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| Talimena Scenic Byway, OK | |
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| | Talimena Scenic Byway, OK | | | |
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Talimena Scenic Byway, OK
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| Hiking | 5.13 Miles |
749 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.13 Miles | 2 Hrs 44 Mns | | 2.14 mph |
| 749 ft AEG | 20 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | This trip report is for a few hikes along the Talimena Scenic Byway, which runs for 54 miles in SE Oklahoma and extreme western Arkansas. The byway is mainly known for its spectacular fall foliage. The byway runs between Talihina, Oklahoma and Mena, Arkansas. Astute HAZers can likely look at the name of these two towns and deduce where the name "Talimena" came from.
While driving along the byway I stopped and bagged 4 high points: a P1K peak, a county high point, a wilderness area high point, and a state border high point.
Winding Stair Mountain
(2.72 miles with 574 feet of AEG)
This was a nice hike on the well maintained Ouachita National Recreation Trail, which goes all the way to the summit. Views were limited due to all the trees.
The Red Rocket
(0.91 miles with 40 feet of AEG)
I parked at a turnoff for some sort of FAA facility. I walked up past the facility and went into some woods to the Red Rocket. At one time this was thought to be the LeFlore County high point, but lidar data has deemed another spot to be higher. I went to this anyway because how often do you see a red rocket out in some woods?
LeFlore COHP
(0.64 miles with 65 feet of AEG)
For this one I parked at a scenic viewpoint, walked back down the road, and climbed an embankment up to some cliffs and went to the highest boulder. It was a very brushy off-trail climb with lots of thorn bushes that scratched my legs, even though I was wearing long pants. There are great views at this high point.
Upper Kiamichi Wilderness HP
(0.85 miles with 70 feet of AEG)
I parked at a parking area at the Oklahoma-Arkansas state line. I walked on the road back into Oklahoma and then went down a slope to where I think that the wilderness boundary was. I walked a bit along where I had mapped out the highest contour and called it good.
Arkansas Border HP
I did not know that this was here, but after hiking to the Upper Kiamichi HP I checked to see if any other peaks were in the area and I discovered that this was only 20-25 feet away from where I parked. So I made the easy walk over to this one.
Synopsis
This was an enjoyable afternoon driving along the byway and bagging these high points. There are some nice vistas along the way, and I imagine that the area is popular in the fall during leaf peeping season. |
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| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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