Nearest Accommodations: Mena / Mount Ida / Hot Springs

Location: The trail runs from Talihina, Oklahoma all the way to Little Rock, Arkansas and there are trail heads located all long the trail. In Talihina you can access the trail from the Talimena State Park on Hwy. 1, there is also another trail head a few miles on up Hwy. 1 at Deadman's Gap. Go a little farther on Hwy. 1 and you will come to the Winding Stairs trail head. On Hwy. 259 just a little ways south of Hwy. 1 is the Hwy. 259 trail head. There are no other trail heads in the state of Oklahoma after the Hwy. 259 trail head. Now move on over to Arkansas, out of Mena take Hwy. 71 going north to Acorn, turn left onto Hwy. 270 the trail head will be on your right a few miles down the road. From Mena take Hwy. 71 north for about 15 miles the Hwy. 71 trail head will be on your left. The next trail head is at the Big Brushy Recreation Area, from Mena take Hwy. 71 north to Y City and turn right onto Hwy. 270 going toward Hot Springs, Big Brushy will be on your right some miles down the road. If coming from Mount Ida, take Hwy. 270 past Pencil Bluff, Big Brushy will be on your left a few miles down the road. The Hwy. 27 trail head can be gotten to by heading north on Hwy. 27 out of Mount Ida, after going through the little town of Story the trail head will be about 10 miles on up the road and will be on your left. To get to the Hwy. 298 trail head take Hwy. 27 out of Mount Ida. When you come to the town of Story turn right onto Hwy. 298 and follow this for a few miles, the trail head will be on your left. To get to the Hwy. 7 trail head from Hot Springs, take Hwy. 7 going north out of Hot Springs. Once Past the town of Jessieville go for another 10 miles or so and the trail head will be on your left.

Type: Mostly single and double track, old road / out and back.

Distance: About 192 miles one way.

Summary: This is the longest trail in the Ouachita Mountains. Stretching from Talihina, Oklahoma to Little Rock, Arkansas. Unfortunately all this trail is not open to mountain bikes. Let me state that I have not ridden all of the Ouachita Trail but I have ridden many portions of it which is maybe 80% of what is open to mountain bikes. My summary is based only on the sections I have ridden. This trail has some really good spots and some really bad spots. This trail will offer up some of the biggest climbs you will ever do and some of the best downhill's you will ever ride in the Ouachita's the only trick is to know where to go. Ridding on the O.T. is kind of like eating ribs, you got to swallow the meat and spit out the bones. The trail can be very rugged and and remote in places. As far as technical stuff goes there are plenty of those out there. There are some places that are just really sweet and others I would just assume not ever ride again. Some folks have tried to ride the entire length where bikes are allowed but to my knowledge no one has ever completed it, I could be wrong. Mountain bikes are only allowed on the trail from Talimena State Park in Oklahoma to Hwy. 59 in Oklahoma. You can pick the trail back up again just north of Mena on Hwy. 270. Well you can actually ride from the top of Rich Mountain down to Hwy. 270 but last time I did this it was more like walk to Hwy. 270. There is a group that maintains this trail called Friends of the Ouachita Trail and they have made a difference in many places. Still there remains places where it is more hike-a-bike then ridding. Don't get me wrong, not all of this trail is bad like I said before you just got to go to the right places to ride. As I stated above the trail has some very remote places on it and I think that is one of the problems because it would require a hike in, set up a camp, do maintenance, stay the night, and then hike out. I think another issue is that the trail was designed for hikers and not bikers and to my knowledge there is no plan on changing this anytime soon. Until the entire trail can appeal to most average riders I believe it will never really be able to become the epic ride it could be or even get the same notoriety as the Womble. More people come and ride the Womble then they do any other trail in the Ouachita's and that includes the Ouachita Trail. Maybe some day they will make this trail more biker friendly so that it will appeal to most average riders, right now it only caters to a select few. You will notice another menu to the bottom left titled Ouachita Trail. This menu will direct you to the various sections of the Ouachita Trail. Because the trail is so big I broke it up into sections that we have ridden, you can mix and match these sections in any way you please. 

Recommended Route: These are some of the best areas to ride. Big Brushy, Blowout Mountain, Irons Fork

When to ride: Winter, early spring and late fall.

Rating: Not for novice riders. There are some places that even the advanced rider may wish he had stayed home. Some of the climbs are really long and can be steep. The trail has some pretty technical areas. There can be a lot of hike-a-bike even for the advanced rider. Most areas are remote and have very few bailouts.

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