IA - Stephens State Forest

[Freakin Farmer]

Got out for a quick one-nighter on 9/29-9/30 as we prepare for a SHT trip next weekend.
It was about a three hour drive South for us.
It had rained a fair amount the day before and morning of our arrival. around 3-5:, I think. We hiked in rain and drizzle for our 1st 2 hours on the trail in the afternoon.

We did the full loop on the Wood burn unit. About 6 miles but we hiked about 8 total.



The trail was wet and soggy and in some lower spots. I think we counted 8 stream crossing. Started taking our boots off but by the end half we just walked through boots on.



I'm the blurry guy in green



Got out of the car and heard a hissing noise. Luckily Chariton Iowa is only a few miles down the road and got it promptly patched the next morning.



My rig: Warbonnet Ridge Runner, Klymit Luxe pad and new UGQ tarp



Hiking buddy's setup:



Hiking buddy owns a brewery so of course he has hops energy goo



His dinner: Indomie ramen with freeze-dried corn and peppers, lemon & pepper salmon, curry paste, peanut butter, and fried onions. I had Babelfish 5 BBQ spaghetti. One of my all time favorites.



Overall I'd recommend checking this place out. Pretty hilly so roller coaster trails up and down. A few steepish ones on the NorthEast end of the trail. Almost every backpacker site on that loop had good hammock options. The bottom Oak site is the only one I'd shy away from but you could make something work.

[NOBOZax]

Cool report...I have that tent, it's pretty good for a tent. I mostly do 1 nighters and try to keep it inside 4 hrs from me and this place fits the bill and I've never heard of it, so thanks for that . Gonna have to try that energy goo as I'm a big craft beer guy also. Happy trails

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[Freakin Farmer]

There are other trails to do up there, too. Definitely want to go back. We picked the backpacker loop because we didn't want to run into too many people....we had the WHOLE forest to ourselves. We drove to the other units and not a soul around.

The energy goo tasted like pure hop oil. very bitter. would NOT recommend. haha