A section of the Ozark Trail was way more overgrown than I expected last month

I hiked the 12 mile stretch from the Taum Sauk trailhead to Johnson's Shut-Ins in Missouri last month, and the trail condition really threw me. The first few miles were fine, but after the Mina Sauk Falls, the brush got thick. I mean, chest-high ferns and blackberry brambles covering the path thick. I was in shorts and spent half the time getting scratched up, and my pace slowed to maybe one mile an hour trying to push through. It felt like no one had been through there in weeks, which was odd for a popular state park area in June. I had to check my map a bunch to make sure I hadn't wandered off trail. Has anyone else done that section recently and found the same thing, or did I just hit it at a bad time between trail crew visits?

3 comments

3 Comments

emeryw1621d ago

Yeah that stretch gets brutal without long pants lol

patricia_chen6721d ago

Brutal" feels like a strong word, @emeryw16. I've done that trail in shorts plenty of times. Sure, some branches might brush your leg, but it's just plants. It's not like you're walking through a patch of poison ivy or thorn bushes. A few little scratches are just part of being outside. Is a bit of tall grass really that bad?

rivera.keith13d ago

Seriously, I just use some bug spray with a bit of DEET and the plants don't even touch me.