knobstone trail

“looking for groups that like to hike this trail. I usually hike alone but also like to have company. this is my favorite trail in Indiana. I've never hiked the whole 56 miles at once but i've hiked every part at one time or another.”

“There is a bunch of us from the great hoosier state here that have hiked this sucker. I have heard a lot about this trail, but have not had an opportunity yet to hike any portion of it.

There is a hike on the Adena trail in 2 weeks. You should come out for it and meet a few of us fellow hoosiers.”

“knobstone trail sparks my curiosity from time to time, but it's pretty far away. Does anyone have any pics from this trail? What kind of scenery can one expect to see along the way? Are there good steep climbs? How high is the elevation? Waterfalls?”

“I have not hiked it personally, but have done some reading about it, and am considering hiking it (or part of it) this year. My understanding is that it's mostly a ridgeline hike. Haven't seen any pics, so I dunno about potential views. Waterfalls are unlikely, as I hear that water sources can be scarce at certain times of the year.

Elevation won't be huge. Indiana's highest point isn't much more than 1,000ft, and this trail goes nowhere near that point. It probably stays less than 1,000ft most of the way. However, the terrain is fairly hilly so there could be some appreciable gain.”

“although elevations gains are small compared to some of the mountains in the smokys and ozarks. I found parts of this trail were steeper than any trail i have been on, including appalachian trail, in the fall with wet leaves on the ground there were times i didn't think i was get to the top of some of the knobs. It is a beautiful place, usually never see another soul out there.”

“I have hiked the whole trail and I might have to say it is the most physically challenging trail in the midwest that I have been on.

Gforce was on one of the trips and tracked gain/loss with his awesome altimeter watch thingy. I think he mentioned something about not having being on a section of the AT that had as much elevation change in a similar distance.”

“I hiked the southern half of it a few years ago in the spring with Prosecutor. I would hike it again. Lots of hills. Some are very steep. Alot of time it seemed just as we made it to the top of a hill we'd be going down again just to climb another butt kicker. We never saw another human being during our trip.”

“ya, some of it is silly steep.”

“Isn't this trail at some point supposed to be extended to over 120 miles?”

“There was once a plan to connect the Knobstone with the Tecumseh(sp). This would have made the trail system somewhere in the 120 range.
Not sure why the plan was delayed or maybe scrapped.”

“I've hiked it. The entire thing. All in one shot actually, took us around 28 hours if I remember right.

It's a great trail and yea, it gets steep. Not a lot of elevation gain, but you gain that elevation in a hurry in some places.

I think they scrapped the connection because they ran out of money. It kept getting used on other projects and there just wasn't a large enough demand for it.”

“it's not totally dead yet, they're still planing on finishing...there's some good info here

http://www.hoosierhikerscouncil.org/Trail_Work/Knobstone.shtml”

“other than being hilly, is this an interesting trail or just a convenient backpacking-fix?”

“depends on what you think is interesting, there are campgrounds and lakes at both the north and south ends, a lake at Elk Creek which is about the half way point. Most of the trail runs through various kinds of dense forest. It has been a backpacking fix for me for about 15 years, just 3 hours south from where I live in Indiana. hey deathmarch99, how old were you when you did the whole trail in 28 hours and did you have a pack on.I read in Backpacker Mag. where some Purdue student ran the entire trail in some unbelievable amount time. I'm in good shape but if i tried that it would probably kill me.”

“Plan a trip and I'll do my best to go. I haven't been to the Knob in ages!”

“I am heading to the knobstone trail in 2 weeks ( 19th through the 25th ) hope to do all 46 miles ( leaving out the alternate )

Doing it again in June with a small group. Our little group have rules...the hardest is....Our pack can weigh no more 5 lbs. believe me, it is a challenge...
Jerry”

“5 pound packs? i'm carrying almost 5 pounds of water if i just filled up.”

“5 pound pack? I guess you guys will be hiking in the nude.”

“I am going to plan a 3 day (fri to sun) in april sometime. Getting away from both my jobs for a few days. i am new to this website, not much of a computer guy, but this is really great. I will post a trip here in the next few days, looking forward to meeting people that enjoy this as much as i do. In the last 15 years only two people have followed me into the woods, my brother and his buddy. Everyone else thinks i'm insane for spending days out in the middle of nowhere.”

“Hey jerryhikes, post your gear list for that 5lb challenge.”

“trip now posted for April 7th, 8th and 9th. Hope to get a few interested hikers. Details on posted trip”

“Welcome to Trail Talk nomad. That sounds like a good trip. I've been wanting to do the Knobstone. I'd love to join you but I think I'll be in TN that weekend.”

“I carried less then 10 lbs. Just a small day pack with a 3qt camel pack, some food, rain gear and a jacket. We did have someone that drove to specific road crossings for resupply.

I did it in 2000, so 6 years ago. I was 18 at the time. That group they wrote about defineatly wasn't us.”

“Unless you've been there I don't think a person could appreciate how difficult that must have been. Very impressive regardless of age. My hat goes off to ya.”

“it was hard as hell. Those last 5 miles were the longest I've ever walked. We ended up stopping at 18 hours and taking a nap because we realized we were not going to beat the current 23:30 record. That ended up helping a lot, even though none of us had sleeping gear, so we just put on our rain gear and slept on the ground.”