[jglow]

The Ouachita National Forest spans from Southeast Oklahoma into Southcentral Arkansas.



It is a pretty good sized forest (especially for us from down here in Texas that are surrounded by pavement and/or private lands ). A while ago I started compiling tracks from my previous rides to this area, as well as tracks from others' rides. My goal was to create a multi-day loop ride that would sample some of the best riding the Ouachtia Forest has to offer. Last year a "Travel Management Plan" was implemented which has caused the closure of some roads and trails . This trip would be a reconnaissance mission to prove tracks that I had not ridden, as well as ensure all routes/trails are indeed still open.

I always seem to start my rides from the State park outside Talihina, OK. It's at the far Western edge of the forest, so that makes sense - it's only about a 3 hour drive from my house in Texas. Today would be no different, and I haul the little WR250r up there in the truck, unload it out of the truck, and then saddle it up for the ride.



I am carrying all my camping gear with me. I know it may be too hot to camp, but I wanted to sample the route with the bike loaded in the same fashion as it would be for a multi-day camp/ride trip. I head out to the first trail I want to check out.



The drought in this area was finally busted a few months back, and things are really thick.



I am not sure how much of this is overgown due to the wet Spring, or just lack of use .



It has been a while since I have done any light weight dual-sport touring on this bike, and it takes a bit to get used to the extra weight of the bags.



One thing that is a fact of life while riding in OK/AR - It is rocky ! Some would say to "Make rocks your favorite!"



More in a bit....



Jordan