Making of the "Oklahoma Adventure Trail"

[Dadayama]

Just throwing this out to be considered... but here is another route from the Salt Plains to Perry

Let me know if the GPX files are working right....

[kiltedcrawford]

Originally Posted by OKlr

.... Did you have any trouble on the couple of water crossings? ...

I didn't notice this yesterday.
Cropear needs to help me with this, because I think my mind is going, but no. It was obviously dry, so it wasn't the best test.
The deepest we crossed was NE of Tahlequah when we were heading up to the Illinois. It was up and over my feet, but it was a low water crossing on a good road and we rolled right through.

I think that, in a normal or wetter year, there would be a few more crossings than indicated, and I'm including designated low water crossings here. I think we only hit 3 or 4 that actually had water in them.

[cropear]

Seems like there was the water crossing that Kilted is talking about. That crossing may have had some major potholes covered by water from the looks of the way the water was flowing. Then after that one there was a larger but better maintained water crossing that maybe had 4 inches of water in it.
There were many potential water crossing down in the SE. That could have been hairy if there would have been any sort of precip within the last year.

This is a photo of one of many type crossings down in the Ouachita area that we ran across. Most of these appeared to be well maintained due to the logging industry i am guessing. With the elevation change you might encounter I could see these running pretty good.
Latitude 34.153667° N
Longitude 94.547667° W

[OKlr]

Originally Posted by Dadayama

Here is an alternate route to be considered... (not scouted), for the western portion. This takes you through the Black Kettle National Grassland, and by a the Washita Battle Field, then heads more directly towards Glass Mountains... from there it goes to the Salt Plains.

wish i was at home so i could check these out. Stuck at work for the moment. BTW i edited the first post of this thread and replaced the outdated .gpx file with the most up to date version.

[kiltedcrawford]

It's up here http://advrider.com/forums/showthrea...3#post20249173

[OKlr]

Great ride report. I have a feeling you guys are going to be the only one's to ride it for 2012. Looks like the weather isn't going to hold out much longer. Thanks for the feedback and cool pictures.

[kiltedcrawford]

I'd love to say that our planning and skill got us through, but we were extremely lucky.
We did knowingly take advantage of the drought; we figured we might as well make a positive out of a negative.
BUT, if it were wet, it wouldn't have happened in a week. If Monday's snow had fallen north and west, as it usually does, it wouldn't have happened in a week either. The first half of the trip was unseasonably warm; if it had been much colder, it probably wouldn't have happened in a week.

I think the drought we're in now is the key to doing this thing in a reasonable amount of time. I don't know what the long term forecast is, but January's normally our driest month, so if you can handle cold, for Oklahoma, it might be worth checking out then.

[OKlr]

Originally Posted by Dadayama

Here is an alternate route to be considered... (not scouted), for the western portion. This takes you through the Black Kettle National Grassland, and by a the Washita Battle Field, then heads more directly towards Glass Mountains... from there it goes to the Salt Plains.

i liked the routing for the most part except out in roger mills county. i worked on that section a bit. I will update the first post with the new master.


EDIT:

Updated first post with new routing on some of the western section. (thanks dadayama) It cuts down some of the mileage and removes the alabaster park, but adds the black kettle national grassland. Also update the SE part of the state to remove some of the highway. Based the SE section route off the current county maps for the area, all should be well grated dirt or gravel with some short pavement in between. Currently i'm looking at ways to improve the section in arkansas. I would like to keep the trail intact up untill the waypoint on this picture, then continue north on gravel or dirt kinda where the red line is.

[cropear]

35.703433,-94.519139.
I like the route currently near the border up to the above Lat and Long.
That way the rider gets to ride through elohim city and take a look at those funky cement sprayed structures and other stuff. Somewhere up there you ride over or next to workmens mountain. which was unique in that the road was just pretty much granite. Like you were riding on a huge monolith that had all the dirt washed off of it.
There is alot to offer up on this side of the state. I would defer my opinion to someone who knows it better. The highway in Arkansas was not really worth it under than a means of transit. I do not remember there even being many amenities along the way (gas, food, lodging).

[OKlr]

i don't guess i'm folowing you......Are you saying we take out the arkansas highway part and leave the rest of the sw section the same as what you rode, or are you saying that as long as it goes by that city you think its ok? And is this the location for the city? 35°38'28"N 94°30'48"W

[cropear]

the coordinates are the nearest transition point north of the city. Transition point being some point of intersection. It seems like this is a point where it appears 5 roads came together, if i remember correctly. I remember stopping to make sure we hit the right road. From your image posted earlier. i am not sure where the re-routed came from. It may be north of the point i am referencing. and north of workman mountain. I was trying to provide reference going north of that point. and keeping south of that point along the route in tact.

[OKlr]

Ok so here is an option for that county. let me know what you think. It cuts back west at the intersection your talking about and heads north. This would get rid of the ark. paved section.

[Dadayama]

Originally Posted by OKlr

Ok so here is an option for that county. let me know what you think. It cuts back west at the intersection your talking about and heads north. This would get rid of the ark. paved section.

I was had just started working on that section...

I think it looks a lot better than the AR paved area!

[airdale7]

Originally Posted by Dadayama

I was had just started working on that section...

I think it looks a lot better than the AR paved area!

A few friends and I live in the area of Cherokee, Sequoyah, and Adair counties. Will be happy to help.

[airdale7]

Originally Posted by OKlr

Ok so here is an option for that county. let me know what you think. It cuts back west at the intersection your talking about and heads north. This would get rid of the ark. paved section.

I try to open this file with google earth. It zooms to a view of Adair County but no lines to follow. Any idea what im doing wrong?