Mapping the Sheltowee

rootman · Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:37 pm Post subject: Advice on Northern Terminus

We are planning to do the northern section up from Cave Run Lake in November. Will do it in a series of day hikes. Would like to leave a vehicle at Dry Branch Road on the day we hike from there to the N. Terminus. Is this private property or is there room along the road to leave a car? Also, do you have any thoughts on leaving a vehicle at Forest Service Road 977 (miles 258 to 266 in Molloy's book)? Molloy's guide indicates the trail is on this "road" for several miles. Is it too rough for a road vehicle (Honda Element)? Our plan is to take two cars and do our own shuttling. After we finish this part of our quest to section-hike the trail we'll still have over 100 miles to go to finish the ST! Slow and steady wins the race! We plan to carry some tools and do some trail maintenance along the way if time permits. Thanks for your help and for this great discussion area.

jbd · Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:58 pm Post subject:

The property at Dry Branch is indeed private, however, the owner is a friend of the trail and you can park off the road, at the edge of the field near the pinic pavillion he has built there. I believe it is called Clark Park. Just stay at the edge of the field and close to the creek.

The FS road is easily driveable with a car until you come to the gate that blocks the road for quite a way. The road is a fairly well maintained gravel surface.

Cave Run Lake dam to the Triplett Creek bridge is a nice hike. The area around the brdge is overgrown again. I have it on my list to clean up in the fairly near future. Morehead to Holly Fork road is a lot of steep up and down. That section really kicked my butt last year.

Traildust · Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 7:06 pm Post subject:

Just to add to Jim's thoughts. You can park in the field just pull off and maybe put a note in the window in case Mr. Clark checks which he probably won't. You can hike the Dry Branch to NT in one day. We were out today do more maintenance on this section. Do not carry any tools on this section you will not need them. You will need some maybe on the Holly Fork section since we may not get to this area. It is passable but may need a little hacking. If you have trouble you can contact Jeremy and Megan Boone, they live about a mile up Dry Branch east and are trail angels. You could even park your car there if you are worried.

rootman · Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 11:50 am Post subject: Northern Terminus

Thanks for the input. We might end up doing just the top 20 miles due to time constraints. Your info will be really helpful.

jaboone · Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 6:43 pm Post subject:

Your car will probably be fine at the trail crossing on Dry Branch but if you have any doubt you may park at my house 1/2 mile up the road from the trail crossing. If I am around I can give you a shuttle ride up to the northern terminus or somewhere south of Dry Branch if needed. Let me know when you are coming if you are interested.

rootman · Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:32 pm Post subject: Northern Terminus

Thanks for your very generous shuttle offer. We were trying to figure out a way to take just one car, perhaps by asking our motel to shuttle us. We're still waiting on my friend's November work schedule to come out so we'll know exactly when we will be there. We'll certainly send you a message if we need help. Should know within the next couple of weeks.

hillclimber · cub Joined: 22 Oct 2010 Posts: 1 Location: Cincinnati

I am looking at doing the section from Cave Run Lake to the Northern Terminus. We'll have two cars to drop (one at each location). A few questions for anyone that has answers.

1. Are there availabe parking locations at both points on the trail?
2. What is the mileage from Cave Run Lake to the Northern Terminus?
3. Where can I find maps of the northern half of the trail? I am in Cincinnat, OH.

Five of us plan to hike the entire trail over multiple trips/weekends, and we're all looking forward to our first ST adventure!

Traildust · Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 5:40 pm Post subject:

Welcome to the conversation.

There is parking at Cave Run depending on where you want to start. Best place to park is at the Ranger Station if you want to start north of the dam. You can walk across the road from the parking lot and right onto the Sheltowee Trace.

There is plenty of parking at Northern Terminus. If you are going to leave the car there for 2 or 3 days, I might suggest you contact Jeremy Boone 606-783-9864 or jaboonexyz@netscape.net. He lives about 10 miles from NT and will let you secure your car at his home. He lives 1/2 mile up Dry Branch road from the Sheltowee Trace and you can arrange with him to be picked up at NT and get back to your car. Depends on your hike schedule.

Order a North map of the Daniel Boone NF from the Forest Service in Winchester. You can do it online. http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/boone/maps/#maps

Drive from Cave Run to NT is about 35 miles.

If the STA can help you in anyway during your planning and the actual hike, please let me know.

jbd · Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 4:38 pm Post subject:

Adding to the comments by Traildust. There is parking at the Stoney cove trailhead on the south side of the dam also. From the south side of the dam to the northern terminus is a hike of about 36 miles.

When you come out of the woods near the Triplett creek bridge you will need to go to your right and follow around the edge of the field until you come to the bridge. This is private property and this field will at times have crops planted or is sometimes used for hay. It wreaks havoc on any planned agriculture use to have hikers and mountain bikers wandering all over this field trying to make their way to the bridge.

There is agood bit of overgrowth at and on the bridge right now. I'm hoping to get a day off in the next few weeks and clean that area up.