Description
Cucumber Creek Preserve was established in 1989 and encompasses 3,629 acres to protect neotropical migrant birds and their habitat. Of the 33 species of birds found on the preserve, more than half of them are migrating species. These birds nest during the summer in large blocks of continuous forest in North America and then migrate thousands of miles to Central and South America to spend the winter.
Cucumber Creek is a clear, high-gradient stream flanked to the north by Kiamichi Mountain and to the south by Blue Bouncer Mountain. It was named for the Cucumber magnolia, a small tree native to eastern forests whose range slightly extends into Oklahoma.
Lynn Mountain is another feature of the area and divides Cucumber Creek from the Beech Creek National Scenic Recreation Area, part of the Ouachita National Forest that has a parking area and trail system.
Though birds are the focus of this preserve, the biodiversity of the region is impressive. Other animal species include black bears, zebra swallowtails, white-tailed deer, timber rattlesnakes and cottonmouths. There are at least 39 plants and animals on the preserve that are only found in the Ouachitas like the Ouachita Mountain Shiner, a small fish at home in Cucumber Creek.
