Ouachita Mountains Ride
October 2008
Hello all. This past weekend, October 10-12, 2008, we took a dual-sport trip into Oklahoma and Arkansas. Our objective was to ride through a section of the Ouachita National Forest.
On the afternoon of October 10, 2008, Doug, Dad, Meredith, and I began working our way north and east, traveling mainly on county roads. We wanted to get to 
Idabel, OK for the night. Along the way, in Hopkins County, we passed the sign you see to the right.
Luckily there was no threat of the sign becoming reality and we moved on.
The roads were good, although a bit dusty. We were thankful that it wasn’t raining because they would’ve been very muddy if so.
Around dusk we crossed the Red River into Oklahoma on Highway 37. Soon after we turned off onto a county road that paralleled the river.
There were many fields of crops being grown.
In several miles we came to a combine moving its load to an eighteen-wheeler. The truck was parked in the middle of the road and left 
very little room to navigate around. The ditches were muddy and we were just able to squeeze by on one side.
The sun was setting quickly and we made a quick stop to put our jackets on.
We moved on down the road and were quickly to Idabel, OK where we met Mom and Tammy.
If there was ever a one horse town, Idabel would be it. I was afraid that besides rolling up the sidewalks at 7 P.M., they were gonna roll up the roads too.
We had a good supper and made our obligatory trip to Wal-Mart where Doug was asked by a complete stranger if he knew what a sugar-titty was. Being under-educated in the titty area, Doug said no. The fellow went on to explain that during “the good ole days” people would take a bit of sugar and wrap it into a towel and let babies suck on it. Apparently, the man and his wife were discussing how nobody had ever heard of this anymore and decided to use Doug as an example. Doug was grateful.
We awoke the next morning and headed north. We were soon on gravel roads and headed for the Ouachita Mountains. We rode along miles of gravel and came to a bridge out sign. There was a house nearby and the folks there said they had crossed the creek on a four wheeler. We decided to ride on and see if we could do the same on our steeds.
The creek was fairly fast flowing and a few feet deep at its deepest.
We spend a few minutes deciding if we were going to give it a try.
The county had inexplicably torn what looked to be a perfectly good bridge away and left nothing.
The creek didn’t look too swift or deep. We decided that riding around the right side of the bridge would give us the best chance. The bottom of the creek was solid rock. So, we weren’t concerned about getting stuck. Deep or swift water was our only concern.
I went first. With no problems, everybody else crossed behind me.
We kept moving north and after a few reroutes due to several road closures, we made it to the Talimena Drive.
The Talimena Drive is a national byway that runs between Talihena, OK and Mena, AR. Much like other parkways, the speed limit is below 50 mph and there are no advertisements along the route.
The two lane road follows a ridge line for miles and miles. The elevation stays around 2000 feet. The views are very good.
We rode for miles enjoying the views and enjoying the cool temperatures.
We arrived in Mena, AR around lunch time and met Mom and Tammy.
After lunch we headed south on Ouachita National Forest Road 30. The terrain proved to be very nice, with mountainous, rocky outcrops, punctuated with clear streams.
In many places there were ferns clinging to the gully sides. A slight tint was beginning to show in the leaves of some trees, breaking the monotony of solid green.
We rode for miles on gravel roads, up and down hills and hollers, stopping every so often.
Once we rounded a corner and saw many many turkeys. They weren’t too scared and ambled off into the woods after a bit.
We had to reroute after coming onto private land and we carried on towards our destination.
After several more miles, we can to the Little Missouri River Falls.
These falls were more of a cascade down stair steps of rocks for a hundred yards.
We followed a trail for a hundred yards along the bank of the river until we were able to walk in front of the falls.
The air was cool and the feeling of autumn was apparent.
We spent a while enjoying the sights.
Soon, it was time to go and we headed on towards Glenwood, AR. More gravel roads greeted us for many more miles. Late in the afternoon we arrived in 
Glenwood.
We had a good night and got up early the next morning and rode home.
