Talimena National Scenic Byway

When we were visiting the Eisenhower Birthplace Museum earlier this year the gentleman working the desk told us about the Talimena Scenic Byway. So, my husband and I made a reservation at the Mena Mountain Resort for the Saturday night of Easter weekend, and took off Saturday morning for the drive to the mountains. The name "Talimena" comes from the two cities that sit on each end of the byway, Talihina, Oklahoma and Mena, Arkansas. The byway is located in the Ouachita (Wash-i-tah) National Forest and runs along the Rich and the Winding Star Mountains.

The scenery on our drive to the Talimena Scenic By way.

The drive took several hours to get to the mountains, but the drive was so very beautiful even before we got to the Byway. A large portion of the drive was through the valleys between the Mountain ranges, and and we the forest surrounding us.

More of the beautiful scenery on the way to the Byway

The sign at the entrance to the Byway

Once we arrived at the entrance of the Byway we had about a 54 mile, 70 minute drive along the byway not counting all the stops at the vistas along the way. The road runs about halfway in Oklahoma, and then you enter Arkansas. Because we have been to Skyline Drive in Virginia many times before, I am going to make some comparisons between the Talimena National Scenic Byway and Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Mountains. Skyline drive was in a National Park, so you had to pay to drive the 105 miles, it had a 35mph speed limit, it was patrolled by rangers all the time, the vistas were very well maintained, the scenery was spectacular, and the wildlife was plentiful. Because of our previous trips to Skyline Drive my expectations may have been set a bit too high for the Talimena Byway.

The road that weaved through the mountain in Oklahoma's section.

More of the twisty road

The Talimena Byway is a public road with a 55mph speed limit, it is not patrolled often, the vistas are not well maintained (less in Arkansas than Oklahoma), the scenes are beautiful, but we did not see much of the local wildlife.

The view from one of the Vistas

Scene from a vista

There is also a distinct difference between the way the byway is maintained between Oklahoma and Arkansas. The section in Oklahoma was beautiful and when you stopped at the vistas there were signs with maps and information telling you about the history of the Native Americans and early settlers in the valley below. Not the case in Arkansas, The vistas were not well taken care of. There were signs that were broken or missing, there was obscene graffiti on the cliffs, and in one vista there were bullet shells all over the parking area. It was a shame that such a beautiful place was just not taken care of like it would have been had it been a State or National Park.

View from one of the Vistas on the Arkansas side of the byway

Missing map and sign

It was so sad to look out at the beautiful scenery on one side and then turn around and have to see all this graffiti.

Our stay at the Mena Mountain Resort was interesting. The "resort" was not really in the mountains and it was located on a busy highway. When we arrived on Saturday evening the doors were locked and we couldn't get in. We saw a man that was walking in the parking area and asked him if there was another way to get in and he told us to try the kitchen. We walked around to the back of the building and entered through the back door. There was a sign at the reception desk that told us to go to the Mickey Mouse phone and dial a number to get a hold of someone to check us in. So, that is what we did. The woman arrived and checked us in. She apologized for the locked doors, she though the housekeeper must have locked the door by accident.

The photo from their website

The eating space

The bed and sitting area. As you can see there was no closet, just a hanging rack.

The chairs were comfortable and they rocked!

There was this random twin bed in the room.

The room was big and clean, and we slept well before our trip back home. We got up early on Easter morning and got back home in time for me to make Easter dinner and have an egg hunt with our Grandkids.

Wildflowers along the side of the roads in Oklahoma

Although the Byway may not have been up to the Skyline Drive standard, it will be very hard to ever top us having to stop on the road on Skyline and let a mother black bear and her cub cross the road right in front of us, but it was still a beautiful drive. The drive to the byway was exceptionally beautiful, the rivers, lakes, green forests and mountains in the background were stunning. With the addition of seeing a Guinea Fowl in the road, and the beautiful wildflowers along the roadsides, it made this one of my favorite drives.

On our next trip to the Byway I think we will take a whole weekend and try to stop at some interesting sights that we didn't have time to see on this trip.

We were told that the changing of the leaves in the Fall is a great time to be on the byway because the colors are so beautiful, so who knows, our next trip may just be this Fall.