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At more than 10 miles over rugged terrain, the Low Gap Trail in Morgan-Monroe State Forest is a real grind. But hikers with enough patience for a four- to five-hour hike will be rewarded as they experience some of the forest’s best features, including the steep-walled Sweedy Hollow with its Rock Shelter overhang, the 2,700-acre Back Country Area, and primitive Draper Cabin, more than 130 years old.
Start: From the Low Gap trailhead on Forest Road
Distance: 10.6-mile loop, including a 1-mile spur to Draper Cabin
Hiking time: 4 to 5 hours
Difficulty: Difficult due to length and hills
Trail surface: Mostly natural surface singletrack, with some fire roads
Best season: Apr and May, when the woodland wildflowers are in bloom
Other trail users: None
Canine compatibility: Leashed dogs permitted
Fees and permits: None
Schedule: No hourly restrictions; open year-round
Maps: Morgan-Monroe State Forest brochure; DeLorme: Indiana Atlas & Gazetteer: Page 44 H4
Trail contact: Morgan-Monroe State Forest, 6220 Forest Rd., Martinsville, IN 46151; (765) 342-4026; www.in.gov/dnr/forestry/4816.htm
Special considerations: Take plenty of water and some food in preparation for traveling a long distance.
Finding the trailhead: From Martinsville, take IN 37 south about 5 miles. Turn left at the top of a hill onto Bryants Creek Road when you see the signs for MORGAN-MONROE STATE FOREST. Follow Bryants Creek Road for about 2 miles and then turn left onto Old State Road 37. Follow Old State Road 37 for about 0.6 mile to Forest Road and turn right. Look for a sign identifying the trailhead and parking area on your right after 3.1 miles. GPS: N39 18.661' / W86 25.487'
The nearby Mason Ridge fire tower at Morgan-Monroe State Forest was dismantled in 2009 and rehabilitated over a year by the Young Hoosiers Conservation Corps and state Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry workers. The tower was first built in the 1930s.
Bordered by Martinsville to the north and Bloomington to the south, Morgan Monroe State Forest encompasses 24,000 acres of ridges and valleys and some of the finest hardwood forest in Indiana. The forest’s history dates back to 1929, when the state began purchasing eroded and abandoned farmland in the area.
Morgan–Monroe has six designated hiking trails that total 27 miles. Low Gap is one of two that push the 10-mile mark (see also Hike 18). The forest also offers near endless amounts of ridgetop service and fire roads. Low Gap Trail consists mostly of singletrack but occasionally uses ridgetop service roads and one small section of county road past private property.
Low Gap begins at a well-marked gravel parking lot along Forest Road and heads west, paralleling the forest road on singletrack briefly until it arrives at Tincher Road, a gravel service road that follows a ridgetop. Turn left and head south down Tincher Road. The forest here is mostly oak with a greenbrier understory, which is very typical along dry ridges in the south-central Indiana hills region.
At mile 1, the trail turns to the left, away from the service road and down the east slope of the ridge into Sweedy Hollow, negotiating a series of singletrack switchbacks as it proceeds.
Hikers congregate under Rock Shelter, an impressive rock formation in Sweedy Hollow.
Sweedy Hollow is actually a 150-acre nature preserve within Morgan-Monroe State Forest, although nothing on the trail identifies it as such. The nature preserve is home to sandstone cliffs and uncommon plant species and wildflowers, including Guyandotte beauty and whorled pogonia.
As you hike up the dry creek bed at the bottom of Sweedy Hollow, the steep ravine narrows and you’ll pass under many stone cliffs and huge, moss-covered boulders. The experience is similar to that in the canyons and ravines at Shades State Park (see Hikes 40 and 41). At mile 1.6 you pass Rock Shelter, a massive stone overhang that sweeps along an eastern slope in Sweedy Hollow, holding the hillside on its shoulders. Shortly after Rock Shelter, hike up out of the hollow via a series of switchbacks, reaching the ridge’s peak elevation around mile 2, where you pass a pond on the right.
At mile 2.2 you will come up a small grade to a trail split. A sign points left to the 3-mile Rock Shelter Loop, and right to continue along the Low Gap Trail toward the Back Country. Stay on the Low Gap Trail, which follows the southern slope of Landram Ridge, paralleling a power-line corridor as it continues on an eastward path. At 3.1 miles you will pass a second pond, then head downhill through a pine plantation to the first crossing of Low Gap Road (3.6 miles).
Signage and a large gravel parking lot mark the entry into the Back Country Area, established in 1981. At 2,700 acres, the Back Country Area is a mature second-growth forest, mostly of oak and hickory. The area is home to several endangered species, including the state-endangered timber rattlesnake and the federally endangered Indiana bat. After you pass through the parking lot and cross over two footbridges, now around 600 feet above sea level, you will encounter a long climb that uses both singletrack and a sunken road to attain Gorley Ridge, at around 900 feet. You’ll stay on the ridgetop for about 0.5 mile before coming down into another hollow around mile 4.8. The trail crosses Honey Creek and passes through a Norway spruce plantation. The Norway spruce is easily identified by its short, stiff needles and long, smooth cones. The spruce plantation is a popular backcountry camping area.
A Bizarre Civil War Connection
When Watson Brown, son of famed abolitionist John Brown, died at Harper’s Ferry alongside his father in 1859, his body was preserved, put in a barrel, and sent to a medical school in Winchester, Virginia. From there, Dr. Jarvis Johnson of the Twenty-Seventh Regiment of Indiana Volunteers sent the body by express to his home in Morgantown, Indiana, worried it might fall into the hands of Southerners. When Johnson and his family moved to Martinsville, so did the body—but by then it was reduced to a skeleton. The remains were kept in a second-floor closet until 1882, when John Brown Jr. traveled to Martinsville to collect his brother’s skeleton.
After the passing through the hollow, it’s another long, steady hike to the top of another ridge. At about mile 6, the trail crests on 945-foot Shipman Ridge at the old Orcutt Road, which is essentially a service road. A sign points you right to the Tecumseh Trail and left to the Low Gap Trail. Turn left and follow Orcutt Road for about 1 mile to the second crossing of Low Gap Road, where you will see a small parking lot. Cross Low Gap Road and follow the trail blazes up the gravel East Tulip Tree Trace Road on the other side. Pass some private property and three or four houses before East Tulip Tree Trace Road comes to an end at a cable barricade. Continue past the barricade along the service road and follow the ridgetop for another 0.6 mile past a radio tower. Around the radio tower you may notice trees banded with metal and surrounded by scientific equipment. Indiana University uses this area to collect data on carbon dioxide exchange between the forest and atmosphere.
Leave the service road for a signed singletrack trail to your left around mile 8.2. Follow the singletrack trail around the south slope of the ridge, paralleling Forest Road again until you come to the Draper Cabin spur, a well-maintained gravel road, at around mile 9. Follow the gravel road downhill for 0.5 mile to Draper Cabin, a primitive, wooden-floored cabin around 130 years old. Visitors can spend the night in the cabin, and the forest accepts reservations between April and Thanksgiving.
From Draper Cabin, head back up the gravel spur to the main Low Gap Trail and turn left, following it for another 0.5 mile or so until you complete the loop and reach the trailhead.
Primitive Draper Cabin, more than 130 years old, is available for rent . . . but don’t expect wireless.
Note: Mileage below does not match mile markers painted on trees along the Low Gap Trail. By the end of the hike, the painted tree markers are about 0.6 mile ahead of mileage recorded here.
0.0Start from the trailhead along Forest Road and head west.
0.1Turn left down Tincher Road, a gravel service road.
1.0Turn left away from Tincher Road and follow the singletrack Low Gap Trail downhill into Sweedy Hollow.
1.6Pass Rock Shelter.
2.2After a slight grade, a sign marks the trail junction with Rock Shelter Loop. Turn right to stay on Low Gap Trail toward the Back Country Area. (Bailout: Turn left here to return to the trailhead, cutting the hike distance to about 3 miles.)
3.6Cross Low Gap Road and follow the trail over two footbridges into the Back Country Area.
6.0A sign marks the junction with Tecumseh Trail. Turn left and follow Low Gap Trail along Orcutt Road, a gravel service road.
7.0Cross Low Gap Road again and head up East Tulip Tree Trace Road on the other side. Stay on Tulip Tree Trace Road.
7.6East Tulip Tree Trace Road comes to an end at a cable barricade. Carry on past the barricade, where the road becomes a service road again.
8.2After you pass the radio tower, turn left onto the signed singletrack trail.
9.0Turn left down the gravel road toward Draper Cabin. (Option: Stay straight here to cut about 1 mile off the overall distance.)
9.5After you reach Draper Cabin, turn around and head back to the trail junction, turning left and continuing down the singletrack Low Gap Trail toward the trailhead.
10.6Arrive back at the trailhead.
Local attractions: Hunter’s Honey Farm, 6501 W. Honey Lane, Martinsville; (765) 537-9430; www.huntershoneyfarm.com. The Hunter family has been beekeeping in Indiana for four generations. The farm offers tours and an observation hive and sells honey and premium honey products. No admission charge. Hours vary.
Camping: Primitive camping is available at Morgan-Monroe State Forest for a fee. Campers must register at the forest office. The Mason Ridge Campground, behind the fire tower and north of the forest office, has vault toilets and seasonal drinking water. Overflow camping is available at Oak Ridge Campground. Backpack camping is also permitted in the Back Country Area. Camping in state forests is first come first served and reservations are not taken. Camping information is available at the Morgan-Monroe State Forest Headquarters, 6220 Forest Rd., Martinsville, IN 46151; (765) 342-4026; www.in.gov/dnr/forestry/4816.htm.
Restaurants: Bynum’s Steak House, at the intersection of IN 252 and IN 37 in Martinsville; (765) 342-4398. Opened in 1983, Bynum’s offers large cuts of choice charbroiled filet, strip, and rib eye.