Graham to Mena via the K Trail

1275 miles Graham to Mena via the K Trail

Jqueen (Justin) on KLR 650. McKinley on a DRZ 400, me on a DR 650SE.

We started planning this trip sometime before the first of the year and after numerous revisions we thought we had a reasonable plan put together. Our main objective was to ride from Graham to the K-Trail and into Mena Arkansas avoiding as much pavement as possible. We had planned to leave Graham Sunday, but after looking at the weather forecast we decide if we could pull out of the drive by noon that we would leave on Saturday to try to beat the rain on the long 1st leg of the trip. So instead of using Saturday as a prep day we did it Friday night after the boys got to Graham from San Antonio and Houston.

Friday 4 – 11 McKinley gets to Graham from San Antonio about 6:30 pm we prep the DRZ. Change oil, dismount rear tire and wait for Justin because he is bringing 2 tires for the DRZ. Justin arrives about 11 pm and we mount 2 tires on the DRZ, and Justin mounts one of my front tires on his KLR. McKinley fabbed up a mount for his phone, and I mounted an android phone Justin had picked up for me. I had changed the oil in the DR earlier that day. We decided to load up the next morning and got to bed about 2:00 am.

Saturday 4 – 12 - Day 1, Pack the bikes and pull out a 9:45 am. Graham to Hugo, Oklahoma cool but pleasant weather. We pulled into Hugo Oklahoma about 6:00 pm after 299 miles. Most of the trip was simple gravel and dirt roads, but there was a little bit of 2-track, and one section with fallen trees, mud, fallen trees, some washed out ditches, a few fallen trees, some bugs, and a couple more fallen trees. We eventually had to turn around because we ran into (of all things!) a fallen tree we couldn't get over.

Prepping the morning of the ride.





1st gas stop Bowie, Texas


Sherman, Texas lunch at Whataburger.


Carpenters Bluff on the Red River



Somewhere in Oklahoma on the only trail/road we absolutely could not get thru. After about an hour and a half we turned around and found a new route.




Sunday 4 – 13 - Day 2, Exploring on the Pushmata logging trails on the way from Hugo to Clayton Oklahoma, to the Clayton Trail to the K Trail to Mena Arkansas. Rain, mist, mud, slick rocks all day. Cut out 1 short section where we did not want to cross fast running creek. There was a light rain almost all day and the trails were extremely slick in places with many long mud puddles to cross. The rocky climbs and descents were long and twisty up the side of the mountains and I dropped my bike more than once. Fortunately I have 2 stout young sons to pick it up for me, as I could not have done it by myself. We left Hugo about 7:30 and pulled into Mena about 6:00 pm. McKinley lost his shifter just as we pulled in to Mena, and we put it back on in the Yamaha dealer's parking lot. 160 miles.

In Hugo, Oklahoma ready to ride out for the day



Harris Creek walk in Turkey hunting area between Hugo and Clayton, Oklahoma. Honobia Creek Wildlife Management Area.



At the end of the Clayton Trail or the beginning of the K-Trail


On the K-Trail






Monday 4 – 14 – Day 3, From Mena we took the Talimena scenic drive through the Ouichita National Forest over to Talihina where we had lunch at Pam's Hateful Hussy Diner. Fog / mist / low clouds so thick you would lose the bike in front of you. The scenic overlooks were just clouds and fog for the most part, but absolutely a nice twisty ride. Then we returned to Mena via dirt roads and found some really nice secluded roads up the mountains, including a couple of passes that rivaled the tougher parts of the K trail. McKinley lost his shifter again on a long rocky uphill, causing me to drop my bike when I leaned over to pick it up. We did find a spare 8mm wrench at the top of the hill though, so we may not be the first group to have shifter problems. 199 miles

In Mena checking GPS and ready to ride out


On the Talimena Scenic Drive


Rich Mountain Tower, Ouichuta National Forest





We turned around on this one. Too deep, too rocky and too cold.


Tuesday 4 – 15 – Day 4, This was the first really nice day, weather wise, to ride so naturally we got a late start because of an oil change due to gas in the oil. Of course we didn't put the oil fill cap on properly, which was discovered due to smoke and lack of rear brake about 10 minutes out of Mena. Then we spent an hour or so finding a plug that fit. Finally leaving for the day around 10, we rode down to Wolf Pen Gap. Trail 1 was the only section open due to the rains so we rode it and then just explored the rest of the day. We found some really nice fast trails through the Caney Creek Wilderness Area and the Ouichita National Forest. We got back to the hotel about 4:30 pm after 170 miles.

Caney Creek Wilderness area Ouichita National Forest — with McKinley Queen and Justin Queen.




Wednesday 4 – 16 – Day 5. Mena, back across the K-Trail and Clayton Trail to Hugo and on to Sherman, Texas. The Trail had dried up pretty well and was much easier. There were still a lot of deep mud holes to cross and the rocks had not gotten any smaller, but nowhere near as bad as when it was muddy. We pulled out of Mena at 7:30 and into Sherman at about 6:00 pm. 267 miles. I didn't get any pictures today.

Thursday 4 – 17 Day 6. Sherman to Graham. We slept in and didn't get up til 6:30. Had a quick breakfast managed to be on the bikes and riding by 7:30. Mostly back roads and dirt til we got just north of Bryson. The large caliche, wind, and dust was wearing on everybody so we caught the highway and slabbed it the last 25 miles on in to the house. We pulled into my drive about 12:30. 180 miles.

The only picture I got today. Hopefully Justin will post some of his pics and observations.


We unloaded, washed the bikes and the boys got busy swapping tires back, while I made sure the wife didn't sell the recliner while I was gone. The boys have to head back Friday so it was a late night getting everything ready.

The wind blew hard almost every day. It rained all day the second day. We had some minor mechanical issues. We had no flats. It was cold everyday usually starting the low 30's. A few getoffs and some minor bruises. We used I-phones and an android using Co-Pilot and OsmAnd for GPS navigation. Justin did most of the leading.

Great ride. Beautiful scenery. Good food. And six days of doing something we all enjoy together.

What a fantastic trip, great photos too.

Nice ride, makes me want to get a smaller DS. Thanks for sharing.

Great report! Thanks for taking us long.

Huge success! Modern day explorers. Did you remove those fallen branches or go over them?

Thanks for the pictures.

SL350 said:

Huge success! Modern day explorers. Did you remove those fallen branches or go over them?

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Little of both- mostly just bulled through them.

My turn:

Day one - Mostly flat dirt roads, but there were some decent sections. Made good time until we got to the section with all the fallen trees. We had to move a few off of the road that we couldn't get around or over, and then we turned around when we got to an actual log (15" diameter at the narrow end). If that log had been the only obstacle, we may have tried to cross it, but that was after an hour of slow going, and we didn't know if we would get through on the other side or if we would have to turn around and cross it again.

More pics of the rough spot on the first day:

Day two - Hugo to Mena - the logging roads between Hugo and Clayton are lots of fun, and if you are in the area, you should go explore. We did see a sign saying they were private logging roads, but instead of do not enter, it said enter at your own risk. Sounds right to me, so on we go!

Hugo to Clayton:





When we got to Clayton, it was only about 10:30, but there was forecast for rain, so we wandered around a bit to see if we could find a likely place to sit and analyze the weather. Nothing jumped out at us, so we decided to press on. It drizzled all day, and when it wasn't drizzling we were riding through the fog/clouds, so we were still getting wet. JQ1.0 went down a couple of times, foreshadowing the intermittent gyro failures his DR650 would have all week. I had forgotten to sing the mighty KLR's praises, so she threw me down once at a mud puddle. JMQ2's DRZ400 was concentrating on loosening the shift lever for later fun, and it forgot to dump him off that day (although it did make him get off and turn around on a hill climb).







Here is a good representation of the fog on this day:

Day 3 - Mena to Talihina on the "scenic" highway and exploring our way back to Mena.

We got out around 10:00 to head over to Pam's Hateful Hussy Diner in Talihina, via the Talimena Scenic Highway. The highway would have been a lot of fun, except it was under 40 degrees, and visibility was really low... We got stuck behind an RV going about 20mph, so we pulled off at a rest area and walked down one of the forest trails for a while. We wasted at least 20 minutes to give the RV a chance to pull ahead of us, since the fog was thick enough that we didn't want to pass. Once we took off again, we caught up to the RV again, which now had it's flashers on, and was going even slower. We picked a time where we had a little better visibility, and we got around as quickly as we could. Shortly after, the sun finally came out and we had good visibility for the last 10 miles or so (and the rest of the day). The one picture I wish I had gotten was a sign that said "Travel restricted in fog and cold conditions". It would have been really good to get a picture of us on our bikes in the fog under that sign, but we had just stopped and I don't think any of us wanted to get off again in the cold and wet just for a picture.




After lunch, we explored our way back to Mena. It is really easy to find absurdly fun dirt roads in this area! We found several that would've classified as a relatively difficult section at Hidden Falls, and some of the climbs last forever! I didn't get a lot of pics of that part though, so you'll have to take my word for it.






Back at the hotel, we decided that the room smelled too nice, and our boots were too wet:

Thanks for the report and photo's guy's

Looks like a great week, thanks for sharing the pics and reports.

Good ride guys. I hope to ride with my son when he gets older. Have thought about the TAT or CDR for High School graduation. This would be a good warm up ride for that.

Did you guys make it into Wolf Pen Gap at all? It''s mostly for ATVs/UTVs, but there are some knarly trails...

dougford said:

Did you guys make it into Wolf Pen Gap at all? It''s mostly for ATVs/UTVs, but there are some knarly trails...

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The guys at the cycle shop told us the Wolf Pen Gap trails were closed due to the rain, and that they might be open late that afternoon or the next day. This was our last day in Mena so we decided to check it out. This was the day of our misadventure with the oil change and the missing filler cap so we got a bit of a late start. There was a sign at the Trailhead that the only trail open was trail 1, so we rode it. It was actually in very good shape and fast, but short. We did go on to find some good trails out in the National forest that were really good, fast and great traction. So yes we did go to Wolf Pen, but no, we didn't get to ride the trails. It was all good though.

JQ1.0 said:

The guys at the cycle shop told us the Wolf Pen Gap trails were closed due to the rain, and that they might be open late that afternoon or the next day. This was our last day in Mena so we decided to check it out. This was the day of our misadventure with the oil change and the missing filler cap so we got a bit of a late start. There was a sign at the Trailhead that the only trail open was trail 1, so we rode it. It was actually in very good shape and fast, but short. We did go on to find some good trails out in the National forest that were really good, fast and great traction. So yes we did go to Wolf Pen, but no, we didn't get to ride the trails. It was all good though.

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Wow...we've been going there since like 2007, and never had them close the trails. I know they were talking about changing when it could used under the National Forest MVUM plan (was going to be from Memorial Day to Labor day and closed if it rained too much), but I thought they reversed that, due in a large part by the efforts Ouchita (spelling?) ATV Club. We were there in March, but there had not been allot of rain.

Trail 1 is basically a county road. Get a little tight in spots (for four-wheeled vehicles--not two-wheelers) Trail 8 has the gnarliest stuff, and parts of it were closed under MVUM. Still fun to ride, but what makes that whole area great is the miles and miles of county road you can ride. Much of it you don't even need to be plated. ATVs/UTVs/unplated dirt bikes are allowed on the county roads. Hopefully that doesn't change, but who knows....

Anyway, I have to put that K-trail on my list....

Hey guys......Sounds like you had a blast...I grew up in Graham but now live near Abilene. I would love to go with on your next trip. Just hit me up when you guys start planning for the next one.

Robbigg44 said:

Hey guys......Sounds like you had a blast...I grew up in Graham but now live near Abilene. I would love to go with on your next trip. Just hit me up when you guys start planning for the next one.

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This trip was pretty limited, as it was a first outing for us. If we do another, we'll probably do a more open invite, but honestly we would probably prefer to haul to the riding area instead of trying to tie together dirt roads to get there.


I'm hoping to do the TAT one week a year, maybe starting next summer....

Finally got a video up - let's see if it will post. Watch to the end for interview and cast of characters.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XrxZVuxi-k"]2014 04 15 Graham to Mena and back - YouTube[/ame]