EBCC

At 6:15 pm this Thursday, we'll explore the Smith Tree Farm Trails in Canton. Directions to the trailhead: from Rt. 179 turn onto Wright Road and follow for approximately 2 miles to Doyle Road on the left. Follow Doyle Road 1/2 of a mile (it will turn from paved to dirt road) to the Smith Tree Farm on the right. Enter the unpaved driveway and park on the right. (The house is leased as a private residence, so please be respectful of the tenant’s privacy.) We'll explore these trails.

That's not a very long trail. Steep, but not long. The guy who lives in that house is named Tom. Nice guy. Prefers that you don't fill his yard with cars so I'd suggest parking as many as possible out on the little pullover and on the side of Doyle Rd.

A more interesting and challenging trail is to head down the dirt section of Doyle Rd onto the Ted Wright trail, which turns left at the creek and heads up the side of Ratlum Mountain. If you follow that to the top you can either stay on the trail to Breezy Hill Rd. and make it an out and back, or hang a right on the forest road and cut off a lot of the distance. Either way, much better hike than Smith Tree, IMHO.

I think that would be better than Charlotte Craig. I've just never been a fan of that trail. If you know those trails and the roads, there are all sorts of options. Ted Wright ends up being a bit over 2 miles and about 700+ feet of climb if you do the whole out and back between Doyle and Breezy Hill. Throw in a forest road diversion and you can make it as long as you want.

For you hill freaks, there are 38% grades. I would recommend microspikes or similar. I did Ted Wright last weekend and the dry leaves are almost as bad as ice. My feet went out from under me twice even though I was wearing heavy treaded hiking shoes.