I decided to do the Friends of Rocky Fork State Park Hiking Challenge, to hike all of the trails within the park, in one go. The distance was just over a marathon with an elevation gain of just over 5400 feet, which made it appealing. There are several creek crossings, so it is possible to cool off during warmer weather. Only one crossing requires you to have to get your feet wet. I basically just hiked self-supported to establish the route. Because there are 2 main loops that pass through the parking area, it is easy to resupply. I started in the parking area/trailhead, went out Rocky Fork trail to White Oak Flat trail, up Birchfield Camp trail to the end (about 2.7 miles) and back with a short side trail to tag the high point of the park. At the bottom of Birchfield Camp trail, I continued out Headwaters trail to Blockstand Creek Rte/trail and down Flint Creek trail back towards the parking area. On the way down, I hiked up and down Blockstand Creek Access trail and then continued down Flint Creek trail to the parking area. At that point I resupplied from my car and headed back out Rocky Fork and Flint Creek trails to Flint Mountain trail, which loops back around eventually to the parking area. At the end of Flint Creek trail, you have to cross Rocky Fork, which requires wading through water that is usually mid-calf to knee deep. Almost all of the trails consist of old logging roads and are runnable. My last leg was hiking up and down Whitehouse Cliff trail, which is short but steep and the best viewpoint in the park. It was an enjoyable day of hiking and nice challenge. There are several good swimming holes to cool off at the end (or during the challenge). Just putting this out there as a concept to hike/run all the trails in the park in one go, and I hope to see someone do it much faster.
Athletes
Route variation
Standard route
Multi-sport
No
Para athlete
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Self-supported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
10h
33m
23s
GPS track(s)
activity_22493606364.gpx3.92 MB
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