page_title: Choctaw Country
section_title: Tourism
hierarchical_section_title: Choctaw Country / Tourism
caption_attribution_description: English: Ouachita National Forest, in Oklahoma, as viewed from atop the Standing Stairs Mountains.
context_page_description: Choctaw Country is the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation's official tourism designation for Southeastern Oklahoma. The name was previously Kiamichi Country until changed in honor of the Choctaw Nation headquartered there. The current definition of Choctaw Country includes ten counties, being Coal, Atoka, Bryan, Choctaw, McCurtain, Pushmataha, Le Flore, Latimer, Haskell, and Pittsburg counties. The Department created the term as one of six designated travel regions within the state. However, other definitions of Southeastern Oklahoma may include additional counties.
  The original name of Kiamichi was applied by French explorers who came to the area in the early 18th century. They discovered, among other things, a very large, noisy woodpecker that they called Kiamichi, their word for "raucous bird." This name was also applied to the Kiamichi Mountains, a subset of the Ouachita Mountains.
  Due to an influx of southerners seeking less expensive frontier lands during the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, Choctaw Country developed a culture that is more southern than the rest of the state. This region has also been called "Little Dixie".
context_section_description: Choctaw Country bills itself as the "Deer Capital of the World." Main tourism draws include award-winning scenic drives through the Ouachita Mountains, 13 major lakes, the nearby Chickasaw National Recreation Area, state parks, and whitewater rapids sports. The Talimena Scenic Drive is also an attraction, as travelers pass through the Ouachita National Forest in the Winding Stair Mountains.
caption: A view from Talimena Drive.
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