October Trip from Chicago - Ozarks HWM, Drummond Island?

[Dean2]

Hi All,

My wife and I have the week of October 10-14 off. We just ditched other plans and are thinking of (dispersed, hopefully) camping a few days, leaving from Chicago. Two ideas are the High Water Mark trail in Arkansas and Drummond Island in Michigan, both of which would be about a day's drive out. We'll be in our '96 4Runner - no winch, no lockers, Grabber ATXs, decent driver.

First off: Is anyone interested in tagging along? Assuming no...

Can anyone comment on either location at that time of year? I'm not really sure if I want to chance HWM on our own without a winch, or at the least, lockers. But, I've not seen the Ozarks and it looks like a blast. Drummond doesn't appear to be as difficult, unless you make it so. Is that a fair assessment?

I haven't done any research on it yet, but the Mark Twain NF in Missouri could be an option. Same goes for the Kentucky Adventure Tour. (We've been to Hoosier NF and would like to go somewhere new to us.) Any comments on these two?

Thanks for any light you can shed!
Dean

 

[The_northman_adventures]

Hi All,

My wife and I have the week of October 10-14 off. We just ditched other plans and are thinking of (dispersed, hopefully) camping a few days, leaving from Chicago. Two ideas are the High Water Mark trail in Arkansas and Drummond Island in Michigan, both of which would be about a day's drive out. We'll be in our '96 4Runner - no winch, no lockers, Grabber ATXs, decent driver.

First off: Is anyone interested in tagging along? Assuming no...

Can anyone comment on either location at that time of year? I'm not really sure if I want to chance HWM on our own without a winch, or at the least, lockers. But, I've not seen the Ozarks and it looks like a blast. Drummond doesn't appear to be as difficult, unless you make it so. Is that a fair assessment?

I haven't done any research on it yet, but the Mark Twain NF in Missouri could be an option. Same goes for the Kentucky Adventure Tour. (We've been to Hoosier NF and would like to go somewhere new to us.) Any comments on these two?

Thanks for any light you can shed!
Dean

Hey Dean,

I would not recommend the HWMT without self recovery options. Another great option to explore is Gladetop recreation area here in Missouri. Great for a day or two of camping and exploring without much chance of not getting out. Dispersed camping is abundant and small town of Ava, MO not far away for supplies if needed. I did a small video on it

 

[Lief_WJ]

Hi All,

My wife and I have the week of October 10-14 off. We just ditched other plans and are thinking of (dispersed, hopefully) camping a few days, leaving from Chicago. Two ideas are the High Water Mark trail in Arkansas and Drummond Island in Michigan, both of which would be about a day's drive out. We'll be in our '96 4Runner - no winch, no lockers, Grabber ATXs, decent driver.

First off: Is anyone interested in tagging along? Assuming no...

Can anyone comment on either location at that time of year? I'm not really sure if I want to chance HWM on our own without a winch, or at the least, lockers. But, I've not seen the Ozarks and it looks like a blast. Drummond doesn't appear to be as difficult, unless you make it so. Is that a fair assessment?

I haven't done any research on it yet, but the Mark Twain NF in Missouri could be an option. Same goes for the Kentucky Adventure Tour. (We've been to Hoosier NF and would like to go somewhere new to us.) Any comments on these two?

Thanks for any light you can shed!
Dean

I live in Missouri (Kansas City). Are you coming my way. Been wanting to get out...

 

[Dean2]

Hi Lief, Scott,

Thanks for the replies and the advice on the HWMT. That video was great; it looks like a really neat area. I'll keep it in mind, but we've decided to head north this time.

We're doing the "2022 Moose and Rocks Tour" through the Upper Peninsula. My wife has never seen a moose in the wild. Years ago, we did a six day canoe trip in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario and saw ZERO moose! She also wants to look for agates and petoskey stones, hence the goofy name.

It looks like we'll do three nights of camping, west to east ending with a night - or two? - on Drummond Island. Day four, we'll stop and stay with friends in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula. We're trying to figure out what all we want to see and plan a tentative route.

Dean

 

[Lief_WJ]

Have a safe and fun trip.