What is the highest point on the Talimena Drive?


What is the highest point on the Talimena Drive? Three miles east of the park stands the highest point on the drive, Rich Mountain Fire Tower (2,681 feet). From this vantage, you have fine views of the forested mountains and of the ribbon of road snaking over the ridges.


Is Talimena Scenic Drive open?

Area Status: Open This curving drive winds 54 miles west along the spine of Rich Mountain and Winding Stair Mountain.


What is the history of the Talimena Drive?

On June 7, 1970, Lucy Baines Johnson Nugent, Lyndon B. Johnson's daughter, dedicated the highway. As the only Oklahoma highway built specifically for scenic driving, the road followed and connected two truck routes constructed and maintained by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.


Where does Talimena Scenic Drive start and end?

36 of the byway's 54 drivable miles are located in Oklahoma, and the drive stretches from Talihina, Oklahoma to Mena, Arkansas. On maps and GPS, the scenic drive is displayed as OK-1 in Oklahoma and AR-88 in Arkansas.