Meet the Orioles: East and West Trails

While heading to the German Ridge trail in Hoosier National Forest, I was enticed off of Indiana State Highway 66 by the Oriole trailhead turn off. Pulling into the large parking area, I was struck by the number of hitching posts in the parking lot.

This was my first experience with a true “multi-use” trail in Hoosier National Forest (HNF), and as many hikers might agree, I wasn't very happy. Before I get to that, let's break down the trails.

The Oriole twin trails in HNF include the West and East versions. The West trail is comprised of a 6.9 mile trail that includes 2 “wet feet” stream crossings, especially during rainy periods. The West trail also experiences considerably LESS horse traffic than the East trail. The East trail is a 6.5 trail that includes several stream bed crossings, but none that represent serious obstacles. The East also shares a short distance of trail along an unmapped camping road, which was a bit disorienting but not a problem. (Just look for trail markers).

Both East and West trails have lead-in spur trails of just over a mile. These spurs are along fire roads and are fairly wide open. The West trail's lead-in has been cleared of fallen timber for the most part while the East trail's lead-in is littered with fallen timber. Both East and West trails include loops accessible from short spur trails at alternate trailheads.

For all of the similarities and beauty, as a hiker, I can really only recommend the West trail, for a couple of reasons.

First, let me state before I go off on any rants, that I hold no ill will toward horseback riders. That being said, when a trail gets used heavily by horseback riders in the wet conditions of Spring, the trail can become much harder to hike for two-legged patrons. The East Oriole trail is good example.

There are several sections of the East Oriole trail that are what I refer to as “seeps”, sections that remain moist and muddy sometimes for a week or so after rainy weather. With the added horse traffic, these seeps become pock-marked landscapes of water filled hoof prints 6 inches deep. Combine that with say 100 yards of steady uphill walking and you've got a mixture that makes hiking no fun at all. In addition to the trail being torn up by horse traffic, the East Oriole trail has a lot more downed timber and some sections require you to walk into uncut forest where the tick problems multiply ten fold. Even with these problems, there are some beautiful sections along the East Oriole, including a section along the northern side off the loop that had wild columbine in bloom all around the trail. Aside from the columbine though, you might do yourself a favor and try the West trail first before hiking the East.

Wild blackberry

Wild columbine

The West Oriole trail has the one drawback of a large and sometimes deep stream crossing just as you enter the loop section (one crossing heading out, one coming back). In early May when I first hiked the trail, the stream was hip deep in several spots, and I'm 6' 3”, so be careful with anything you want to keep dry when making that crossing. The stream bed along the West Oriole trail loop is also an amazing area for spring wildflowers and even included irises of several varieties.

Iris along Oriole West

Deep crossing on the West Oriole

Both trails are reasonably strenuous, and are just long enough to challenge you while not exhausting those with less experience. In either direction (East or West) you'll be treated to a wide variety of habitats from pine glades to hard wood forest with stream crossings. When crossing over downed timber or walking around it, be aware of ticks as they are especially thick along both Oriole trails this year.

You can check out the photos from both Oriole trail hikes here:


Oriole East
Oriole West