Kiamechi Trail

[etKQ]

Does anyone know if the Kiamechi (I know this is misspelled)Trail in OK is still open to atv's. We went last year and camped near the FS Billy Creek Camp and had a great time. Saw our one and only bear ever there.

[David72941]

where is it located in Ok. ?

[etKQ]

OK, from Mena going west on Hwy 8, it turns into Hwy 63 at OK line. When you get to US 259 ( I believe this intersection is called Big Cedar), go south. At the top of mountain there is an Indian Monument called "Three Sticks" I believe. The Kiamichi Trail crosses US 259 here. On the west side of 259 you can get to it from a little town called Muse. The FS campground "Billy Creek" is just north of Muse. You can't ride in this camp but there are other places to camp in the NF. On the east side of 259 the trail travels the ridge for a long way and then goes down into some lower places. We actually rode some FS roads to the north and came out on the OK Scenic 1, took a chance and rode on Hwy 1 about a mile to a fantastic overlook.

Try this website: www.ouachitaatvadventures.com/Trails/Kiamichi

I found this about two years ago online. May still be there. Printed a map and info. I'm pretty sure you can see all this on the Ouachita FS Map also. This is not as pretty as most of Arkansas but it's different.

[SammyBambino]

Oklahoma District is a battle zone atm. Its not looking good over there at this point and when the three rivers was shut down too it didn't help. That state will be tied up in legal battles.

[Arkyrider]

Straight from the FS WEB site:

Where can I ride my All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) or Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV)?

Until Spring 2009, you can ride OHVs anywhere on Ouachita National Forest land in Arkansas that is not signed as closed. In Oklahoma, OHVs are allowed on open forest roads and the forest floor south of Broken Bow (Hwy. 70) and in LeFlore County. Only open forest roads are available for OHV use north of Broken Bow (Hwy. 70). If you have any questions, contact the local ranger district.

[Ronnie]

The K Trail is open. From 3 Sticks going west it is not on forest service land so they have no say so in the matter. Going east it is still open also but they have some of the off shoots of it planned as being closed to unlicensed ATV's. There is another trail scheduled to be open leaving from Billy Creek Campground. It has been a motorcycle only trail in the past but it will be opened up to everything below 63 inches I believe. Some people have ridden this trail and said it is actually pretty good. We will have to wait until the MVUM becomes law before it can be ridden. I know of some who have ridden it not knowing it was motorcyle only.

Ronnie

[TreeTalker]

Oklahoma FS is to busy selling off the timber to worry about letting atv's or OHV use any of "OUR LAND". Kinda like what they are doing to folks in AR now.

As for the Billy Creek trail (INT or CNT as it is called, but that also depends on who you ask), Ronnie is right. It is CLOSED to ATV's as of right now. At least that is what the left hand has told us this week, ask the right hand a week from now and it may be open. Not to long ago a group of us parked at the Billy Creek area and got in about 12 miles before a Ranger was waiting for us on the trail. He was going to give us all a ticket, only thing that saved us was the fact I called his office the week before to confirm the trial was open to ride atv's. He turned out to be a decent guy, gave us the run down of what was going on and let us off with a warning. He wasn't sure when they would open it up to atv's, but soon was all he knew. He said the trail had always been closed to atv's though. Of course no reason was given when I asked how come they had never posted it before this winter. Hell we have camped and rode this trail for years from either the Billy Creek area or the State park on the other end. We even had a Ranger visit with us in our camp area this past fall right as they were starting to put up "NO ATV" signs on the trail. He said that was due to the logging, but if they weren't logging we could ride it. He just asked we call the Ranger station to confirm.

Well long story short, RIDE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK. They are about done logging it now, so of course it will be open again soon. As soon as it's "Legal" to ride again I will post it. I happen to ride around that area a good bit, grew up around there and still have family there.