Talimena Scenic Byway & Heavener Runes

(301 mi; about 7 hours and 12 mins)

This ride was inspired by a book on Ozark Scenic Drives my son and daughter-in-law got me. Since this is actually in the Ouachita Mountains, I'm not sure how it made it into a book on Ozark drives, but it made for a very nice all-day ride. I luckily made a wrong turn (a fairly frequent way I alter my planned routes) and ended up driving along the northern base of the mountains the Byway traverses. The part of that drive I was on before turning around was worth the few miles of going the wrong way. I had a number of good looks at the mountains from the bottom. Once I got on the right road, there were a number of scenic overlooks. From some, you could see other twisty roads on the southern approach to the Byway, some looked back at the mountain ranges to the west, and a couple let you see where you were headed. One in particular showed a thread of the road running right on the crest of the mountain. As I reached the top, I started noticing that the trees sure seemed short, some of the trees at top looked to be 15' tall at most. A sign at one of the overlooks indicated they were as old as 200 years. The same white oak trees at the bottom of the mountain were said to grow up to 115' tall. There apparently is so much wind and ice in the winter that nature keeps trimming these trees back. I don't think I'll plan a winter drive up there....

At the top of the drive is Queen Wilhelmina State Park. The park has a lodge and a restaurant. It appears to be a popular place for a biker lunch break. About half of the vehicles in the parking lot were motorcycles the day I was there.

I went back through Heavener on my way home, had some time for a side trip, so I popped over to the Heavener Runestone State Park. Wikipedia documents some more details on the Runestones themselves.

With the distance and all of my stops along the way, the only way I made this trip within a time similar to Google's time estimate was due to the higher speed limits in Oklahoma. A pretty stiff wind at my back on the drive back didn't hurt :-)

Map

Roaring River, Tablerock Lake, War Eagle River

(254 mi; about 7 hours 7 min)

As with the other mileages and times I indicate, they're the estimates from Google Maps. I've found them to be pretty close to what I experience as long as I add extra time for gas stops and meals.

My main intent for this ride was to try to evaluate the stock seat on my Sportster. A lot of people complain about this seat. I've seen some references to it being a "50 mile seat". This ride took me right at 8 hours with only minimal stops for gas (twice) and lunch. After about 5.5 hours, I did need a bit of a butt break, so at the next gas stop, also took the time to stand up and drink a soda. I'm not sure if it would have been much different with one of the popular replacement seats, but I was pretty pleased with the stock seat.

There are so many good day rides in this area of the country. This one touches in parts of Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest, Tablerock Lake, and the Ozarks. As I was approaching the downhill stretch to Roaring River park, something in the woods caught my eye. I turned around and road a little ways down a faint dirt roadway to get a better look. Someone had built sort of a temporary shelter. I'd rather sleep on the ground under a tarp, but it was kind of interesting. Actually, at my age, I'd rather sleep in a real bed these days...

MAP

Fayetteville, Jasper, Haggerville loop

Ponca, Jasper, Pelsor (222 mi; 6 hours 12 mins)

Google Maps was pretty close on this one. My actual mileage turned out to be 223 miles, and I was right at 6 hours, even with one gas stop and a 30 minute lunch at Ozone's Burger Barn, "Home of the Three Napkin Burger".

Rides like this one make it easy to see why Harley's Tourbook has so many scenic roads marked in NorthWest Arkansas. It takes you through part of the Buffalo River National Park and in and out of parts of the Ozark National Forest. The ride from Ponca to Jasper on Highway 74 starts off and ends with some really sharp twisties, and Highway 7 is known for it's scenic overlooks and The Hub, but some of the other highways in the area seem to be overlooked (no pun intended). Highway 123 between Pelsor (Sand Gap) and Haggerville is one. It has more 15-25 MPH curves than the more biker popular stretches of Highway 74 and 7. It just doesn't have the roadway along high ridges that inspire the Goofy scream should one run off the road (even though there is one place where going around a 25MPH curve, you can look to down and see another upcoming 25MPH curve further down the hill).

MAP