The Ozark Trail: A Guide to Hiking Missouri’s Mountains

Your own preferences and uses may push you towards another rating. Summer campers, however, will probably be happier in a 40° F model. If you find that your sleeping bag doesn’t seem to be living up to its temperature rating, the issue is most likely your sleeping pad. Check out our Best Sleeping Pad review for more info about why your overnight warmth can be dependent on how well you’re insulated from the ground. If your plans include both convenient camping and overnight backcountry adventures, we suggest choosing a backpacking sleeping bag. That’s because you won’t have any issues using a backpacking model near your car but carrying a hefty camping sleeping bag any significant distance can quickly become a real pain.

While this pack may not be big enough to carry all the gear you need for longer treks, it offers many of the features you would want at a good price. Of course it has no side water holsters, or lid pocket, or hipbelt strap, but I think that all contributes to its low weight. For the water bottles I just use Platypus .5 liter and 1 liter flat ozark trail chair style bottles, which you can fit in the main body of the pack on top of your other gear. Some days this bag was heavier than I would have chosen it to be. I am a 6-foot tall male, weighing 185 lbs and it fits just as well as other day packs I’ve tried. Walmart had a small section of packs and for the most part I was satisfied.

The four or six tent pegs hold the structure down but are crucial for the tent to stand by itself. The Ozark does need those pegs in the ground to be self-standing so setting up on rocks would be infeasible (at least without applying some clever tenting skills). The set-up was understandably a few steps shorter, which is always nice when setting up in the dark. More than once in the dark I’ve attached a rain fly upside down and we had to restart that particular step.

Shoulder straps are lightweight mesh-lined with very little padding. Thru-hiking is defined as hiking the contiguous 230-mile backbone of ozark trail chair the Ozark Trail in one trip. A thru-hike can begin at the Onondaga State Park and proceed southward to the Eleven Point Western trailhead, or move in the opposite direction from south to north.

Camp at Highway DD trailhead near the section’s start or Harper Spring around the 15 mile-mark. Before you leave home be sure to let a friend or family member know where you’re going and what you’ll be doing. Indicate how many days you will be gone and approximately where you plan to stay each night. We’ve scouted the best routes, from easy day hikes to epic overnight bike-packing.Find detailed itineraries, directions, and maps right here. Trailspace’s community of gear reviewers has field-tested and rated the top daypacks.