Terrill Ridge off the beaten path

Off trail site in Deam Wilderness, Hoosier National Forest

the Hoosier Hikers visited Hoosier National Forest again. It seems like every year we try to nail the fall colors, but between work schedules and rain, we always seem to be just a week early and find the tops of the trees are still a little green, or we are a week late and the tops of the trees have all fallen off and there’s just a little bit left underneath.
It looks like this year we're just a touch early to the Deam Wilderness area, but we still had a great time.  As usual, we started off the Hickory Ridge fire tower.

​If you have not visited this fire tower, it’s one of the only ones you can climb in Hoosier National Forest that has views of the surrounding area. We immediately climbed up and took a good look around and saw some great colors, but there was still quite a bit of green.

Since this was a one night trip, and we were planning to do a little exploration, our packs were light as we took off down the Terrell Ridge Road toward a group of really nice campsites we’ve stayed at many times in the past. However, based on the parking lot, we were pretty sure many of the spots would already be filled.

​We made quick time down to wide Terrell Ridge Road/Trail along the way. We encountered several families out there, hiking, and a few backpackers on their way out after having a night camping.

Upon arriving at the end of the trail, near one of our favorite Hoosier National Forest camping areas, we encountered in a large meet up group of hammock campers, including a local YouTuber who posts gear recommendations.

This meet up group was very gracious and offered to let us join them, and we talked for quite a while sharing a few stories and getting to know each other. However, we were looking for a little bit more solitude and a little bit of an adventure, so we dropped our packs just behind the lake and set out to do some exploring.

We spent the next several hours, exploring many of the old road beds out throughout the Dean Wilderness. These road beds are leftovers from the settlers who originally farmed this land over a 100 years ago.

If you pay attention to the forest, you will notice dips, ruts, and patterns in how the trees are growing that will help you find your way. We were able to use these old roads, our GPS, and maps to find areas of the forest that rarely see human visitors.

Eventually, we stumbled across the campsite we have never seen before. That was very remote, and clearly had not seen visitors in a very long time.

This new remote site had great views, access to water, and abundant firewood. We ended up enjoying a peaceful afternoon sitting in the hammock overlooking Lake Monroe, with a peaceful campfire that evening, all by ourselves in our new, secluded spot in the forest.

Walking an abandoned road bed in Deam wilderness, Hoosier national forest

We found some epic fall colors in the Deam Wilderness, Hoosier National Forest