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  1. #1

    Default The Buckeye Trail. What can you tell me?

    I have been trying to plan a thru hike on The Buckeye Trail. It seems it isn't well documented. The trail seems to mostly cut through already established local parks mixed with some road walks. From what I gather its a much different experience than something like the AT or PCT. Never the less still a very fun adventure! Best part is, I am 2 hours from any given point on the trail!

    Maybe someone on here has done it? I am having a hard time figuring out how long it will take. I know there are a lot of variables; personal endurance, terrain, weather... It is 1,440 Miles, If I can manage 20miles a day thats 72 days. I feel like in the paved/groomed trails and road walks I could really bang out some milage.

    Also trying to figure out how resupplies work and how often you come across towns with supplies.


    Thanks Gang!

  2. #2
    AT 11,000 Miler
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    Check out my book about my Buckeye Trail thru hike: https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Blue-...dp/0990354776/

  3. #3
    Registered User lonehiker's Avatar
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    Follow the Blue Blazes: A Guide to Hiking Ohio’s Buckeye Trail Paperback – November 15, 2014
    by Connie Pond (Author), Robert J. Pond (Author), Steven M. Newman (Foreword)

    This book looks like a good option as well. A quick search brought a fair amount of information.
    Lonehiker (MRT '22)

  4. #4
    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
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    Try this site https://www.buckeyetrail.org/overview.php
    Click on the various section links and it tells you how many miles in that particular section are road walks vs off road. Lots of road walks (more than "off road"/trail) from what I can gather.

  5. #5
    Registered User gbolt's Avatar
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    As posted above, Check out Captain Blue’s Book and purchase Guthooks App. Figure 80-100 days depending on zeros and daily mileage. Quicker on the NW corner versus Southeast Ohio, 5-10 mile difference due to elevation and trail maintenance. Captain Blue and others have said Resupply is easy so no shipments. Have to take their word, no personal experience, but Towns and stores look pretty accessible. Water is stated to be easily found as well. I’ve heard 80% is paved/gravel road bike path, but that it isn’t as distasteful as it sounds. Sharing the North Country Trail and American Discovery Trail, has increased its popularity and interest in the BT. The fact that it is a three month and circular Loop, put it in a category or niche separate from other Thru Hiking experiences. Finding camping Spots/Shelters/Hostels is my biggest planning concern. Yet, simply letting go and hiking on Faith is exactly why I am planning to Thru it in 2021. Right now, I believe the number of complete Thru Hikes is between 35-40 people, with a great deal of section hikers. Join the BT Association, as well as searching their Website. I think you posted on their Facebook page which is also fun to follow. Good Luck, planning for the AT was easier, but hopefully the BT will provide!
    "gbolt" on the Trail

    I am Third

    We are here to help one another along life's journey. Keep the Faith!

    YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCik...NPHW7vu3vhRBGA

  6. #6
    Registered User Siestita's Avatar
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    Ohio Hiker -- Because you live within two hours of it, the Buckeye Trail could lend itself especially well to you for day trips, weekends, or slightly longer ventures, taken for example in the Hocking Hills area.

    When he was in his late 60s my southwestern Ohio-based father, who is no longer living, did trail maintenance on part of the Buckeye Trail and he also section hiked all of it. Dad devoted attention to the Buckeye Trail after having become a 2000 miler by completely section hiking the AT over the course of two seasons, during 1986 and 87. Then, while doing the Buckeye Trail he and a friend shuttled together. And during those hikes they sometimes also shared motel rooms. Dad loved to spend nights in the backwoods but he recognized that much of the Buckeye Trail did not lend itself to such camping.

    You've previously expressed interest in thru hiking a major trail such as the AT, but have been constrained by employment and family responsibilities. At one point you expressed interest here in doing Vermont's Long Trail. So, if by chance you now have several weeks, or even better several months, free to take an extended hike, consider doing so somewhere beyond the flat lands of Ohio, my native state. There's nothing wrong with simply sectioning a prime portion of the AT or PCT, or deciding to hike all of a much shorter but no less extraordinary path such the Colorado Trail. And, if trail conditions are particularly tough in an area (ups, downs, rocks, or thin air some places in the west due to altitude) one can still have a good experience, compensating for challenges by slowing down and hiking fewer miles each day.

    Also, much closer to where you live (presumably in central Ohio) the Sheltowee Trace beckons, stretching for 320 miles north-to-south through Kentucky's Daniel Boone Forest and the Tennessee portion of the Big South Fork National Recreation Area. Living in Kentucky, over the years I've section hiked all of the Sheltowee Trace, doing so mostly on weekends. Back country camping is permitted along all but several very short sections of that trail. And, if by chance you've ever visited the Sheltowee Trace's most popular section, at the Red River Gorge and Natural Bridge State Park (popular vacation destinations for Buckeyes and Hoosiers) you've probably noticed how enchanting the Cumberland Plateau region's forests, cliff lines, rock formations, and waterfalls can be.

    I like Scott Ward's fifty-two page "Thru Hiker's Manual" for the Sheltowee Trace. That publication, various maps, and lots of other information can be obtained from the Sheltowee Trace Association.

    https://www.sheltoweetrace.org/
    Last edited by Siestita; 06-28-2020 at 17:05.

  7. #7

    Default

    Wow awesome info @Siestita! I have researched the LT heavily. That actually lead me to the Superior Trail. For some reason lately I've been thinking about the BT. Probably because i am so close to it.

    Yes unfortunately I am bound by "the man" Otherwise known as a blue collar worker. No shame, I love my job at what I do. I just struggle with it because I love the outdoors and hiking better...lol

    I am allowed to take unpaid leave pending managers approval. I thought that if I could make a compelling enough case; how a thru hike would change me for the better, the fire inside me to do so all my life, the "company" could highlight me on their internal webpage and follow my adventure, I think my dreams could become a reality... I don't think they would allow me to leave for 5+ months to do something like the PCT or AT nor would my family be willing to let me go that long, but I feel 3 is do'able.

    Ill look into the Sheltowee Trace! I have been to RRG for a off road trip. Ill look into backpacking around there. Id love to find a 3day+ trip that I can do before I jump to a multi month trip.
    Last edited by OhioHiker; 06-28-2020 at 18:20.

  8. #8
    Registered User soilman's Avatar
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    There is a fellow who posts on the ALDHA facebook page that is currently thru hiking the BT. The other day was day 75 and 1000 miles for him. I live about 10 miles from the BT and have section hiked most of the southern portion. Like others I wonder how one finds campsites along the western and northern sections. Even in the southern parts I have done there are limited campsites.
    More walking, less talking.

  9. #9

    Default

    +2 for the Sheltowee Trace. Except for the RRG section it's highly under utilized. I saw more arches on 2X ST thrus than 3X to Arches NP. Great trail of solitude without overly difficult logistics. Plenty of water too. Two different acceptable southern terminus endings. Personally, I might make my own ending up in BSF. BSF is a GREAT destination in itself!

  10. #10

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    I just returned from my first section of the North Country Trail--Ohio/PA stateline and 39 miles into PA. It is hot out there! The North Country Trail Association website is very helpful and chapters reference other resources (e.g. some chapters have FB pages).

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