurant in oklahoma) for lunch is a must, good service steak and pie.The area is not as large as you would think only two streets 10-15 stores tops and only the one restaurant.
Since my husband does raise beef cattle for a living we stopped here for some fun for him. It was really neat! We checked out where the sale was held (sale day is Monday, and, I think, Tuesday) on Sunday night and where the Cattleman's Restaurant was located. Monday after visiting the Oklahoma City Memorial we ate at the Restaurant. It was delicious and reasonably priced. Our girls liked it too (ages 9, 12, 13). Then we headed over to the sale. You need to park and then walk across what I would call a cat walk. You walk above ALL the pens of cattle and can watch the workers herd them into the sale barn. We spent over an hour watching the sale. It was more enjoyable to people watch for me. Only my 9 year old hated it! Smelly, of course, and I am sure boring for her. I think it was one of the best parts of our 2 day stop in OKC. We didn't stop at any of the shops in the area since we weren't really planning on shopping.
We had lunch at Cattlemens and then wandered over to the pens where the livestock were. We walked over the catwalks above the cows. While we were standing there a woman walked by and told us cows were being sold over in that building so we made our way over and went in. Very interesting to watch the auction/sales taking place, we'd never seen anything like that before. We didn't spend much time walking around the stores because it was very hot out.
If you are passing through the state and you have a chance to drop in on the area please do. Great places to eat and nice shopping. Check it out.
We walked on a catwalk above hundreds of cattle that were to be auctioned that day. It was a profound visual experience, as well as a loud one with cattle mooing and snarling. It was filled with smells that my nose will never forget. It is important to go there on Monday morning because that is the auction day. We sat in on the auction mesmerized by not only the auctioneer, but the cattle on parade as well as the bidding process of the buyers. It was a hoot.
My wife and I strolled around after a great steak dinner at Cattleman's Steakhouse. Mostly western wear and boot shops, but the 4 W Western Shop was interesting, as well as the Native-American art of White Antelope. Do you know what you smell when a cattle truck drives by? That is the smell of money in these parts.
This is free and there are no signs that really tell you where to go. But the stockyards are a fun experience. Walk on the catwalk and see all the livestock for sale. Sit in on an auction. My elderly in-laws really liked this. Lots of Western shops nearby.
Best time to visit is when the auctions are on, I think it is very early Monday and Tuesday mornings. It was all very quiet when I visited. There is not a lot to do but still worth a visit. I walked there from Bricktown and it took about 35 minutes. Interesting statue at the crossroads.
People talked about Stockyards, why? My wife and I drove past and kept going for about 15 minutes then we did a U-Turn. Here is my honest humble opinion, don't go unless you have a very high interest in seeing a tourist trap and a very small piece of OKC history. We are talking about three blocks of shops and restaurants, a few statues and of course the huge area where cattle are being sold, loaded and unloaded off trucks. if you are in livestock trading or want to see the "famous" Cattlemen steakhouse then go but why? The shops closed at 5PM on Sunday so I don't know quality or pricing of the shops.