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

Exploring Missouri’s scenic backcountry is one of the best reasons to head out on the Ozark Trail. The area offers many things to see and experience, including 1.5 billion-year-old mountains, pristine rivers and some of largest freshwater springs in the United ozark trail chair States. The next section along Trace Creek is an enjoyable, quiet walk in the woods. Some hikers may choose to continue on Trace Creek to the Taum Sauk section, but OT thru-hikers should head west onto Middle Fork/John Roth Memorial section to complete the longer route. This hilly 26-mile segment gains over 2,600 feet of elevation over a contoured landscape crossing brooks, streams, and wetlands, as well as small savannahs of oak and hickory hardwoods.

Browse all our gear like spacious tents, durable backpacks, warm sleeping bags, outdoor cooking supplies, and more. Take the Ozark Trail 25 L Stillwater Daypack with you on your next outdoor adventure. The first good design feature is the placement of the door on the side, and more specifically on the long side of the tent. I’ve tried tents with the door on one end and it is cumbersome. For the end-door variants, one has to toss their sleeping bag down the tent when getting ready for bed. Other items that you may want to keep at the foot of the sleeping area are also hard to access or reach if your head is near the door.

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. This tent was close to foolproof when it came to the rain fly because it was already connected. Kelli is a content writer with a degree in English Education from Penn State University. As a mom and a former middle school English teacher, she has spent the last 25 years looking for good deals for her home and the classroom.

Since they launched, they have carved out an incredible market share delivering products across the board from coolers to dog bowls. I spend a great deal of time on the water every summer boating and fishing in Northern Michigan. I will often load a large cooler up at the beginning of the week and leave it on my Pontoon packed with drinks and ice. If you have a boat and bring kids or friends on the water, you know that once you leave the dock the requests for drinks start rolling in fast and furious. Sure, you can load a cooler out each morning packed with fresh ice, but it is just so much easier to cut down all that work with a cooler than can keep ice for days on end. The Ozark Trail 1-Person Backpacking Tent is on the cheaper end of the spectrum.

We just completed a review of the ozark trail chair Ozark Trail Tumbler line, which is not only budget friendly but also well performing. Having a separate rain fly for a 2- or 3- person tent makes sense because multiple people can split up the weight a little easier on longer hikes. With a 1-person tent, that doesn’t really make as much sense. After all, I was carrying the whole thing and so it might as well be connected. Essentially, the rain fly for the Ozark Trail was integrated into the tent directly. It was one of those planned events in 2020 that was delayed for years, from what else, but the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trail maps are free to print at home or are available for purchase at the online store. If you’re on a multi-day hike, toilet paper and a cathole shovel are necessities. When you have to answer nature’s call, make sure to stay at least 200 yards away from a water source and bury any solid waste at least 6 inches deep. Tent, hammock or open-air camping — choose your camping style based on experience and comfort level. Be prepared to face changing weather conditions out in the ozark trail backpack wilderness.

Outdoor activities such as hiking and biking, and also for school. The front and hip straps make it very comfortable and takes alot of the pressure of your shoulders and back. The Yeti has the most streamlined design of the three coolers, staying true to the original Yeti look and feel. The overall product weight of this cooler is 37lbs empty which is inline with the Pelican, but 7lbs heavier than the Ozark Trail cooler. The Tundra Haul features rubber clasps, which I really like, and hard plastic wheels. Backpacking Light community posts are moderated and here to foster helpful and positive discussions about lightweight backpacking.

Please be mindful of our values and boundaries and review our Community Guidelines prior to posting. Usually I share a 2- or 3-person tent when backpacking with others to split up the weight, but as mentioned we each needed to be self-contained so I brought my 1-person tent from Ozark Trail. Thru-hiking is defined as hiking the contiguous 230-mile backbone of 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. The Ozark Trail Association Trip Planner contains information on a thru-hike, including directions to Onondaga State Park and Eleven Point Western trailheads. Before purchasing this pack I used a more traditionally styled, and heavier, backpack for daily walks.