Gentlemen, there is to be an expedition...

M

Midwest Ninja

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Jun 26, 2007
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With the weather becoming more amiable, I'm sure many of us are preparing to head out to the bush. I myself have not been "out" since this past July :eek: and am crawling out of my freaking SKIN. Now, the vast majority of my camping experience comes from my time in the BSA (Eagle '07), so most camping locations that I know of are not very far removed from civilization-plus I never actually had to find a place to go myself.

Now, this May, I am planning a 3-4 day trip, to as remote a place as I can find within driving distance. (I live in northern Ohio). I would prefer a place with some decent hills or mountains, as well as some fishable lakes and streams. I should also add that this will be a two or three man trip.

My question is this: Where should I go? State is irrelevant really, as long as I can get very "away". Do any of you gents have experience in my part of the country? Do you know of good places to go?

Thanks for your input.:)
 
Go southwest. Try the Hocking Hills area. Best camping and hiking in Ohio in the State Park and adjacent parks. Also the National Forest area down there has primitive camping and is more isolated. You can fish in the park or in Lake Logan.
 
It'd a bit of a drive, but the Hoosier National Forrest has some nice hikes. depending on where exactly you are in Ohio it's probably about a 7 to 8 hour drive. Going the other direction into PA, check out Mcconnel's Mill and Moraine State park. I've been to Mcconnell's Mill for hiking ad rock climbing and white water kayaking but they were all day trips, no camping. It seemed like a nice place. I haven't been to Moraine but it's really close to Mcconnell's Mill and it's quite a bit bigger.
 
I live in s.e. Michigan and have hiked and backpacked all over the eastern part of the Country. Depending upon how far you want to drive - You could go to North Carolina to the Joyce Kilmer wilderness (trails are not maintained which means lack of people once you get away from the trailheads. Slickrock creek trail is excellent). The Porcupine Mountains in the U.P. of Michigan are beautiful but can become somewhat congested starting the end of May through the summer months. If you truly want to "get out there" you could go to Isle Royale. Everyone should do Isle Royale at least once but it is definitely a commitment since it is an island in Lake Superior. The ferry (at least the one I take) leaves from Copper Harbor which is approximately 11 hour drive once you hit the state line. The ferry ride takes approx 4 to 4.5 hours in calm seas and once you are on the Island you are not guaranteed to be picked up on a certain date if weather conditions are bad. The first time I went we had to spend 2 extra days on the island. The bonus is there are Moose and wolves on the island and if you plan it during the week in early or late season you will not see very many people. Also in North Carolina, not too far from Joyce Kilmer is Nantahala and the bartram trail to Cheoah bald. The only problem is that it is part of the A.T. and you may catch some traffic from thru hikers. Dolly sods in W.V. is pretty cool and if you do some research you can usually find areas where there are not a lot of other people (stay away from the northland loop trail and bear rocks if you want to avoid people). The Breaks in Kentucky is a very cool place with huge canyons, 1200-1500 feet, but it is not a very long trail. You could hike it in a day if you wanted - I did it in 2 and just took my time looking around. If you bushwhacked a little you could stretch it to 3 or 4. There are a ton of places, I would suggest going to backpacker.com and navigate your way to the midwest hiking forums. Have fun and good luck. Oh, and I'm deadly serious about this, If you are into the outdoors you need to plan a trip to Isle Royale at least once in your life. My recommendation would be to plan 5 days on the island at the bare minimum, more is always better. I stayed 12 days once. Keep in mind that you need to either plan to arrive in Copper harbor the night before or drive all night to get into town as the ferry leaves. It is also advisable to plan to stay a night on the return trip because the ferry arrives in the late afternoon, almost early evening, when returning to Copper Harbor.
 
Thanks for the input guys! Especially Bwilson! I will definitely account for a trip Isle Royale in the future-spending a week or more is a little more than I feel comfortable doing at this juncture.
 
If your looking for remote and and fishing I would recommend Indian Heaven Wilderness in Washington State. I used to go up there when I was in the Scouts. (Eagle '95) As I recall there were several nice spots to set up base camp. I remember one area that was a mile (IIRC) from the trail head and had three lakes within a very close distance of camp. I don't know how heavely traveled the area is now as I have not been in the Wilderness in over a decade. I have spent some time in the surronding areas but alsways on a mission so I can't give an accurate impression of the human inpact. One other thing; Indian Heaven is infamous for its mosquitoes so take appropriate steps to deal with them.
 
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