Mark Twain Ntl Forest 'n' Ozark Ntl Park

Alrighty....

RagsKLR and I just returned from a kick-ass, dirt ridin', twisty-tearing weekend in Missouri and Arkansas...

I was hoping to upload our complete route from the GPS but cant seem to do it...

Instead, Ill include some pics and let you know where to go...

Rags and I trailered our bikes to Cuba, MO...
This is right of Interstate 44 - this is perfect for anyone...

Immediately we hit Hwy 19.
This is a twisty, ballastic & quite beautiful roller-coaster of a road that takes you all the way down to Mammoth Spring, Arkansas...This road is killer and highly recommended...Plenty of dirt roads are accessible from this Hwy 19 and you can easily find trails that lead right back to it...

Here's an example...

Forgive me for skipping around a bit but...

While we were in Arkansas, RagsKLR and I camped off Hwy 14, outside the town of "Fifty-Six"....It had started to really rain and we opted for some more off-roading....

Take "Gunner Road" near the Gunner Pool Recreation Center...This is off Hwy 14, just north of where Hwy 87 and 14 intersect...

These are very nice dirt road with nice inclines and downhills, plenty of big-rock dodging and beautiful rivers and streams to cross...

We camped here and loved it....(approx... N35.9952 W92.2129)

While there are plenty of roads to ride....
there are also plenty of places to stop

Here's another one in Arkansas....
As we were leaving, a local family came roaring up on their ATV's and started to jump off into the river/waterfall....

kick ass

Believe me, RagsKLR and I had plenty of spills....

My GS was so bogged down with gear, that I even dropped her in a restaurant parking lot....Luckily, no one was around to laugh but I did manage to crack yet another front turning signal.....More duct tape solved that problem...

Because of the rain, we ran into plenty of wet, sloppy material that sometimes got the best of us....

I would also recommend camping at Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas....

Its just outside of Oakland, AR, right off Hwy 202...

We stayed at the Ozark Isle Camp Site...

Here's the sunset from our camp site

Or should I say, Budweiser time...

This is another picture right from our camp site at Bull Shoals...

Thats RagsKLR enjoying a well-deserved, cold one...

This is a picture of a local boy who insisted on jumping off a near-by bluff, into the cold, cold water below...

Had it been 20 degrees warmer, I would have joined him

Occassionally, we had to shower, advrider-style....

While in Arkansas...
A great place to start dirt riding is in Ben Hur...

Its right smack in the middle of the Ozark Ntl Park and is off of Hwy 16 (between Hwy 377 and Hwy 123/7) (N35.7302 W92.9734)

From there, head north on the dirt roads....Pick and choose your route as you go, you wont be disappointed....

you pass Ketcherside Mountain (2180 feet) and Daniel Mountain (2188 feet) to name a few....

Along the way, we tore through several rivers and streams...

Most of the time, we could do so without stopping...

This time however, we both had to assist the other as we crossed...

For obvious reasons, getting the KLR across was significantly easier than the GS...

About half way across, I had to get off the GS and we both pushed her across with one working the clutch and the other, the throttle...

It was a site....

The bottom of the river was all big sized, slippery rocks...Not that nice sandy bottom....

Oh well, what doesnt kill you....

Behind me is the now-conquered river.

That about wraps it up...

I apologize for the somewhat sketchy directions but as mentioned in a different thread, there are plenty of roads to ride, most of which kick - ass...

Coming from Chicago, the Ozarks are incredible...

The country air did us some good and we're already planning the next trip..

We are thinking about upper Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota area (near Lake Superior)...anyone else interested?

If anyone has any route questions, feel free to ask...

thanks for sharing!

The shot of the two bikes flopped on their sides is one to cherish.

cool shots. glad to hear 19 is as twisty as it looks on the map. I'm headed up that road to Rolla.

Great pics
but.................
Budweiser

glad you guys had a good ride
thats a fun area , if you enjoyed that you might try the Shawnee national forest in Southern or
check out the route from Tower HIll State Park in Iowa on the Wisconsin river head West along th river bluff, either side ......... picking roads at random...... go West towards Prarie du Chien...... then North wandering between WI 35 and 27 nice country
I thought doctor Tom and the Mad plumber were going to MO?

Outstanding report!

mully

Hey, nuthin' wrong with the King of Beers...

S. Illinois sounds awesome...I think we might be headed up toward Wisconsin pretty soon (Black River Falls or something)...you should go with us...

As far as the mad plumber and the doctor are concerned, they had to bail on this trip....Tom's medical partner who usually covers for him during trips had a family emergency and Tom had to stay home (which meant the same for Bob)

I have to say that camping is way better than staying in hotels (which Tom and Bob prefer) so the trip was just fine without them...

You have to come with us next time...We're thinking Wisconsin in a few weeks, just for the weekend...

I'm off to Tampa next weekend and have to spend some time mending my relationship this weekend following a series of motorcycle trips...I'd be all for Black River Falls in three weeks - we've got to come up with a tag for Duncan with his new (old) 1984XL650 as he will join us...
Rags

BTW - Budwiser truly is the King of Beers

That Ozark Isle Campsite looks awesome...I am putting that area down as a must see on the return leg of a cross country trip I am planning for October...thanks for the great ride report.

You will be happy you did so...it's magical.

Rags

Great idea....I have to say that you should scope out each campsite....When you get the camping area, go to the spots that are to your right (the road comes to a "y" and areas A and B (or something) are to the left, and the money spots being C or D are to the right)...We camped in the second campground on the right side of the "Y"...

Its either "C" or "D"...RagsKLR might remember....

I recommend this because despite the large amount of water surrounding the campground, only limited sites offer water views/access....Most of them are in the woods, away from the water (I know, it doesnt make much sense).

Lemme know if I can clarify this at all....