Backpacking in the Sabine National Forest

Backpacking in the Sabine National Forest

The Trail Between the Lakes is a recent trail added to the Sabine National Forest in the Big Thicket area of East Texas. The entire trail is 28 miles of mostly level terrain. The east end of the trail starts at Sam Rayburn Reservoir 4 miles south of Pineland and wanders northeast, then east to the Lakeview peninsula in the Toledo Bend Reservoir. We will have two crews, one for the full trip, and one for a shorter trip.

There is a mandatory meeting at the church 7:00pm on Friday for review of your pack. Bring it packed and receive further instructions there (along with the Scoutmaster's blessing). Meet at the church at 5:30am Saturday morning for an early departure. Estimated travel time, 3-3.5 hours. We will arrive at the trailhead, shuttle the cars and be off. The current plan is for both crews to start from the same place.

Well, the rain was not as bad as we thought, and it was a pretty successful trip. The Frogs made 12 miles, and the older scouts did the entire trail (13+ miles on the second day alone!). Mr. Adey recorded GPS lat-long coordinates of the mile markers along the trail. These are now posted on the US Forest Service web site for other hikers. Check out http://www.toledo-bend.com/national-forest/index.asp?request=waypt Check here for the updates and a link to the end result.

We now have annotated topographic maps of the trip. Map #1, Map #2, Map #3, Map #4
Images of the trip are provided by Mr. Adey.

Arriving at the West end of the trail.
All packed up and ready to go!
Our first break
Lunch