cranberry wilderness

“can anyone recommend a good weekend loop hike in the cranberry??”

“Park at Three Forks of William's River trailhead. Hike S (TR242-3.5mi) up Little Fork to TR688. Go E on TR688 to TR267 (~1.4mi). Hike down Laurelly (TR267-3.4mi)to TR271 and back to Three Forks trailhead (~3.8mi).

This may sound short (12-13mi) but it is bustass relief for a weekend hike.”

“If you have an extra night...

From TR688 take Birchlog Run (TR250) S to Tumbling Rock Camping Shelter. Then take Tumbling Rock Run (TR214) NW back up to TR688. Head W to Laurally Trail (TR267). This'll add ~8.5 more bustass miles of beautiful scenery.

Although you can't see the forest through the trees...it's still a frickin' beautiful place.”

“thanks buddur....
this really sounds like a great place....my wife and i were hiking at shenandoah last fall and we met a couple there who told us that the cranberry was the hot hike....we will probably try it in the middle of october if i can get away from work for a few days....”

“Oh yeah...

Watch out for the man-eating saber-toothed razor-back land-lubbing blue crayfish wandering aimlessly on the mountainside. Saw 2 of them, out of water and eying up my jugular.

They're there...I swear!”

“i'll be sure to take along an extra canister of crayspray....anything else i should watch out for?”

“Try Dolly Sods, WV if it's nearer to you.”

“i have not been to either place and am really looking forward to visiting both wilderness areas(hopefully this autumn)....”

“For me, cranberry is hours beyond Dolly Sods. I am in MD, I don't know where you are.”

“ohio”

“Compared to other hiking areas in WV, the Cranberry Wilderness is HUGH with many more trails and in a more secluded area.

Dolly Sods and Otter Creek are awesome places...just don't trip over anybody!

Get yourself the Monongahela National Forest Hiking Guide by Allen de Hart and Bruce Sundquist. It's got great topo maps and all the WV hiking info you'll ever need.”

“Monongahela National Forest Hiking Guide

Or check yer local library (or inter-library loan it), and photocopy what you need from it”

“i already have an interlibrary request in for it....i received a huge bundle of literature from a friendly ranger gal at monogahela headquarters....now all i have to do is come up with the proper topo maps....”

“The Hiking Guide has all the adequate maps you'll need...straight from USGS Topo Quads. You'll have to photocopy, cut and tape the page-sections together (of course).”

“cool!!”

“Where are ya in OH?

I'm in Crakron!”

“Cranberry is 320 miles from where I live in the Baltimore area but worth the trip.
Dolly Sods is 200......

My favorite place to start is at the end of FS road 86(?) up the North Fork of the Williams River.

That place is about 25 miles from the USFS visitor center.
Half of the 25 is on the paved Scenic Hwy and the last 12 is an OK FS road that follows the Williams River......almost level.
#86 forks to the left about 2 miles from the end of the line.

From that point I have hiked three different loops of 17, 14, and 18 miles.
One could easily make a larger loop of 25 miles or a "figure-eight".

The afore mentioned starting point is about 2,000 to 2,500 feet and the various loops can take you to a maximum of a little over 4,500.
Its nice to start "low" and roll downhill on your last day.

I haven't got the map in front of me but three trails meet at "my" parking area.....North Fork(of the Williams River), County Line, and, uh, possibly Laurely Fork(?).

The map that the visitor center hands out is adequate, but we usually carry the trail guide too.

When are you goin'?”

“tom t....my wife and i are planning to go mid october....how is the water situation on the trails you mention?

btw, whatever happened to mighty manfred, the wonder dog??”

“Manfred is buried in the back yard under a special rock!

Hey, hey, there is always plenty of water in the Cranberry!

Sandals are a must for creek crossings.

Depending on recent rains some of the trails ARE creeks!

I use a filter-pump now but I still drink from some of the little side creeks now and then.

Cranberry is a nice deep forest experience.
It is significant that the area has been logged ONCE and not touched since.
Some of the hollers contain almost pure stands of yellow poplar that are over 100 feet tall.

I was there Memorial Day weekend with three kids 15, 12, and 10.
We saw a lot of bear sh!t on the high parts of the trail through laurel and spruce thickets.

We covered about 17-18 miles in three days of walking.
Rain motivated us on day 3 to go nearly 10 miles.”

“mr. terrific....it really sounds great....i went ahead and ordered up the monongahela national forest hiking guide by allen de hart and bruce sundquist as recommended by buddur in an earlier posting....this sounds like the kind of place that i am going to want to return to often....”

“gonzo-
I have an extra trail map for the Cranberry Wilderness and Backcountry.
Its not a topo, just a hand-out from the visitor center.
It gives a good out line of the place.

If you like I can mail it to you.
e-mail me at- mowens@towson.edu”

“Slept on it...and the Cranberry Wilderness will be on the itinerary for the weekend+.”

“Hey Distance Dood...you mentioned the Big Beachy trail in the North Fork Mtn (ridge) October trip thread. Because that name sounded familiar, I had to look it up. Anywho...I camped at the bottom of that trail where it ends off onto the Middle Fork trail. What a BEAUTIFUL site to camp.

I started at Three forks, just downstream, but headed south up Little Fork to the Red and Black, east to Birchlog then down to Tumbling Rock shelter area (camp1), east and then up the Tumbling Rock trail back to Red and Black, west to Laurelly and down to Middle Fork, then northwest to the Big Beachy (camp2) the back to the vehicle.

I took a friend who *wasn't in the best shape*, and those hills almost killed him. Of course it rained cats and dogs the first night and drizzled/downpoured the rest of the trip.

I'll be back in the area tommorrow parking somewhere near Little Levels/FR76/WV150, south to 688>272, west to FR76, NE up Tumbling Rock, west on Red and Black and down Laurelly, then east up Middle Fork/271 and back. It'll mostly be in stream valleys, so I hope there's enough water to get my feet wet if it gets too hot. Looks like a long one but I got 3 nights and I'll be by myself (hint hint, if you wanna join on a whim) so it shouldn't be a problem.

Can't wait!!!”

“Buddur, we started at the Middle fork trail. Took this to the big beechy, at the start their is a killer little waterfall. The big beechy is a pretty good climb. 2620ft.to 4440ft, but well worth it. This will run into the District line trail where we camped. Next day picked up the North South trail to the little fork trail. Camped. There is a beautiful spot to camp on the little fork trail. Cant miss it. This took us back to the trailhead with a big stream crossing towards the end. I got soaked. Glad I was near the truck. Wish I could go but tied up then. Enjoy.”

“The keith creek three pic is at the start of the Big Beechy trail.”

“buddur, me and hoi was just packin a few mountains over at the beginning of the week. the water situation was 10x better than i had anticipated.”

“Just got done shopping for food. Wondered how the water sit would be & glad to hear there's an abundance. Rain is predicted for Sat & Sun so now I know there'll be plenty.

btw - nice pics!”

“Hey Buddur, Hope ya had a good trip. Thinkin about takin a buddy up to Cranberry Aug.16th-18th. Did ya do the middle fork trail? I was wandering how bad the stream crossings are. It shows several on the map. Thinkin start at 3 forks-middle fork trail to big beechy to distict line and pick middle fork back up on top of the ridge and back to the trailhead. This is'nt alot of miles but my buddie is not in the best of shape. Can't wait to get him climbin on the big beechy. LOL.”

“Did Buddur do 4 nights in the Wilderness?
Was there off-trail hiking?
Were there lots of bear tracks?
Did he stick to his itinerary?
Was this his first backpacking trip wearing sandals?
Did his feet bleed from them?
Did he even see any other hikers the whole time?

Stay tuned for the next exciting post when Buddur is heard to exclaim...
Daaaammmmmmnnnnn Boooooooyyyyyyy!
Same bat station...same bat channel.”

“The trip was rad. Just got all my GPS crap downloaded. Did just over 38 miles, then a 9+ mile dayhike the last day before heading home.

Started off WV150 > NS-Camp1 > Northfork > sidetrail > FR76 > Tumbling Rock Shelter-Camp2 > up Tumbling Rock/Streambed/offtrail > NS > Little Fork/sidetrail/offtrail/Little Fork-Camp3 > County Line > District Line >Big Beechy/Offtrail >Middle Fork-Camp4 > Middle Fork back to NS to Parking. Got to van about 10am and didn't want to leave yet so did a dayhike prior to leaving area. More later...”