Ohio trails · Backpack Main Trail South Loop
Backpack Main Trail South Loop
A 14.6-mile out-and-back in Ohio, with 620 ft of climbing. Reaches Pond Lick Lake. Managed by the state.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 2,262 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Pond Lick Lake (lake)
Heads up
Getting there
Backpack Main Trail North Loop access — parking nearby. About 25 min drive (15 mi) from Portsmouth. 38.72644, -83.15414 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 7:13 a.m., the sun rises at 7:40 a.m. and sets at 6:56 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:22 p.m. (EDT) — 11 h 15 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 29.3-mile round trip works out to roughly 11 h 28 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.
Loop options
- Backpack Wilderness Side Trail + Backpack Main Trail South Loop — 12.5 mi loop, 3,204 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Backpack Main Trail North Loop — 0.0 mi
- Buckeye Trail — 12.6 mi
- Superior Corridor — 24.5 mi
- Hanging Rock Loop — 25.3 mi