T4R K-trail trip

[KCcarguy]

About 7 of us from here on T4R met up last month to run the infamous Kiamichi Trail AKA "K-Trail" in southeast Oklahoma. It's an old logging/ forestry road that runs along the ridge of the Kiamichi Mountains in Southeast Oklahoma; some very isolated country known for it's beauty and solitude (as well as grow operations, hostile locals, and Bigfoot....all of which are exaggerated, IMO) Our Portion of the trail was about 40 miles long. After camping the night before at Clayton Lake State Park, we hit the trail in the morning and completed it in about 8 hours. It was an awesome trip with some great guys in some beautiful country (for the our part of the US, at least).

We had 4 5th gens along for the ride [MENTION=45399]thebwlife[/MENTION], [MENTION=84479]Petromaniac[/MENTION], [MENTION=89026]JMG73072[/MENTION], and myself. We also had [MENTION=97318]T4R-KCCO[/MENTION] (4th gen) [MENTION=105493]fo' runnin'[/MENTION] (2nd gen) and [MENTION=65827]MasonT4R[/MENTION] (3rd gen). If we only had a 1st gen, LOL.

This trail is amazing and if you live in OK or a neighboring state, it's well worth the drive. We plan on organizing another meet/ trail run next spring, so keep your eyes out.

Here are some pics contributed by all the guys, and a great video from [MENTION=105493]fo' runnin'[/MENTION].

 

[bishop4r]

Looks like a blast! Thanks for sharing

 

[cbielat]

That flat black looks so bad ass

 

[Biggcrisp]

I have a vacation, retirement, bugout property near Mena. Would a stock 4runner traverse the K- trail ok?

 

[KCcarguy]

I have a vacation, retirement, bugout property near Mena. Would a stock 4runner traverse the K- trail ok?

Yes. But I would recommend LT tires.

 

[Dewfang]

Looks like fun!

 

[AZrunner11]

K-Trail 2015

A group of us from TN/GA would love to make that run. Some of us would love to join y'all next year or if you can provide the route details through PM or email would be awesome!

 

[Dogshow4Runner]

nice trip

Would love to do this.

 

[DigableKid]

The video isn't showing up for me. Can you post the link?

 

[KCcarguy]

The video isn't showing up for me. Can you post the link?

Here you go:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ouuSS1ZJdyw&feature=youtu.be

 

[Jhalko]

Looks fun

Here you go:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ouuSS1ZJdyw&feature=youtu.be

Showed this to my kids, asked if they wanted to go do something like that with daddy. My 3yr old said "daddy can you go slower then them so I don't throw up" haha.

 

[KCcarguy]

More pics:


[MENTION=89026]JMG73072[/MENTION] and me on the trail



The group stopped to enjoy a view



The Kiamichi Fire Tower is one of the cooler landmarks along the trail and signals the end of the toughest section (the one we ran) which goes West to East from Clayton Oklahoma and ends at Three Sticks Monument. There were 5 rigs that made it this far. The others got off earlier to avoid severe weather in OKC.



Some of the rougher stuff....a lot of fun!



The second portion of our trip got less rocky and more muddy with lots of overgrowth. Some have dubbed this section "The Jungle".

 

[KCcarguy]

A group of us from TN/GA would love to make that run. Some of us would love to join y'all next year or if you can provide the route details through PM or email would be awesome!

Sure. This place would make or a great yearly meet. The state park is beautiful with lots of open space. There are also other shorter trails in the area. Let me find my google maps file an I'll PM you.

 

[Biggcrisp]

Kiamichi Trail (K-Trail) Adventure: The good, the bad, and the douche-baggery - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

 

[KCcarguy]

Kiamichi Trail (K-Trail) Adventure: The good, the bad, and the douche-baggery - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

That write up has really gotten around the web. It's an isolated incident. I even talked to the Author about it while researching for our trip and he agrees. He has been back since and everything went fine. There are a couple rules to follow:

-"Tread lightly"
-Stay on the main trail everything else is private land
-Be kind and courteous to locals
-Use reasonable speed and understand some people live or have rec. cabins out there
-Travel in a group
-Don't go during deer season
-I personally wouldn't stay overnight on the trail

That being said, the group in the story didn't do anything wrong and just ran into the wrong guys

Creeps can be anywhere. I had a bad experience in New Mexico once, but that won't keep me from going back there either.

 

[Biggcrisp]

That write up has really gotten around the web. It's an isolated incident. I even talked to the Author about it while researching for our trip and he agrees. He has been back since and everything went fine. There are a couple rules to follow:

-"Tread lightly"
-Stay on the main trail everything else is private land
-Be kind and courteous to locals
-Use reasonable speed and understand some people live or have rec. cabins out there
-Travel in a group
-Don't go during deer season
-I personally wouldn't stay overnight on the trail

That being said, the group in the story didn't do anything wrong and just ran into the wrong guys

Creeps can be anywhere. I had a bad experience in New Mexico once, but that won't keep me from going back there either.

I linked for the map links further in lol. This is a very large area to explore and get lost in. The mountains are not hills...they are true mountains.
The Arkansas side is rugged and remote as well. My family enjoys traveling around the paved/gravel wilderness areas on both sides without fear...during daylight hours haha.

 

[Spanky4R]

Nice! Just watched your video & it looks like a good time. Thinking I might try to go in the net month. Are there any maps?

 

[KCcarguy]

Nice! Just watched your video & it looks like a good time. Thinking I might try to go in the net month. Are there any maps?

It's actually on google maps. Look for 9 Pines Road south of Clayton, Turn off on Clayton Trail, which will merge with K-Trial. Just a heads-up, the trail is constantly changing and I've heard it washed out quite a bit since we went. Here's a more recent vid:

 

[CoolMax]

Did the K-Trail this past spring and really enjoyed it.
Camped out at the fire tower.
Just about ALL of my pinstripes are courtesy of the K-Trail.
Would love to do it again - with a pair of loppers!

 

[KCcarguy]

Did the K-Trail this past spring and really enjoyed it.
Camped out at the fire tower.
Just about ALL of my pinstripes are courtesy of the K-Trail.
Would love to do it again - with a pair of loppers!

Meh....pinstripes just separate you from the pretenders! :cheers: I gave up on my paint a long time ago. Ended up removing the Plastidip (more trouble than its worth, IMO) and stopped worrying about it. Any trails in the Oklahoma/ Arkansas area are going to wreak havoc on your paint. But TOTALLY worth it!