Hello fellow UL'ers - I had planned on sectioning the AT in NC, but obviously that cannot happen with the current circumstances after Hurricane Helene. I've been doing some research to try and stay away from North Carolina & Virginia, and I wanted see if anyone had a great hike suggestion - below are the thoughts I had to try to stay in the Southeast. Any suggestions or recommendations on which one I should go with or other ideas?

Big South Fork - 55 mile loop

Foothills Trail - 77 miles

Sheltowee Trace (Section Hike)

Red River Gorge (set up a base camp and do hiking excursions from there)

Benton Mackaye (section hike)

Pinhoti Trail (section hike)

Cohutta Wilderness (make up a loop hike)

Well fellow r/ulsoutheast redditors, we successfully made it through another summer without planning any kind of meet-up backpacking trip! (just some r/ultralight_jerk humor. I'll stop now)

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Is anyone interested in planning a trip to Arkansas in November?

I am specifically thinking about the weekend prior to Thanksgiving and thinking about combining the Eagle Rock Loop trail with the trails to the immediate west (i.e. Viles Branch, Caney Creek, Buckeye) to make a 2 night 40-50 mile loop.

None of this is set in stone, just a jumping-off point.

Let me know if you're interested.

Hello fellow Southeasterners! I'm trying to plan a 2-3 night trip in Nantahala or Pisgah NF (or nearby), and was curious if y'all knew of any good loop options? We like loops, but a killer point to point would be in consideration also (We've done Art Loeb :). Standing Indian Loop is definitely on my list, but my hiking buddy has already done most of that loop, so any further ideas would be welcome.

We would probably like to keep mileage on the lower side, maybe 7-12 miles per day, depending on campsites, etc.

I’m headed out to the ERL this weekend. Weather looks great and water levels are comfortable. Anyone else going to be out there?

And/or if anyone is looking for a hiking partner, you’re welcome to come meet up. Gimme a shout.

I’m looking to start early Saturday and finish after lunch Sunday.

Hi Southeast friends. I’m shamelessly crossposting a meetup from r/ULTexas in case anyone here wants to come along. Original link is here. I hope my format below meets the requirements here. If not, nuke this bad boy into orbit and I’ll try again. Thanks!

What: Eagle Rock Loop in 2 nights/3 days (half days at the beginning and end). 27 miles, 3,900’ gain.

Where: Ouachita National Forest

When: Dec 27-Dec 29

Itinerary: Drive to the Little Missouri Falls trailhead on the 27th, half day of hiking, find a campsite, full day of hiking, find a campsite, half day of hiking and drive out on the 29th. I will be coming from Houston and am happy to carpool with anyone who is on the route (basically east Texas) or who is heading through Houston on the way.

Weather: tough to tell now. Average lows are in the low/mid 30s and average highs are in the high 40s/low 50s. Not exactly typical Texas temps, but it’s a refreshing change.

Water: There’s plenty of water on the trail. We will be watching the river gauge to make sure there isn’t too much for all the fording that needs to happen.

Other: the last time I did this, in early 2020 in blissful ignorance of what awaited us later in the year, we had a huge group and needed a giant campsite. This will probably be smaller, but don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re at all interested. This trip is originally the brainchild of u/baterista_. There are innumerable trip reports on Reddit (search one, search two) if you want more information and photos.

If you’re interested in the above, please comment below and send a PM. Thanks!

Anybody want to do a 2 or 3 day loop at Citrus WMA? Map is below

https://suncoast.floridatrail.org/web/images/Citrus/citrusmap2016.pdf

I’ve done the entire outer loop over three days and a few shorter overnighters at Citrus. It’s a dry nice pine forest with a few reliable water spots.

I haven’t organized anything like this before but would like to meet some other backpackers in the area.

So I'm in Knoxville and my family and I have been knocking out our GSMNP backpacking trips in a SLOW grind toward the 900 club. That said we recently got a dog which puts a damper on backpacking in the park. Any areas you all recommend for backpacking with dogs? Thanks in advance for any info!

What: Simple meetup to hangout and enjoy the last of the cool weather. I might have a short hike and a long hike option and we can all camp in the same area. Thinking about a 10 mile hike. The Cheaha Area has lots of possible loops More about the hike later, I want to see who all is coming and how comfortable everyone is with the distance. Please let me know if your good with 10 miles.

Where: Somewhere around Mt Cheaha in Alabama. I'd like to camp around the Little Caney Head which is at the Chinnabee Silent Trail and Pinhoti intersection. (Or at a camp area south this intersection, you never know when the boy scouts will show up) But I'm open to change that

When: Saturday May 22nd 8am - As of right now (this could change) at the Chinnabee Silent Trail Parking Lot on Hwy 281. I'll be getting to the area late Friday and setup camp somewhere close.

Weather: Projected to be Hi 80 and a low 60. It might be the last of the cool nights

Additional Details: I just like hiking in the Cheaha area and I think it would be fun to do a meetup. I want to get a good hike in but not "pushing the miles" for the day. Hopefully give us some time to hang out and talk about gear and stuff.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP by visiting the r/ULSouthEast teamup calendar here:

https://teamup.com/event/show/id/rCbFsbPDhLe8dJmw3ixMcCGZZPuZ8M

What: 5-day, 85-mile Section Hike on the Appalachian Trail from Erwin, TN to Hampton, TN. Looking at the shelters, we'll probably be doing between 17-22 miles per day depending on the shelter spacing. I'm an experienced hiker in good shape and have done this kind of mileage before.

Where: Every year I do at least one 50-100 mile section hike on the Appalachian Trail and pick up where I left off the year before. This year I will be picking back up in Erwin, TN (mile 342.1) and ending in Hampton, TN (mile 426.8).

When: I am flexible on when we start the trip. The only thing I want to do is straddle the weekend on May 29th so that I only have to take 3 days of vacation from work. That means that our first day on the trail could be May 26, 27. 28, or 29.

Weather: www.atweather.org

Additional Details: I've had success posting here in the past (shout out to /u/obi-one and /u/sansmountains who've joined me in the past and can verify that I'm not a serial killer!)

If you plan to attend, please send me a DM (or comment below) and RSVP by visiting the r/ULSouthEast teamup calendar here: https://teamup.com/ks4cxraz8xv6nz4obo

I'm not affiliated with this podcast in any way, but I wanted to share it here since there aren't that many Southeast-specific hiking/backpacking resources out there. The podcast is still pretty young, but I think Joe Miller has done a nice job so far. The focus on less popular trails and alternatives to the well-known areas is especially nice. It's available on Spotify and all the usual sources.

https://getgoingnc.com/2020/07/gethiking-southeast-podcast/

Hi fellow SE hikers! Floridian here. Temps are rising locally, so backpacking season here will be ending soon. So I'm looking for other places in our region I can drive to and spend a few days (no flights or hotels). Around home I prefer going to places like Croom, Citrus, Richloam, Ocala, etc. that:

• Don't require permits
• No reservations
• The trails are loops

Can anyone recommend places you know of in the region that have any of those features? (Also open to recommendations of other trails that don't have any of those features) I'd be looking for something around 20-70 miles.

So far from my research I've found Pine Mountain Trail in Georgia, Pin-Chin-Sky Loop in Alabama, and Standing Indian/Linville Gorge Wilderness Loops in NC.

I've been wanting to get out and explore the Bartram Trail, and also wanted to make some friends in the UL community (my other backpacking friends are, shall we say, SLOW, and more interested in the sitting around in camp rather than the hiking). Anyone interested in a 3-4 day section hike on the BT in April?

I'm looking at tackling the GA section (~37 mi +/-), but I can be convinced to reroute.

If it matters, I'm 35, male, dad of 2, and I like long walks in the woods.

Hi, everyone. A friend and I are planning to scoot around the ERL in Arkansas on Feb 14th. We’re likely going to finish most of the loop day 1 and just have a few miles out for day 2.

If anyone is going to be around, extra legs are welcome. It’d be great to catch up with some of the SE UL group.

Tentatively planning to hop on trail at Little MO falls trailhead early Sunday morning. I’m open to starting anywhere, though.

Also looking at the BRT in NW Arkansas as a backup plan if the water levels are high.

I've been interested in hiking the Bartram trail, and have seen a few decent write ups and YT videos on it, but I'm having trouble finding good maps and trail info on the internet. Am I missing something obvious? Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks!

I am trying to find a sewer local to NC that is experienced in tent repairs, sewing UL fabrics, etc...thanks in advance for the help.

I'm curious if anybody has a .gpx file with marked water sources and camping I can import into Gaia of the fires creek rim trail. I'm having a hard time find anything online. Per Alltrails it appears someone has been doing trail maintenance on the rim trail so I feel like now is the time to give it a run.

Trying to plan a 1-2 night backpacking trip for next weekend. The Foothills Trail in SC was our plan and it could either be really cold or really pleasant and the person I'm planning for would like to do something warm, if it's an option. We live in WNC and are willing to drive up to 10 hours but closer is better.

Nothing swampy or really boring but anything else on the table (ie beaches, foothills, interesting forests or waterways). Beach backpacking would be cool if that exists anywhere close by...

Somewhere in Georgia, northern Florida, or the SC coast comes to mind. Ocala NF on the Florida Trail were two search results that popped up. I was thinking the Palmetto Trail near the coast but looks like a lot of things are closed. Would love your genius suggestions if you have any!

Hey y’all:

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

My daughters are ready for their first backpacking trip, but my wife (an AT thruhiker) says an AT-style privy/outhouse is required for right now. They’ve car camped a ton with access to some sort of toilet.

This trip will have a lot of firsts (like drinking filtered water from a creek/spring) so the cathole/trowel trip will be in the future.

It’s quickly getting colder in the mountains so I was looking for some lower elevation options in particular.

Any backpacking privies that y’all know of?

Thanks in advance!!

As a Charleston, SC local, I have been kind of frustrated that all of the trails I know of within a reasonable driving distance are pretty much all the same green tunnel brand of generic repetition. I will have time in December and January to do plenty of backpacking and I am looking for trails that are different. I do not know of I will have the means to travel out West. So is there anything here in the southeast that approximates a different kind of trail experience?

Thanks ahead of time for any recommendations!

I've been planning to do this trip Thursday-Sunday this week and thought I'd see if anyone wants to tag along. I'm in my early 40s and generally put in 15-20 mile (slow) days. Super chill and sick of going on solo trips.

This segment is 64-ish miles, and I believe the final day (Sunday) has to be 17 miles, so probably a shorter day Thursday with longer days on Friday and Saturday.

I could also probably change the trip to Friday-Monday if necessary.

Thinking of doing the ERL, but worried about all the rain. I think the river might be too high. Anyone have any alternatives in Outichita, preferably one where I wouldn't have to worry about river crossings. Planning to go from Saturday AM through Monday afternoon.

Date: December TBD

Finish time: ~20 days (15-20 miles days)

Length: ~330 miles

NOBO or SOBO

I’m quitting my job to move to Oregon in December so I wanted to thru my home state trail before I leave.

I thru hiked the AT in 2018 SOBO and have done countless section hikes of the Pinhoti in Alabama, completing the AL section in February 2020.

I’m a healthcare worker so I take covid very seriously. Looking to my fiancé and aunt, who has a sprinter camper van, to resupply so as to mitigate risk but not opposed to regular but masked grocery stops if necessary. Willing to take covid test prior to departure.

Definitely going solo if I can’t find a partner. 420 friendly. Cishet but open to all walks of life.

I feel like this is a tinder post or some dating shit lol

HMU for more details or questions. Thanks!

Edit: could definitely go faster than 20 days if wanted. Want to be finished at least five days before Christmas.

I want to be mindful of COVID and minimize interaction with strangers and all of that, but I am new to this area so I want to find some hiking buddies. I am doing Linville Gorge this weekend, and am planning on doing the Virginia triple crown as well as the Art Loeb in the near future. Open to any other trails as well. I hike pretty quickly with pretty minimal pack, so hopefully you are someone who doesn't mind doing ~15 miles or more a day.

Let me know if you are interested in heading out there some time!

Planning to head to Shining Rock Wilderness for a 2-3 night trip on Tuesday next week, maybe Wednesday... anyone is welcome to join. Have an “aggressive” 60 mile loop planned with roughly 20 mile days but I’m open to whatever.

Hey all, looking for some recommendations. Family of five (kids 11, 9, 7) who have been backpacking quite a bit the last two summers. We’re just outside GSMNP and are slowly working our way toward that 900 club membership so I typically just cobble together two and three nighters but thought I’d ask about some favorite loops or out and back trips. We do best when we keep mileage to 5-7 a day. Any two and three night trips in GSMNP that are favorites? Open to good trips outside the park too. Thanks in advance.