Bushcraft at the River

08/29/2026

Take care of your tools.

08/29/2026

What is Bushcraft?

08/26/2026

07/23/2026

07/12/2026

We love to read stories by you about the memories this picture brings back.

Talimena Scenic Byway
Before the famous Talimena Scenic Byway was paved in the late 1960s, its route was a rugged network of truck trails and steep, four-wheel-drive logging paths. These early roads traced the historic paths used by early settlers and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
During the Great Depression, the CCC developed much of the Ouachita National Forest and cut the initial truck trails across the rugged ridges. In the 1950s, long before the highway was constructed, the route was mostly a series of rough dirt roads frequented by local deer hunters and loggers. Local accounts note it was essentially a four-wheel-drive logging road that required rugged vehicles to traverse. The western terminus of the drive links up to the Old Military Road. This trace was originally built in 1832 to connect Fort Towson in the Indian Territory to Fort Smith in Arkansas. Sections of the pre-paved route, such as the area near Horse Thief Springs, were used in the late 1800s as resting camps by horse thieves traveling between Texas and Missouri. The 54-mile paved highway you know today was built specifically for grand scenic views by the Oklahoma and Arkansas Highway Departments. They connected and expanded the old CCC truck trails, finishing the asphalt road in 1969.