We took a long weekend, leaving around 9AM on a Friday, after a casual breakfast that sunny, cool morning. We took Rt. 78 N and worked our way North to Bonham, Texas.Staying on 78, you pass over Rt. 82, and look for a right on Hwy 898, that will take you thru White Shed & Ivanhoe. Just past Bettis, look for the road to sweep right and change to FM 273. This is some beautiful remote farm country.
This route will take you up through the northern part of Texas, just below the Red River and over to Rt. 271 on the north side of Paris. A great way to stay away from traffic.
Road is in great shape, traffic is very minimal and the scenery is great!
Don’t forget to wave to everyone you pass, or they might think, just another tourist.
Follow 273 to an intersection at Telephone, be sure you stay left where 2029 goes south. Continue on to Monkstown and bear left at FM 100. You are just north of CADDO NATIONAL GRASSLAND during this part of the trip.
While on FM 100 and just south of a small town called Riverby, FM 100 changes to FM 79. The road will sweep to the right at the change. Stay on 79 through Direct and approximately 1.8 miles later, you will want to look for a left turn onto FM 197. Follow this road south of Bunker Hill and almost through Ragtown, sneeze and you’ll miss it. On through Belk, and Forest Chapel. Just past Forest Chapel, you are north of Pat Mayse Lake and Park entrance. When you pass the park entrance you have approximately 5 miles left to Rt. 271 North.
Hang a left and cross into OK. Stay on Rt. 271 / 109 which will bypass Grant and up to the Rt. 70 Bypass, which you will need to bear to the left on, to get around Hugo. Hang a left where 271 business comes out of Hugo from your right and continue north past the entry to the Indian Nation Turnpike entrance to your right.
Stay on 271 North, you will pass under the turnpike one time before getting to Antlers. Antlers is famous area for deer hunters, hence the name? Anyway, some mom & pop food and lodging in town. 271 will bear right at town center and exit town out of it’s NE corner.
This part of 271 will start up up into the foothills, through bumps in the road of Finley & Snow. You will eventually drop into Clayton, OK. A good restaurant about three-quarters of the way through town on your left. This is where everyone stops, so the lot is generally full and lots of gravel, so be careful! We stopped here and the chow is pretty good.
Get back on 271 and head north until the road splits, 271 to the right towards Talihina and Rt. 2 straight ahead towards Sardis Lake and Yanush. If you want to go out to the dam for a look see, it will only cost you about 20 minutes out and back. Go straight on 2 out to a left on Rt. 43. This will take you right over the dam, with a stop at the dam to walk around the spillway area.
Another side trip here would be to see Buffalo Herd that is overseen by the Choctaw Nation Indian Tribe and their National Museum not far from the dam. E1630 which is just across from where Rt 43 breaks off of Rt. 2, will take you past a possible grazing location on the left side of the road, less than half-mile from intersection. If they are not in this pasture, keep going, look for a right on N4340, or the next available right turn. This will take you down past the next larger grazing area and pens, on your left. Choctaw Nation museum and fairground area is a left turn off E1640, at the small lake. If not continue straight, across the next road and small Lake to your left and you will come back out on Rt. 271. Turn left towards Talihina.
If you did not do the side trip to Sardis Dam or the buffalo grazing areas, then stay on 271 up to Talihina, approximately 21 miles to town. When you pass through Albion, you are about 2.5 miles south of my place on the SE corner of the Potato Hills. We have a few acres on the side of the hill, overlooking the Kiamichi Valley and K-Trail mountain across the way. I can’t think of a better place to park myself on weekends. Close to good riding, the Talimena Drive and all points North and East over to Arkansas and the Ozarks are close by.
Talihina is a good place to spend the night, if needed, but during most seasons, call ahead to make sure you can get a room. Only a couple of good places to stay, Kiamichi Inn in town and the Lazy R, on the south end of town. Food = Pam’s Restaurant on Main Street
We got off the drive at Rt. 270/59 and went up to Poteau, Oklahoma for the first evening. The new Days Inn & Suites is a good place to park for the evening. Plenty of eats close by and a few within walking distance. We left home on day-1 around 9 AM, stopped in Talihina for about an hour or so, did part of the drive to the 270/59 get-off and made it into Poteau by 5:30 PM. It was a nice easy trip, with plenty of times for stops.
Then next morning, we went back to the drive and finished the trip over to Mena, Arkansas. Talimena Scenic Drive is only about 8-9 miles north of Talihina, off 271 at top of mountain. You have about 54 miles of scenic travel across the ridge line from there until it drops down into Mena, Arkansas. On the way you will pass many overlooks, park areas and the Queen Wilhelmina Lodge and Park along the way.
Don’t forget to stop at the old Forest Fire Tower. They sometimes have the tower open on weekends, but it is a worthwhile stop even if the tower is not open.
We had lunch in Mena, and continued our trip south out of town back down Rt. 59 to Cove, Arkansas. Here we turned back West on Rt. 4, and back into Oklahoma.
There is a turnoff to Queen Wilhelmina Lake on your right. If you need a break, there is parking and shade around the boatramp. You can see the Lodge on the ridge above you, from the ramp on the East side of the Lake.
At Smithville, hang a left on Rt. 259 which will take you back south past the lake at Broken Bow and Beavers Bend State Park.
From Broken Bow, you can take 259 down to Idabel and continue south on 259 back to a Red River crossing into north Texas, or take 70 back over to Hugo, which will place you back on 271 south and back into Texas on our original route up.
We did 70 west and then following the GPS, took every FM road we could find, working our way to Paris, Texas, which is where we spent our second night. The next day we took Rt. 82 west out of Paris and then worked our way SW back on Farm Roads and back into Garland on Rt. 78.
We got back home around 2 PM on Sunday. I must say, we did not enjoy the heat of the day on the return trip, after leaving the mountain areas up north. But overall the trip was great, lots to see and plenty of time to stop and enjoy along the way.
Until the next time! May you see many good roads… Jim
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