Hiking Ouachita Mountains, Oklahoma, USA
Rich Mountain is a long, bow-shaped mountain stretching approximately 25 miles from Oklahoma into Arkansas. Part of the east-west trending Ouachita Mountains, the true summit of this peak (in Arkansas) is actually the highest point in Ouachita National Forest. Most visitors to the area pass by on the Talimena Scenic Drive, which connects Talihina, OK and Mena, AR. The scenic byway was constructed based on the Blue Ridge Parkway system on the east coast. When driving along the tight curves or stopping at the various turn-outs, it is very easy to believe that you’re a thousand miles east in the mountiains of North Carolina.
A very note-worthy feature of this sub-peak is in the fact that Rich Mountain (OK) is this highest point in Oklahoma outside of the panhandle. Back in the days of the Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory, there was a failed proposal to create a state named Sequoyah in what is today Eastern Oklahoma. If this measure had been successful, this rarely visited area would actually be one of the state highpoints.
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