Brief Ozark Trail TR

[kwpapke]

Just returned from a week of hikin' & hangin' on the Ozark Trail. The first night was a little snowy:

Note that I wasn't expecting the snow, and hadn't pitched my tarp steeply enough...

Had a few nice evenings, here's the sun setting over my HH on the Middle Fork section:


Spent a windy night on Bell Mountain, highest spot in MO I believe. A helluva view from up there:


Overall a great trip with the exception of some minor vandalism to my car. Some good ol' boys decided it would be fun to back up to my new Honda Civic and punch the pedal in the gravel parking lot spraying the side of my car with stones and nicking the paint nicely. Don't these idiots know hikers mean tourist income for the local businesses?

Anyway, I highly recommend the Ozark Trail for hammock campers. Trees everywhere, no designated campsites. Perfect.

--Kurt

[Heber]

I agree about the Ozark Trail. It's awesome. A great place to go hiking and hammocking.

Bell Mountain wilderness is considered one of the best places to hike in the Ozarks. But it's not the highest spot. That's Taum Sauk mountain, about 18 miles away by trail (although actually the trail between them is closed at Johnson Shutins for rebuilding at the moment). I've done Bell several times and also hiked Taum Sauk, the Middle Fork, and Council Bluff Lake, all pretty close to eachother. All of them are nice hammocking areas.

Anyone interested can check out ozarktrail.com. If you click on "Planner" at the top then it will suggest various trail sections to try. You put in the length you want to hike and it returns a list of trail sections ordered by how nice they are.