Boardstand-Old Military Road Loop

Ouachita National Forest and Talimena State Park (Winding Stair Mountain and Holson Valley, northeast of Talihina)

The Boardstand-Old Military Road Loop circles the west end of Winding Stair Mountain in southeastern Oklahoma, combining two older trails in Holson Valley with the first miles of the Ouachita Trail. Because it’s a loop, it needs no shuttle, and OuachitaMaps calls it the best two-night hike in Oklahoma. Backpacker described it in 2013 as one of the state’s best two-night trips.

OuachitaMaps puts it at 22.1 miles, with seven possible trailheads for shortening or reshaping the trip.

The hike

Backpacker’s route runs counterclockwise from the Holson trailhead, a gravel lot off Holson Valley Road, with a 0.7-mile spur to the loop. It heads west on the Old Military Road Trail through forested ravines, passing a waterfall that runs when water is flowing and a campsite with a fairly reliable water source a short distance southeast. Just past mile 4 the route crosses a dirt forest road and climbs Winding Stair Mountain. At a historical marker for 1830s Army road work, it crosses Talimena Drive and joins the blue-blazed Ouachita Trail near the 0.7-mile spur to the Talimena State Park trailhead.

From there the loop follows the Ouachita Trail east, sharing several miles with the Ouachita Trail from Talimena State Park. Backpacker lists the Frazier Creek site, with room for one tent, rock seating, and a big fire ring, and then a one-tent site overlooking Buffalo Wallow Mountain with no water. The high point comes near Panorama Vista at about mile 11.5, by the Potato Hills spur.

The second half, Backpacker says, has views of the Chancellor Mountains. Past the Bohannon Trail junction is a single-tent site with year-round water in a rock basin about 100 feet downstream. The route crosses Talimena Drive at Deadman Gap at about mile 14.4, turns north on the white-blazed Boardstand Trail, and drops into Holson Valley, reaching a campsite near Redbank Creek at about mile 15.9. It then returns west on the Choctaw Nation Trail (formerly the Indian Nation Trail), crosses Forest Road 6010, and closes the loop near the start.

Compulsive Hiker hiked the loop clockwise from Talimena State Park over New Year’s weekend 2011-12, in four days. The author describes a tough boulder field on the climb up Winding Stair and eroded sections of old road that were hard to follow, and notes that water was plentiful on the lower flat after a wet November.

OuachitaMaps warns that the Oklahoma Ouachitas “can be very hot and very dry,” and mentions copperheads. For another loop on the same mountain, see the Horse Thief Spring loop.

Tips

Cache water on Talimena Drive or at Forest Road 6010 if it’s been dry, as OuachitaMaps and Backpacker suggest.
Treat all water, including ponds and creeks.
Watch the blazes. Blue marks the Ouachita Trail, white the Old Military Road and Boardstand Trails, and yellow the Choctaw Nation Trail, per OuachitaMaps.
Cross Talimena Drive carefully. Backpacker flags the crossing near the historical marker.
Go in spring or fall. OuachitaMaps mentions redbuds and dogwoods in spring and summer heat.
Check burn bans before using a fire ring.

Camping

Most of the loop is in the Ouachita National Forest, where OuachitaMaps says no permit is needed and camping is open. The forest’s occupancy order (OA-ONF-09-2026, through June 2028) limits camping to 30 consecutive days at one spot. Backpacker lists several established sites: one near the start on the Old Military Road Trail, Frazier Creek, the Buffalo Wallow overlook, Panorama Vista (space for several tents and a fire pit with rock and log furnishings), the Bohannon Creek single-tent site, a site near Redbank Creek, and a small, often-dry site near Forest Road 6010. If you start at Talimena State Park, TravelOK says its tent sites must be reserved online.

Inside Intel: Backpacker notes that the Bohannon Creek site, though it fits only one tent, has year-round water in a rock basin about 100 feet downstream. Compulsive Hiker’s group camped on a ridge because it “was pretty flat and already had a fire ring,” then near Redbank Creek, where it was too windy for a fire, and finally at the established Frazier Creek site.

Trail facts

Distance: 22.1 miles (OuachitaMaps); about 22 miles (Compulsive Hiker); 21.7 miles plus spur (Backpacker)
Route type: Loop
Difficulty: Moderate to strenuous
Campsites: Old Military Road site, Frazier Creek, Buffalo Wallow overlook, Panorama Vista, Bohannon Creek, Redbank Creek (about 15.9), small site near FR 6010
Water: Bohannon Creek rock basin, Redbank Creek and ponds, Frazier Creek (seasonal); treat; cache in dry months
Permits: None found for the national forest
Fire danger: Check Ouachita National Forest alerts and county burn bans
Trailheads: Holson trailhead (Holson Valley Road); Talimena State Park (US 271 northeast of Talihina)
Last verified: October 17, 2026

The Lowdown

Supper by Redbank Creek:

The Holson Valley campsite at about mile 15.9 has a creek and a pond nearby, so there's water to rehydrate a real dinner after the long day over Winding Stair. See the meals testers keep coming back to.

See the picks →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.