Ride Report TX-OK-AR

Mission: Scrub the rubber whiskers off a new set of Metzelers,
sidewall-to-sidewall, using only naturally occurring road surfaces.



Equipment: 1994 HD Wide Glide, 65K miles indicated.



Time: 5 days, no reservations.



Place: Arkansas & Eastern Oklahoma



Stats: 1,377 miles, 44 mpg avg., $2.98/gal. avg., ½ qt. 20W50



Day 1 - Ft. Worth, TX to Mena, AR (400 miles)

Took I-30 to US 259, went north to Idabel, OK. Ate lunch at M R Pigs
downtown, recommend the "Pulled Pork". Continued north to Broken Bow, nice
and scenic. Take 259A through Beaver Bend Resort Park. Excellent road, nice
10 mile loop, beautiful lake and scenery. Continued north on 259, went west
on 63 to Talihina. Want to get the full length of the Talimena Scenic Drive.
Glad I did.



Talimena Scenic Drive is OK 1 then AR 88. About a dozen scenic vistas, make
sure you stop at "Panoramic Vista". Nice sweepers all the way to Mena, AR.
Don't miss this road. And it was nice and cool at upper elevations. High
temperature = 95.



Notes: Mena is dry. Arkansas is by county, and all the counties surrounding
Mena are dry. Bring your own. Ate dinner at Papa Poblano's. Saw signs and
apparently a chain in Arkansas. Ordered the Charro beans, didn't expect to
find sliced hot dog in them. Maybe a white trash, trailer park, Arkansas
thing. Not done in Texas or Mexico. Stayed at the Sun Country Inn, $89 +tax
for a Jacuzzi suite.





Day 2 - Mena to Eureka Springs (300 miles)

US 270 east to "Y" City, AR 71 north. Ate at Fred's in Boles. Excellent and
cheap. Nice sweepers and beautiful county. Continued north to AR 23, all the
way to Ozark (liquor stores). Cross Arkansas River and I-40, go north on AR
23. This starts the "Pig Trail". Great twisties. Don't miss. Then went east
on 16, really started getting desperate for gas, found in Fallsville.
Continued east on 16 to AR 7, went south 11 mile to Lurton, to pick up AR
123 east.



Best road in Arkansas. Take 123 east from 7, as good as anything in the
Black Hills. Follow in to Mount Judea, ate lunch at the only café (no credit
cards). Go north of town across bridge, took AR 374 toward Vendor to AR 7,
north to Jasper, west on AR 74 to Ponca, AR 43 & 103 to Osage. Lurton to
Osage - AWESOME!!! Best road of the trip.



Notes: Took 62 over to Eureka Springs (liquor stores). Town reminds me of
Lead, SD, but without the casinos. Plenty of nice places to stay. Stayed at
Rodeway Inn - Swiss Holiday, $89 + tax for Jacuzzi. Ate at Myrtie Mae's,
excellent salad bar. High temp. = 95.



Day 3 - Eureka Springs to Hot Springs (300 miles)

Took 62 west to Gateway, then back. Twisty, but a lot of traffic. Take 187
(not on map), great little loop across Beaver Dam and back to 62. While in
Gateway, took AR 37 north for a mile to say went to Missouri. Ate at the
Pub, next to the Cathouse in Eureka Springs, prior to heading south on AR
23. Nice ride in the country, but nothing like the Pig Trail. Took a detour
west on AR 12, picked up AR 127 west, looped back to AR 12, then back on AR
23. AR 127 isn't on the map at this point, but a great twisty road with no
traffic. Nice 25 mile diversion.



South again on AR 23, re-rode the Pig Trail from the north this time
(great), into Ozark. Crossed the Arkansas River, the went southeast on AR
309. The road to Paris is flat, but great sweepers. South of Paris starts
the climb to Mount Magazine, highest peak in Arkansas. Excellent twisties,
all the way to Havana. Took AR 10 east, AR 27 north, then AR 154 east to AR
7. Pure hell - 103 degrees. Took AR 7 south, again it lived up to it's
reputation - Excellent! Thought about doing AR 154 all the way over to AR 9,
heard it was a great road, but just too damn hot.



Notes: Stayed at Best Western across from horse track, $74 + tax. Ate at
Brau Haus, sausage and beer, but expensive. Saw two titty bars and several
liquor stores. Apparently Hot Springs has evolved from a sleepy resort town
to a modern city. Saw several homeless, a couple crack whores, and got asked
for change. Sweet - Arkansas in the 21st century!



Day 4 - Hot Springs to Ft. Worth (400 miles)

Left Hot Springs about 2:30 in the afternoon after doing some tourist
stuff - had to wait till the temperature climbed to 100 again. Galvan
Gardens is a nice area, got a nice hike in. The National Park Aquarium is
not affiliated with the National Park, it is just near it. Mainly a pet
store that charges admission. You'll want to miss this one.



Took 270 west, map says it is "scenic" - it ain't. Cut south on 27 at Mount
Ida, than west on 8. Again map shows as scenic, it is a nice ride in the
country, but nothing special. Debate taking the Talimena road again, but see
the one south that haven't been on. Took US 59/71 south at Mena, again not
scenic as indicated. Really pissed off now, was going to stop at any nice
area, then decided to go for home. Take US 70 west from DeQueen to Hugo, OK,
south on US 271 to Paris, TX, ate, then home. About 20 miles outside of
Paris realize that should have stopped for the night in Paris. Screw it,
press on regardless. Not a great day.



Must do rides:

1. 127 from Lurton to Mount Judea, then to
Vendor-Jasper-Osage.

2. Pig Trail.

3. Talimena Scenic Byway

4. Mount Magazine on AR 309.

5. Any of AR 7.

6. AR 62 west of Eureka Springs

7. AR 127, off of AR 12, just south of Eureka Springs, west
of AR 23.



Wanted to do several other roads, will save them for next time. Heard from
locals that the best time for fall foliage is in mid-October. And anytime in
spring is nice. Overall, some great rides, especially some that aren't on
the map. I'll go back. All the roads had great surfaces, had a few areas on
AR 270 with road work.



Mission Status: Accomplished. Tire whiskers are gone from
sidewall-to-sidewall.

 

(Sarge345)
Mission: Scrub the rubber whiskers off a new set of Metzelers,
sidewall-to-sidewall, using only naturally occurring road surfaces.
Equipment: 1994 HD Wide Glide, 65K miles indicated.
Time: 5 days, no reservations.
Place: Arkansas & Eastern Oklahoma
Stats: 1,377 miles, 44 mpg avg., $2.98/gal. avg., ½ qt. 20W50



nice bike ride. Really a hot time of year to do it, but still there
ain't toooo many rides better. All of your report is in my neighborHood.
It looks like you averaged about 275 miles per a day. Thanks for
sharing. BJK, all day!