Norman (Oklahoma)

Norman is a city in the Frontier Country region of Oklahoma and in Cleveland County. With a population of 128,000 (2020), it is the third largest city in the state and is home to the University of Oklahoma (popularly known as OU), the state's largest and flagship university.

Get in
Norman is less than 30 minutes due south of Oklahoma City, and approximately 3 hours north of Dallas, on I-35. It is easiest to access by car, though there is limited Amtrak service to the area (train does stop in Norman), as well as bus service from Oklahoma City. An Airport Express shuttle will transport you from the Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City directly to your destination in Norman:.

By bus
There are multiple daily Greyhound buses from Dallas. The bus stop is located at 506 North Porter Ave.

By train
Amtrak serves Norman with its once-daily Heartland Flyer, running between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, Texas. The southbound train departs around 9AM while the northbound leaves just before 9PM. is located at 200 S Jones Ave, close to Main St.

Get around
Norman has a small transit system, so it's easier to get around by car. Areas around the OU campus can be accessed on foot. CART, the local bus service with some service to Oklahoma City, is free to OU students and faculty and affordable for others.

See
Norman is home to the University of Oklahoma, a member of the Big 12 Conference until joining the Southeastern Conference in July 2024. The OU campus, the heart of the city, is north of Highway 9 and south of Boyd St in between Elm St and Jenkins. It has a 2 million-volume library open to the public, a wide array of undergraduate and graduate programs, a law school, National Championship-winning football, men's gymnastics, and softball teams, with softball being especially dominant in the early 2020s. It houses two major museums (see below, under Do).



Norman's small historic downtown, on and around Main St. east of University, hosts an increasingly thriving array of local businesses, including:

Do

 * Norman has a surprisingly active local music scene. See especially the free Summer Breeze Concert Series, organized by the Performing Arts Studio and held in the evenings in local parks during the warmer months.
 * Norman has a surprisingly active local music scene. See especially the free Summer Breeze Concert Series, organized by the Performing Arts Studio and held in the evenings in local parks during the warmer months.
 * Norman has a surprisingly active local music scene. See especially the free Summer Breeze Concert Series, organized by the Performing Arts Studio and held in the evenings in local parks during the warmer months.

Learn

 * The Firehouse Art Center, 444 S. Flood Ave., offers classes in a variety of artistic forms.

Buy
For truly distinctive Norman souvenirs, pick up T-shirts from Rusty's Frozen Custard and Guestroom Records.

Eat
Notable restaurants, bars and cafes are found in the historic downtown.



Go next

 * Lake Thunderbird, a few miles east of Norman, offers great mountain bike trails (the Clear Bay Trails) as well as boating, camping and horseback riding.
 * The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge offers some nice hikes, plus the likelihood of a buffalo or longhorn cattle spotting. These are not enormous mountains, but the trails are scenic and relatively diverse.  Approximately 90 minutes from Norman by car.