Great Smoky Mountains, TN

After reviewing my last few blogs, i realized that I have not written much about areas in the central United States. After I heard about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I realized that I had to look into it for backpacking. The first thing that I noticed about the park were the beautiful mountain landscapes and very interesting hiking trails. For people interested in backcountry backpacking, there are over 100 camping locations located throughout the park specifically for those interested in this type of experience. This Map gives a pretty good idea of the locations of the campgrounds and trails between them. One thing to note, there are a few that require reservations up to a month in advance which can be made by calling the Backcountry Reservation Office at (865) 436-1231.

An interesting hike that I found through backpacker.com is a moderate hike (about 9 miles) to rainbow falls and then to the top of Mt. LeConte. Rainbow falls is an 80 ft. waterfall, the tallest in this park, and is named for the rainbows it creates when the sun shines through the mist. The trail sounds like it is of moderate difficulty with a few boulders to climb through, but for the most part it does not seem too hard to navigate. I would definately consider taking this hike up to see one of the highest peaks in this park. I found a video that shows the top of the mountain and the lodge located there.

Rainbow Falls

I think that the Great Smoky Mountains look like a great place to go backpacking in some moderate difficulty mountains. This would be a great hike for someone that is not quite ready to embark up the Rocky Mountains, but would like to experience hiking a mountain. There are many featured trails that I did not even write about, but you can find all the info about them on the national park website. Enjoy!

Appalachian National Scenic Trail, ME to GA

This national park is different because it extends from Maine to Georgia through all the states in between. There are many areas to hike this trail and each of them provide a different feel to backpacking. This link provides access to a great map that shows the trail in detail all the way from Maine to Georgia. This summer I did an internship in Connecticut right near the Appalachian Trail and unfortunatley i did not know how close it came to the area I was living. I would have loved to go and hike around for a day or two and discover what the trail had to offer. A nice thing about the Appalachian trail is that it is free to hike for anybody that is interested. There are fees for camping that vary by the site you choose to set up, and usually the fees are pretty small.

When doing some research on the Appalachian trail, I found out that they have a 2000 mile hike that some serious backpackers participate in. The average hiker that does the trail in one straight shot will take about 6 months to complete the journey. This is something that I would love to do, but I don't think I would be able to fit that into my schedule with work and school. This website gives information about when to start and in which direction to start the travel. There are advantages to starting from the north and from the south, so it really depends on which type of hiker you are. This spectacular feat takes long hours of endurance and perseverance, but it all pays off in the end when you reach the 2000 mile mark. In 2007 only 500 people completed this, so it is a very rare accomplishment, but something that should be congratulated.

The Appalachian Trail provides lots of fun backpacking experiences for the weekend backpacker through the serious 2000 mile backpacker. If anyone has taken a hike down the trail, i would love to hear your experiences. Feel free to comment on this post. Until next time...happy backpacking.

Shawnee State Forest, OH

Chances are, you've probably never heard of the Shawnee State Forest in Ohio. Well, to tell you the truth, neither had I until I started looking for backpacking locations in the mid-west, close to home. The Shawnee Forest is the largest state forest in Ohio, with over 60,000 acres, covering most of the area near the southern tip of OH along the Ohio River. The park has set up plenty of trails and locations for backpackers to camp along the way. The longer trail is 60 miles long and can be quite strenuous at parts. The link to the brochure outlining the features and specifics of the trail can be found here. One nice thing that I have found out about this trail is that it is free for everyone to use. All you need to do is fill out a self registration card when you arrive at the park and carry the card with you while you hike.

The area that is designated for backpacking seems to be very unique. There are no motor vehicles allowed so it is one of the best places to find peace and quiet and get out to see wildlife. I read a blog of a few people that hiked this trail and they seemed to like it very much. It sounds like they did not take the hiking very rigorously, but they were still able to hike a large portion of the trail.

While reading about the park, I found out that there was a large ice storm in 2003 that killed alot of the trees and left damage that is still seen today. Many limbs were knocked down and full trees killed from the large sheets of ice that covered the park. After about a year all of the park was cleaned up to the public, but many of the dead trees had to be logged. According to what I have read, this logging is completed and the park is back in full operation. You can still see some damage to trees if you look closeley, and the forests are a bit thinner in general, but it seems like the ice storm has been taken care of for the most part. This picture shows the damage done to a home in the nearby shawnee township:

I think this would be a great park to visit and go backpacking through for a few days. There are some beautiful hills and colors in this area, especially when it is fall time. Have a great time backpacking out there!

Lets take a break....

We are currently rounding the half way point of my blogs for class so I thought I would take a moment to recap what we've talked about and tell you where I'm going with this blog. I started talking about a few trips that I've gone on and really enjoyed. I then started talking about trips that I've heard about or places that I've been hoping to visit for a long time, and just have never had the chance. I have now been transitioning to a point where I am searching for your favorite places to go backpacking and camping. I have read some other blogs and reviews and will be compiling what I think are some of the best reviews I've read. I will also be looking through the national park website to see their highlighted parks and what they recommend as places for backcountry backpacking.

Thanks for following my blogging so far, and I hope you continue to stay interested as I keep writing about my favorite places to go camping.

-seth

Yellowstone, WY

One of the great trails within Yellowstone National Park is the Black Canyon Trail. This trail comes as a recommendation from my friend Jenna who hiked the trail during the Summer of 2007. She told me that the trail was about 18 miles long and took their group about 2 days to complete. There are plenty of spots along the trail to set up a tent and camp for the night, making it a great weekend experience. The trail starts 5 miles east of Mammoth Hot Springs on the way to Towerr Junction. The trail begins with some meadows and prairies, but eventually hits some rocky difficult terrain.

Along the trail, there is one 15 foot waterfall that supposedly makes quite the roar as you are passing near it. According to the Yellowstone Backpacking Guide, there are some great side hikes around the Yellowstone river that you can take if you would like to venture off the beaten path. Eventually the trail winds up outside the park in Gardiner MT where you can either turn around and head back, or catch a ride back to the trailhead.


There are many other parks in Yellowstone that you should feel free to discover, but this is one that has come to me highly recommended by a friend. I have posted a few pictures to give you an idea of the beauty this trail has to offer.

Glen Caynon, UT

This park is probably the one that has the greatest temperature variance throughout the year. During the winter, Glen Canyon can reach temperatures of -20 all the way up to 110 in the midst of the summer months. This can create some very harsh conditions for backpacking, so there are only a few months in the spring and fall that would be ideal times to visit this national park. This is a very large park with over 1.2 million acres covered in the Utah desert. One of the places of interest within the park are the Orange Cliffs, considered by many to be one of the most scenic areas of the Colorado Plateau region. Information on the Orange Cliffs and the backcountry permits that can be obtained is found on the National Park's Website.

A fun activity to take part in at Glen Canyon is kayaking in the Lake Powell area. This provides a different way of traveling down the canyon and enjoying the beauty that it has to offer. There are few rapids and whitewater portions of the lake/river, so being prepared with safety gear is necessary.

This is one place that I wish to visit some day as a day hike or a short backpacking trip. I don't think I could stay for too long because the climate is a bit unstable. The wide range of activities including, but not limited to, backpacking, hiking, kayaking, fishing, boating, and mountain biking would be very fun to take part in. This park is very interesting and I am excited to hear if any of you have been to this park. Talk to you soon!

Olympic National Park, WA

I think this park takes the cake on the diversity of environments and types of activities to take part in. Olympic National Park is located right in the tip of the northwest corner of the continental United states. Olympic offers beaches and trails along the coastline of the pacific ocean, forests with enormous trees and rushing rivers, and snowy mountain peaks for the adventurous climber. I had never heard about Olympic National park until I began working on this project of finding the top 20 backpacking locations. Based on the wide array of climates and conditions, i figured that it had to make my list.

I was most interested in what the park had to offer backpackers for wilderness hiking and camping, and was very pleased with what I discovered. The back country permit for Olympic National Park is similar to that of the other back country permits I have already discussed. This park is less known than many of the national parks, so permits may be obtained 30 days from your first day hike or less. According to a few websites, it seems like most of the time you will not need to reserve a permit, but I always think it's better to be prepared in this situation so they aren't out when you arrive. Most of the campsites on the wilderness trails can accommodate 1-6 people, but some group sites may hold up to 12. When you place your reservation, you will give the park rangers a rough itinerary of your planned campgrounds so they have a general idea of where to find you in case of an emergency.

Trip planning would be necessary for a trip like this. The website for this park offers some trails and possible campgrounds to use depending on which part of the park you are interested in hiking. This park, along with many in the US, has had issues with bears taking food from campers so they have installed bear wires in many of the campsites to help with hanging food out of reach of a bear. I think this site has some very clever ideas for backpacking and planning trips. I would check out as many sites as possible and read reviews in forums of places like http://www.backpacker.com/ and http://www.backpacking.net/ to feel more comfortable in places like the Olympic National Park Wilderness.

I think Olympic National Park would be a great place to explore the pacific northwest. It offers so many types of climates that It would be hard for me to narrow it down when choosing my route. If anyone has been to this this location, I would love to hear from you and about your experiences.