(click on the picture for a larger version)
Left: view from the state line, looking into Oklahoma
Right: the first assurance sign, fifteen miles down the road, at a little connecting road that takes traffic to US-259. Talimena Drive continues for another 21 miles, ending at US-271.

This is at least the third complete rerouting on OK-1 since the state highway system was created. The current route is clearly, and deliberately, the most scenic.

Talimena Drive is clearly the most beautiful scenic route in the entire state, and is well-deserving of the SH-1 moniker. It is a narrow two-lane road with no emergency lanes for its entire length (the purple part of OK-1 in the map on top), and most importantly, no electrical or phone poles for the entire length of Talimena Drive! A very hilly road with numerous turnoffs for pictures.

Although my trip was in early May, the best time to go down this road is around late-October, when all the leaves are changing color. Without a doubt the most scenic autumn drive this side of the Mississippi.

Western terminus picture taken 24 May 2003. Eastern terminus pictures taken 2 May 2003.