bikepacking in OH-KY-IN tristate area

[rjwall]

I've been working on planning some bike camping trips from the cincinnati area for this spring. I've done a fair amount of bike camping in the area that mostly involves paved roads for 99% of the trip. I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on primarily unpaved routes to do some bike camping. I really like the idea spending most of the trip on bike in the woods, just like you'd do backpacking. so far, the best i can figure is Hoosier national forest (about 2 1/2 hrs from cincinnati), though i haven't been there yet.

anyone from the area have any routes, and what is the rough 'on dirt' mileage vs 'on road'? any ideas much appreciated.

[Harold]

Indiana is working on some connectivity between Brown County State Park and the Hoosier NF via Yellowwood State Forest. The off-road connections aren't there yet, but it's an active area of work these days. The long-term goals here would probably have somewhere around 200 miles of connected trails. When we start getting closer to connecting all three of these properties, I hope we start getting some better camping solutions outside of the dispersed camping option in HNF and the campground at BCSP.

HNF currently has roughly 50-60 miles or so of actual trails between Nebo Ridge and Hickory Ridge, with a short connection on pavement. Some folks already do overnights there.

[rjwall]

thanks for the reply, that sounds great. I've rode brown county a couple of times and was really impressed with the trail system out there. is there somewhere i could keep up with the progress on what is going on with the off road connectors? awesome that vision is being realized. will be very cool to have that much connected trail in this area.

I'm really excited about checking out HNF this summer. i've always enjoyed backpacking in the national forests, and it sounds like there is some pretty good riding there too.

[Harold]

Hoosier Mountain Bike Association, or the HMBA Facebook page. There was some progress announced at the HMBA annual meeting recently (working on a post for the front page with details from the meeting), but still much more work. State Forests are ready to play ball, but they need help to convince those higher up the food chain to authorize them to spend money to develop recreational facilities. HMBA will probably be formulating a plan to address those needs in coming weeks/months.

[rjwall]

Thanks a lot for the info! really looking forward to doing some overnights in HNF this year.

[backcountryeti]

You could always ride Shawnee State Forest, granted it would be road riding, but sweet gravel roads through Ohio's largest state forest.

[rjwall]

yeah, shawnee would be a good call. i've crossed over the gravel roads on the backpack trail before. never really considered how far/ where they go, but i assume they would criss-cross the park. really enjoyed camping in shawnee except for a nasty tick borne illness a couple springs ago! thanks.