A few friends and I are coming from MS to the Sipsey Wilderness for Memorial Day Weekend. I've never been but a few of them went a few years ago and hiked 201-209-202, so we'll want to do something different than that.
Any recommendations for a good trip for a group of guys?
What areas are likely to be crowded on the holiday weekend that we should avoid?
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It depends on the miles you want to hike. I my opinion the pretties trails in the Sipsey Wilderness are 200, eastern part of 209 where Fall Creek Falls is/are located, 206 from Thompson Trail Head and mostly the area around Eye of the Needle and Ship Rock, and 204a where the big tree is. The issue with the Sipsey this time of year is some over growth on some trails. Let us know what kind of mileage and how many days you want to hike and we can recommend some loops. The Sipsey is at it's best in late fall, winter, and early spring.
Thanks. We are looking to arrive Friday night an hour or so before sunset and camp near a trailhead somewhere. Then Saturday hike in, camp and head home Sunday morning. I suspect they'll want to take it easy, so probably not going to do a lot of miles. 10 total max I bet, knowing this group.
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I would highly recommend going to the Sipsey River Trail Head and hike up trail 200 for roughly 1/2 a mile, then cross Borden Creek to 209. Hike another 3/4 mile to Fall Creek Falls. There's a really big camp ground on top of the falls that can easily hang several hammocks. The creek feeding the falls is an excellent place for water as well. Getting to the top is a bit of work but if you look just past the "indented hollow" just prior to the falls you will see a rock where people have slid down. Scramble up this rock and it's and easy walk into the back of the camp ground above the falls. Keep an eye on the weather as the Borden creek can rise very quickly. It's typically about 1-2 feet deep at the 200-209 crossing. After a rain it can rise very quickly so always be prepared for this if it rains as you may have to make alternative plans. Most all the trails in the Sipsey have some type of creek crossings. Day2 - make your way back to trail 200 and head north. There are a couple of pretty water falls on this trail as well. It's approximately 5 miles up to the bridge that crosses the Borden. There are a couple of camp sites in this area as well. Will you have more than one car if so this opens up other options as well.Originally Posted by tlfillingim
Man. That's awesome insight into a place I know nothing about. Thanks!
It's possible that we'll have 2 cars. I'm not sure if we'll have 5 or 6 people going at this point and we haven't settled on a departure time yet. We can have 2 cars if that helps us.
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my first backpacking trip was in the sipsey and this is the loop we did: park at borden creek trail head and did the 200, 209, 204 and 224 back to borden creek trail head. it's roughly 15.22 miles of trail (not counting wondering around) we started down 200 and hiked all the way and camped on top of fall creek falls the first day (we got there at 11am though), but there is some good spots to camp on 200 also. the went to 204 and up 204 (the official 204) and made camp there on Saturday night. if you do this route make sure to fill up your water before heading up 204 because there is not much water there on out besides take the unofficial 204 do to the creek that runs to the waterfall by the big tree. the last trail is 224 and it is boring, my least favorite trail I've been on so far.
another loop would be go to Thompson trail head and do this loop: 206 to 209 to 204a (takes you to the big tree) (finding where 204a goes up to meet the official 204 is a little tricky but it's on the right as you are walking towards the big tree) to 204 to 224 to 208 back to Thompson trailhead. this is somewhere between 12 and 13 miles. now if there is 2 cars I can give you a good route from Thompson to borden
There's magic in the woods,
if you know where to look for it.-Pete's Dragon
Whatcha got? Looks like we probably will have 2 cars.
Park one car at Thompson trail head and take 206 - 209 - 200 with a second car at Sispey River trail head with a detour to the big tree/water fall up 204A and back is a good weekend trip. Trail 209 can be boring in spots and trail 204A up to the big tree has a lot of blow downs. Nothing impossible but a bit of work from time to time especially if you are tired. This route includes a lot of the more scenic parts of the Sipsey. The horse trails can be used to make loops but they get boring very quickly and hot if it's humid.
I appreciate it, man. This really helps. I'll see what my group is up for.
Two more questions:
1. How far up 204 from 209 is the Big Tree?
2. I see mentions in the forum and elsewhere of the Brairtech map of the wilderness and found it on the Maplets app but nowhere else. Is there somewhere I can find it online (free or pay) so I can print it out?
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