Talihina, Oklahoma: The Iron Road Town at the Start of the Talimena Scenic Drive

Talihina, Oklahoma, is a small mountain town in LeFlore County with a big job: it's the gateway to the Talimena Scenic Drive and the Ouachita National Forest. Fewer than a thousand people live here, tucked between the Kiamichi and Winding Stair Mountains, and most visitors pass straight through on their way up to the ridge.

That's worth fixing. Talihina, Oklahoma, has a story that starts with the Choctaw Nation and a railroad, and its name tells you exactly how it began.

TAKE A SELF-GUIDED TOUR OF THE TALIMENA SCENIC DRIVE:

The Talimena Scenic Drive Self-Guided Driving Tour starts just north of town, at the West End Visitor Information Station where U.S. Highway 271 meets Oklahoma State Highway 1. From there, it follows all 54 miles of the ridge to Mena, Arkansas, with stories that play on their own as you drive.

Along the way you'll learn:

• Why President John F. Kennedy flew into tiny Big Cedar in 1961

• How a state line drawn in the wrong spot cost the Choctaw Nation land for good

• Why a mountaintop hotel named for a teenage queen ended up housing livestock

Without stopping, the drive takes a little over an hour.

Check out the Talimena Scenic Drive Self-Guided Driving Tour here.

HOW TALIHINA GOT ITS NAME:

Talihina was born as a railroad stop. The St. Louis and San Francisco Railway, better known as the Frisco, laid tracks through the Choctaw Nation in 1886 and 1887, and a post office opened at Talihina, Indian Territory, in November 1887. The name comes from Choctaw words for "iron road." The Choctaw Nation explains it as tvli, meaning rock or metal, and hina, meaning road.

The railroad let local families ship cattle, timber, and cotton to markets back east, and the town grew up around the tracks. Talihina claimed 400 people when it incorporated in 1905, two years before Oklahoma became a state. Say it like a local: tah-luh-HEE-nuh.

THE SANATORIUMS ON BUFFALO MOUNTAIN:

Between 1915 and 1921, two large tuberculosis hospitals went up in the foothills of Buffalo Mountain, just northwest of town: the Choctaw-Chickasaw Tuberculosis Sanatorium and the Eastern Oklahoma State Tuberculosis Sanatorium. Tuberculosis is a serious lung disease, and for years, patients were sent to clean mountain air to rest and heal.

The state sanatorium opened in 1921 with room for 50 patients. By 1928, it was caring for 120 people, with another 100 on a waiting list. In 1975, the campus was handed over to Oklahoma's Department of Veterans Affairs and became a veterans center. Health care is still part of Talihina's story—the Choctaw Nation Health Center opened here in 1999.

TALIHINA TODAY:

Downtown Talihina is small and easy to walk, with local boutiques, a coffee house, and an old-fashioned soda fountain on Dallas Street serving burgers and shakes. Music fans may know the name from Talihina Sky, a documentary about the upbringing of the Followill family of Kings of Leon, featuring their family reunions in Talihina.

THINGS TO DO NEAR TALIHINA:

• Talimena State Park—A small park at the entrance to the byway, with RV and tent campsites, picnic areas, and hiking trails.

• The Talimena Scenic Drive—54 miles of ridge-top vistas, starting about seven miles north of town.

• The Ouachita National Recreation Trail—A 223-mile hiking trail that begins at Talimena State Park.

• Honobia—A tiny community south of Talihina, home to what locals call the Bigfoot Festival every fall.

TIPS FOR VISITING:

• Fill up your gas tank in Talihina—there are no gas stations on the Talimena Scenic Drive.

• Come in fall for peak color, usually from the last week of October through the first week of November.

• Watch for fog and ice on the ridge in cold weather, and take the curves slowly.

PLAN YOUR TRIP:

Want the full breakdown—where to eat, where to stay, and how to plan a one- or two-day trip along the ridge? Our Talimena Scenic Drive travel guide covers it all.

Check out the Talimena Scenic Drive, Oklahoma & Arkansas Travel Guide here.