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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Talimena Scenic Drive: Mena to Talihina

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
84 km
Riding-time estimate
1 h 32
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.

Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.

Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.

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Why this ride

Sustained elevation change, linked bends and open summit views. It also links naturally to Ouachita National Forest.

Access context

Check seasonal gates, park access and state 511 notices before publication. Specific flag: seasonal.

Seasonal context

Mar-Nov

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Mena

    Mena is a small Arkansas town at the foot of the Ouachita Mountains, near the Oklahoma border, with a little over five thousand people and an old railroad main street. The story goes that Dutch investors who backed the railway named the town after the wife of one of their number, and the Dutch connection has stuck, so that the state park on the mountain above is named for Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.

    Read the complete Mena write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Mena sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Talihina.

  2. 2. Talihina

    Talihina is a very small town in the Ouachita Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma, with just over a thousand people, and it is the western gate of one of the best ridge roads in the middle of the country. The name comes from the Choctaw language, and is often translated as iron road, a reference to the railroad that arrived here in the 1880s. This is Choctaw Nation land, and the tribe's presence is visible in the town signs, the language and the cultural centres. The Choctaw were forced here from Mississippi on the Trail of Tears in the 1830s, a history that gives the landscape a sombre depth.

    Read the complete Talihina write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Talihina comes up 84 km in.

Recorded source links

Source

More motorcycle rides nearby