Midwest USA, Trip Reports » Ridge Runner Trail, Missouri Ozarks

Did an overnight trip on this trail south of Cabool, MO.  Pretty typical Ozark terrain.  Unfortunately there was a fair amount of deadfall on the trail, that slowed me down a fair amount.   There are some hike-a-bike sections.   Typical of trails in Missouri, they sometimes are built up a steep grade that is not rideable, particularly with a load.   This is a good trail for solitude.  I encountered a group of equestrians a short distance from the TH, but otherwise had the trail to myself.  I suspect it gets light bike traffic at best.

The trail is 22 miles long total, a portion of it also is part of the Ozark Trail.   Given the deadfall and some of the hike-a-bike, doing the entire length would be pretty difficult in one day.   I treated it as a SB24O.   Rode out 10 miles and camped and then back to the TH.   If the forest service would get the deadfall cleared, I suspect I could have covered 12 miles or a little more in the same time.

I am relatively new at bikepacking so I have to refine my setup a bit.  I probably had 4-5 lbs of stuff I didn’t need for an overnight.