Woolaroc

Frank Phillips's wildlife ranch and major western art museum, 14 miles southwest

Woolaroc is Frank Phillips's former ranch estate 14 miles southwest of Bartlesville, now one of Oklahoma's best attractions: part wildlife preserve, part world-class western art museum. The 3,700-acre property has bison, Texas longhorn cattle, elk, deer, and other animals roaming freely, and a trail system through the Osage Hills.

The museum building holds one of the best collections of Native American art, artefacts, and Western Americana in the country — acquired by Phillips with oil money over several decades. The 1927 air race-winning Woolaroc aircraft hangs in the museum. The property also contains Phillips's rustic lodge, original outbuildings, and a replica Native American village. Allow three to four hours; the combination of wildlife, art, and history makes this much more than a typical regional museum. About 25 minutes by road from Bartlesville.

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Woolaroc takes its name from the WOOds, LAkes, and ROCks of the Osage Hills where it sits. Frank Phillips built it as a personal retreat beginning in 1925, and it hosted aviation celebrities after Phillips sponsored the Los Angeles to Honolulu "Dole Air Race" of 1927 — the winning plane, Woolaroc, is still on display in the museum. The collection of Native American and Western art that Phillips assembled is now considered one of the finest outside major city museums, with works by Frederic Remington, Charles Russell, and a remarkable collection of Osage and Cherokee material culture.