Long Weekend Loop Midwest

[Tortuga]

Does anyone have a favorite long-weekend (think 2 night/3 day) loops or out and backs in the MW? I'm in Chicago and looking for a decent backpacking weekend that isn't a park campground. I've heard the Ice Age Trail is OK, but also that it has a lot of road walks and I'm not sure about the campsite situation.

[dcclark]

How far do you want to travel? The Porcupine Mountains in the Upper Peninsula are fantastic, with tons of great loops. There are backcountry campsites and also cabins, all of which must be reserved (and often go fast, 6 months in advance, but there will be something available).

Example loops include:

The Summit Peak loop, e.g. South Mirror Lake trail to Mirror Lake, then Little Carp River trail to Lily Pond, and finally back out via Beaver Creek or Lily Pond trails (very short but leaves you lots of time to enjoy Mirror Lake and Lily Pond, two of the gems of the park's interior).

Lake of the Clouds to Mirror Lake, then Correction Line down to the Big Carp River trail, and return via Big Carp River trail (also showcases the Escarpment, one of the best trails in the park).

Little Carp River trailhead to Lake Superior, then up the Big Carp and Correction Line trails to Mirror Lake, finally back to the trailhead via Little Carp River (longer than the others, but reaches Lake Superior and shows off another of the park's best trails, Little Carp River).

If you want to go earlier, such as Memorial Day, there may not be a lot of sites available. But you could probably put together a decent loop by just looking at which sites are still available and patching together trails from there. Avoid Cross Trail at all costs.

[Kelly]

The Manistee River Trail can form a loop with the North Country Trail. Right now the bridge that makes this possible is closed for repairs, which were supposed to be completed in six weeks last fall. It's still closed, and there is no published date for completion. You may be able to work with NCT trail angels for a shuttle.

Also consider the Ozark Trail in Missouri. I prefer fall and winter and spring—the other season is more tick-y and snake-y. The Blair Creek section is one that is on my radar for a future trip. Bell Mountain Wilderness, while not part of the Ozark Trail, connects to it and is a nice loop. It's helpful to be flexible on OT plans in the spring—prescribed burns can be announced with little lead time, and flooding can close or limit parts of the trail.

[Ingo]

Sylvania Wilderness is a possibility, have heard it's great for canoeing at least. From the trail map it doesn't look like many loop options, though.

[torpified]

there's the Waterloo-Pinckney trail in SE Michigan---a little over 30 miles, point-to-point, with several backcountry sites along the way. The terrain is low-key midwest glaciated, plenty of pothole ponds, little hills, and wetlands. Even though it's moose-free, I like it quite well. I think I put up a TR in the "other parks" section here, and sneakymonkee's done a video of her trip. (The THs are less than an hour from my house---if you decided to do this and the timing worked out, I could help with the shuttle.)

Here's a map:

https://www2.dnr.state.mi.us/publicati ... terloo.pdf

[Tortuga]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! It's hard to plan in advance so places with months-long reservation lists are probably out of the question, but I do see the Sylvania Wilderness is first-come-first-serve until Mid-May and again after mid-October. I've wanted to do the Porkies for a while so I should probably plan something out for later this year.

Doing some AT section-hiking isn't off-limits to me after the bubble heads north this summer either. Appreciate everyone's feedback!

[Ingo]

Doing some AT section-hiking isn't off-limits to me after the bubble heads north this summer either.

Areas of the AT in NC were catastrophically hit last fall by Hurricane Helene, but I haven't recently followed the AT clean-up efforts. Just in case you weren't aware, be sure to double check trail statuses. And road statuses to trailheads for that matter. That said, the folks out there would appreciate any business you might bring back, however small.

[Tortuga]

Doing some AT section-hiking isn't off-limits to me after the bubble heads north this summer either.

Areas of the AT in NC were catastrophically hit last fall by Hurricane Helene, but I haven't recently followed the AT clean-up efforts. Just in case you weren't aware, be sure to double check trail statuses. And road statuses to trailheads for that matter. That said, the folks out there would appreciate any business you might bring back, however small.

I've been monitoring this pretty closely this year. The trail is surprisingly clear with a few exceptions, and there are some major recovery efforts underway but to your point the businesses that are open are desperate for the dollars. Things should be a lot better in April 2026 unless god forbid another storm hits this Fall.

Hiking the AT has been a lifelong dream for me, and until recently I've been saying it can be a retirement project. Now in my early 40's, I don't think I'll realistically be able to consider a thru-hike in my 60's. I'm considering taking a "pre-tirement" next year to knock it off my bucket list while I'm still physically able. I'll be able to take a leave of absence for 12 weeks in 2026 which should be enough time to see if I'm on track to finish (and leave my job) or if it's not my jam and return to work.

[kkrause]

I live right near the south/north kettle moraine. I could possibly shuttle you. The Ice age Alliance has an interactive map that shows where shelters and campgrounds are. If you can do about 12 miles on pretty easy trail, HWY 12 to Hwy 67 is a really nice hike. The points in the middle are shelters (the blue/green point is .7 miles from shelter) and the end points are where long road sections begin

KMSF south.jpg