Trail Drive-In
1351 Richland Avenue,
Enid,
OK
73703
1351 Richland Avenue,
Enid,
OK
73703
2 people
favorited this theater
The trail Drive-In was opened on June 3, 1950 with Bill Elliott in “The Last Bandit”. In 1955, the Trail Drive-In was operated by Video Independent Theaters Inc. with a 400 car capacity and a single screen. It was closed in 1982.
Contributed by
Chuck
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Recent comments (view all 22 comments)
Lauren Durbin: sorry but you are respectfully incorrect. The Enid Drive In Theatre was located off of Oxford Street across from the Enid fairgrounds and close to North Enid. I remember when the theatre was still open. It had two crescent moons facing each other with faces on them. This one got snuck into all the time because it was close to where people lived. I grew up near this one. The Trail drive inn is the one south of town. It is south of meadowlake park, just east of Van Buren road, behind and close to where the days Inn is located on vanburen. The remains of the screen are there, although the box housing and sign around the back of the screen have been removed. I remember this one better because it stayed open longer..closing in the 1980s. I saw the movies American graffiti and young Frankenstein here back in the early 1970’s with my family.
I grew up in Enid. My parents took me to both drive ins in the 50’s. In the early 60’s while in High School I was at the Trail almost every week end in the summer months and when it was open in the winter. Many wonderful memories. The Trail was a very nice place. The Enid Drive in not always so nice. The Trail was on the sout side and the Enid up in North Enid, area near the Fair Grounds. I only lived a few blocks east and could watch the movie from our back yard. I am now 71 years old and haven’t lived in Enid since 1966 but have many wonderful memories.
Was there a trail there once?
A more accurate address for this theater is 1351 Richland Ave, Enid, OK 73703. This points directly to the entrance road.
Please update.
A news article regarding the possiblity of someone purchasing the old drive in theater and reopen it at https://www.koco.com/article/enid-drive-in-movie-theater-sale-40-years-abandonment/39481248 on March 19,2022
I’m not trying to change the address of the drive in.
I’m pointing out that the old entrance/exit roads connect the drive in to HWY 81, not Richland Ave.
A 1954 and 1981 aerials show that when the drive in was operational, it was not connected to Richland Ave. The access to Richland Ave didn’t show up until a 2008 aerial.
2602 S Van Buren St, Enid, OK puts the Google marker right on the entrance roads. But again, I’m not making the argument that the address should be changed given that the entrance roads have debris and appear not to be usable at this time.
Kenmore is it true there is a 1954 and 1981 aerial of the drive in. If so could you link the photos
The Trail Drive-In opened its gates on June 3, 1950 with “The Last Bandit” along with two unnamed cartoons. A little unique fact is that the opening and intermission music on opening day were reproduced from Columbia microgroove recordings.
A September 2023 Google Street View shows the entrance/exit roads have been cleaned up. The debris has been removed and the trees which lined the roads have been cut down. However, the trees that are between the entrance and exit roads are still standing.
So, something must be happening with the property after all this time.
Yes about a year back a man was working on clearing it out in hopes of reopening, yet I fear he caused more harm then good as he tore out many old remnants of the drive-in just to abandon the plan and it has since been overgrown again