Where the Red Fern Grows is a Mystery, but it’s in Oklahoma near an Enchanting Waterfall

A small creek bubbles along in Oklahoma south of Jay, a small town in the eastern part of the state, and then disappears over a small ledge. And the state park we were in, called Natural Falls State Park, was also small. So, everything seemed small and unimposing in this area. Except for two things. Oklahoma is big in tornadoes. And Oklahoma is big in crude oil production (third in the nation after Texas and New Mexico).

Below the ledge was nothing we could see, except for bushes and bare trees, for it was mid-winter. We followed the trail over a small bridge, and surprise! We were looking at a thin 77 ft waterfall pouring at the bottom into a large pool, which looked like it had been painted in an exotic green color. Several miniature rivulets flashed down from a lower ledge added to the picture, and gave it the name of Dripping Springs.

A sign said this was the site of a movie that was made about 50 years ago, called, “Where the Red Fern Grows,” which was about a small boy and his two dogs that were raised in this area when it was private land. The 1961 film is on Prime and it’s a beautiful family story that features a boy and his two redbone bloodhounds who go chasing racoons. Carry lots of tissues, especially at the ending.

While gazing at the waterfall, I guessed the Red Ferns must be the greenish plants we could see being splashed by the water at the lower levels – maybe they turn red in the summer, I wondered. Water dripping on the green plants exuding from dark rock layers made the scene look like a spiritual grotto.

Short video about 20 seconds giving a closeup of the falls and rivulets. Click on the picture to start the video. The video was filmed by our friend Roxy, and edited by Ian. After the video, click on the back arrow to return to the blog writeup.

Water in Oklahoma versus the Southwest
For us who live in the desert southwest, water is sacred and scenes like this are rare. But our friends who live in Grove, Oklahoma, are surrounded by water. Roxy and Rhonda fish all the time on this lake, Grand Lake, and they are good at it. But sometimes they fish in the Gulf of Mexico where they catch really big fish like snapper. Still, they clearly enjoyed the pretty scene at Dripping Springs. But I did entice them to come out to see some really big waterfalls pouring out of the Rocky Mountains in Durango, Colorado.

Cascade Falls in Ouray, Colorado.

The Legend of the Red Fern
The story is an old Cherokee legend about a boy and girl who became trapped and died in a blizzard. The Cherokee is the largest Indian tribe with around 500,000 members. When in the spring the bodies of the boy and girl are found, a red fern has sprung up between the bodies. The legend continues that only an angel can plant a red fern, and that a red fern never dies since the spot is sacred.

One article said that red ferns are mythical and do not exist in nature. However, google gave me many photos of red ferns, some with sale prices. So, my quick google search has not answered the question of do red ferns exist in nature. Perhaps a reader has some proof they are willing to share.

This picture is called a Blood Fern.

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Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.
The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.
And God saw that it was good.

[Genesis, chapter 1]