Mountain Pass Scenic Byway
Mountain Pass Scenic Byway is a State Scenic Byway in Oklahoma. Within Oklahoma it covers roughly 23 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Mountain Pass Scenic Byway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Oklahoma's Mountain Pass Scenic Byway follows US Highway 259 for 23 miles between the small communities of Page and Octavia. It cuts through the Ouachita Mountains' east-west-trending ridgelines, and like the nearby Mountain Gateway byway, it passes through the 26,445-acre Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation Area, but on a different road and a different stretch of forest, with scenic turnouts overlooking the Black Fork Wilderness to the north and the Robert S. Kerr Arboretum and Nature Center to the south. The Ouachitas here are among the oldest exposed landforms in North America, folded into ridges roughly 300 million years ago, and the drive climbs through dense oak-hickory-pine forest with sharp curves and steep grades typical of the range. Mountain Pass was developed together with the Mountain Gateway and Talimena scenic drives as one of southeastern Oklahoma's original state byways, part of a joint push toward national scenic byway status for the whole Ouachita corridor. Fall color and quiet mountain overlooks, rather than a single landmark, are the draw.
- US Highway 259
- Winding Stair Mountain NRA
- Black Fork Wilderness
- 23 miles
- Robert S. Kerr Arboretum
- Ouachita Mountains
- Page to Octavia
Plan a drive on Mountain Pass Scenic Byway →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along Mountain Pass Scenic Byway
5 campgrounds and RV parks sit within about 5 miles of Mountain Pass Scenic Byway.
Campsite and lodging links are affiliate links — booking through them may earn Road Sorties a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Recreation.gov links are not affiliate links.