A couple of weeks ago, my wife (Margaret) and I were discussing the demise of the Pioneer Trail, which used to connect the Knobstone Trail with Hoosier National Forest. Margaret asked if I’d looked for a route going north out of Delaney Creek Park. And I immediately remembered Starve Hollow State Recreation Area.
We spent most of Spring Break camping in Jackson-Washington State Forest and hiking nearly every trail in the Starve Hollow area. As usual, Margaret was right. There is a better route from Delaney Creek Park to the Hoosier National Forest. It’s finally ready to download here.
Instead of an unbroken 35-mile road walk, the new route breaks it down into more manageable chunks of about 7 miles and about 17 miles. It adds almost 8 miles of forest trail in the northern part of Jackson-Washington State Forest. It provides two convenient resupply spots, passing through Brownstown and Freetown. And it cuts the longest distance between potential campsites down from 17 miles on the old route to about 14 miles on the new one. Finally, it adds some really cool new locations to the trail. You hike through an actual CCC ruin (pictured above). And there’s a climbable fire tower.
Hope you all enjoy the new route.
Happy Hiking! –Mike Mullin
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