O'Bannon Woods }{ Southern

[Tim]

Just wanted to post this for everyone, I had inquired about the AHT hiking trail but this also pertains to biking also.

See attached map below:


Thanks for inquiring about the Adventure Hiking Trail and the HMBA. The current status of the AHT remains rough and extremely difficult to traverse for mountain bikers and hikers. Storm damage suffered from Sept 2009 to the current arriving storms have left large portions of the trail with down trees and extremely muddy conditions. We have managed to get a State Park skid steer and chainsaw crew to remove down trees from about 2/3's of the trail. 1/3 of the trail remains untouched and has many trees crossing the trail (Indian Creek Section - East Side)

HMBA has concentrated their efforts in building a bike/hike trail on our old Rocky Ridge Trail (Class A Campground) and an access trail from our fire tower to the Rocky Ridge Trail. If you begin at the fire tower and ride the access trail to and thru Rocky Ridgeback and back you can have a 6 mile ride. To date this is the best ride we can offer.

As additional information, a portion(s) of the Adventure Hiking Trail will be closed from November 16 to April 1 due to active timber sales and as a public safety measure implemented by the Division of Forestry. Timber sale areas are closed to the public during the above dates. I have included a timber sale map provided by Dwayne Sieg, Manager of the Harrison Crawford State Forest. If you have questions about forest management activities please contact Dwayne Sieg. His office number is 812-738-7694.

[Eric]

I am not sure why that is all they said. I know there are sections of the AHT currently being worked on by HMBA. I am not sure when it will be open, but if anyone is going to be in the area and would like to know what sections are going to be in the future, send me an email and I can point you in the right direction.

[Tim]

Well, I was inquiring about the AHT conditions for backpacking and that was the reply I recived.
I thought it may be of value to someone else so I threw it on here. I hope the HMBA can do something with it, even as a hiking trail it was poorly designed if designed at all. The lack of switchbacks and the steep inclines can get really boring to hike. The scenery makes up for it though. Besides, bike trail design benefits everyone who uses it, except maybe horses

[Paul Arlinghaus]

The Adventure trail was originally just going to be opened to mountain bikes, and I think that in reality if anyone is crazy enough to try, it is. But hiking with a bike through the storm damage will not be much fun. The current plan is to clear and reroute the Adventure trail and open it bit by bit. We will not take the adventure out of it, and it will remind you of riding in Pisgah. Look for an event at O'Bannon this fall to ride the new trails and scout out the adventure trail.

Also, there is a new piece of property being purchased that will make room for even more trails.

Paul

[Tim]

Thanks for the heads up paul, looking forward to good things in the near future.

It would probably be better as a bike trail because bikers would actually use it where hikers are few and far between here lately.

[indytrailbuilder]

Another Trail event at O'Bannon on Sunday January 10th. Things will start at 10:00AM. For those who haven't seen O'Bannon yet, bring your hiking boots or bikes and explore this park. For those wanting to build trails, we will start at 10:00AM with a hike down to a spectacular water fall and cliff line to see the future trails, before coming back up to work on the connector trail.

At 12:30 I will lead a longer hike showing of the features near the Breeden Property (property the park just acquired)

For anyone wanting to make a weekend of it, we have a heated dorm room on Saturday night. Its not fancy, just a big room with 25 cots.

We will meet in the Class A camp ground, drive around till you see us.

Yes these pictures are from Indiana!













For an idea of the scale, the water fall in the above picture is the feature in the top center of the photo below. The large water fall is about 20'

[indytrailbuilder]

May 14th and 15th we will be having a two day trail work party at O'bannon in hopes of making significant progress on the fire tire return loop.

The term Trail Work refers to the part of the event were we will construct sweet new single track which when complete will include some of the features seen in pictures below.

The term party refers to the ride and cook out afterwards. For the ride we will ride one of the most scenic sections of the AHT that includes the views shown in the photos below. For the cook out HMBA/KYMBA will be providing food and fine beverages. By fine I mean micro-brew!

To sweaten the pot and to support trail work On Your Left Cycles Will be on site providing free swag!


The schedule
Trail work at 9am both Sat & Sunday
Group Ride 2pm both Saturday and Sunday
Cook Out Saturday Evening post group ride saturday evening
Camp out Saturday Evening, camping will also be available Friday evening for anyone wanting to come down Friday.

Entrance into the park and camping will be free for trail volunteers!

Please post questions on this thread or feel free to contact me.
Please post if you plan to attend and if you plan to camp so we can reserve the right amount sites and so we can figure out food.

Thanks
Chris Ward
502-608-2466

[indytrailbuilder]

I will be heading down tonight for trail work tomorrow. Work will go on even with some rain. If you haven't checked out O'Bannon, you will be blown away.

Paul Arlinghaus

[TurkeyMtnTroubador]

Thinking about a mountain biking trip through this area. What is the current condition of the trail?

[dave]

great trail 4th time hiking it last weekend still excited as the first time don't think i will ever tire of the adventure trail....