Hiking The Devil's Backbone at Shades State Park

[@OneTakeTuber]

Shades SP, one of Indiana's gems

[@thathikingguy]

Yess

[@scottphillipy9831]

Absolutely beautiful, thanks for taking us along with you. Really enjoy your channel, I get to see parts of my State that I can't visit on my own. Thanks again.

[@thathikingguy]

This was a fun one. I had been to shades many times but not this area of it. Thanks

[@indianaadventuretourguide3394]

I just went a few days ago and did the loop the other way around. I love how you went this way (probably the right way) and in a season where the foilage was less dense for better visibility. Definitely going to do that in the future myself!

[@thathikingguy]

I think this was a beautiful place to view the creek below. I probably should have done the climb at the end so I could have circled back down but wasn’t feeling it that day. Great thing to see there though. Thanks for watching

[@Starscreamlive]

I found Trout and Coffee's channel a few months back. EXCELLENT channel!

[@thathikingguy]

Right? Totally agree

[@justjakki9198]

This looks amazing! I just googled it and it's only about 2 & a half hours from me! I will definitely be making a trip!

[@thathikingguy]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@unpavedexplorer338]

Hello THG, That was an amazing adventure. Cool place to hike. Take Care and Keep Exploring The Outdoors.

[@thathikingguy]

Thanks John appreciate it buddy

[@eizzle78]

I’m going to have to check this out, I just did the 6 ravine challenge today, haven’t hiked there in almost 25 years, it was pretty fun!

[@thathikingguy]

Yeah this is a lot of fun. Pretty interesting hike but not too hard to do

[@bbping94]

Very Cool Trail! I'll have to check this out sometime.

[@thathikingguy]

Thanks yeah it’s a great trail. Lots of cool stuff to see.

[@GearReviewDepot]

Wow! That's a beautiful trail. The stairs certainly help not having to climb up/down those drop offs.

[@thathikingguy]

Yeah wasn’t too bad of a climb but man it would have hurt the ankles without the stairs

[@OutLan]

Dude, it's like the Hocking Hills of Indiana! I'd be tempted to make the 3 hour drive over there just to see this place. Awesome video!

[@thathikingguy]

Shades has other cool stuff too. There’s also something called the Devils punch bowl. Just down the road is another state park that has cool stuff too Turkey Run. You could make a great day out of it

[@KentuckyWoodsman]

Cool place and that looked like some amazing hiking also! Enjoyed the video Chris!

[@thathikingguy]

Thanks Chris. Not a bad view for a short day hike. Appreciate ya watching

[@NicoleHikesalot]

It was good seeing your face, I miss your stuff. I love this hike too. It's great in winter too, great views! I never actually went over the bridge... I get so dizzy up there. That's interesting about the devil's face up there, I didn't know that since I never hiked over it.

[@thathikingguy]

This was a really good time. The views from up there are fantastic. Thanks so much for watching Nicole

[@thathikingguy]

Did you delete you videos? I can’t see any of them

[@NicoleHikesalot]

@@thathikingguy yes .. battling with it all... struggling

[@MarkedMiles]

Thanks for the shoutout - that is such a fun trail

[@thathikingguy]

Yeah can’t let you and the other Mark have all the fun LOL

[@WyeExplorer]

Loved that terrain and place. There is a stimulating drop around every bend. Maan, there are Devils this and that everywhere. Same over here. Good walk buddy - the Gopro worked out fine. All the best for 2021. Mark

[@thathikingguy]

Thanks so much Mark. Good New Year to you as well

[@WyeExplorer]

@@thathikingguy A pleasure. Thanks buddy.

[@wendingourway]

Fantastic trail! I would be one who would certainly appreciate those stairs...just makes life a little easier for us less-surefooted people...lol

[@thathikingguy]

Yeah I appreciated them as well. Thanks for watching

[@johnbinhack]

We were close by at Turkey Run SP this weekend. Not a lot of people out and about due to the colder weather so you really get to appreciate the area and the unique landscape without the crowds. This area of Indiana is so unique to the state and many are always surprised when seeing these formations for the first time! We also had a number of Bald Eagle sittings along Sugar Creek which were really neat Will have to check out Devil's Backbone the next time we go out there because I've heard a lot of good things and we've camped nearby in Shades SP. Thanks for the video!

[@thathikingguy]

Yeah beautiful area in both parks indeed. They both have a lot to offer. Thanks so much

[@hootonthetrail3894]

Right on! Thanks so much for the shout-out! Appreciate it very much. Now, let's get together sometime and hit some trails. The mic sounded pretty good too. 👍

[@thathikingguy]

Thanks Mark. And thanks for making your video.

[@LauratheXplora]

Ohhhh HECK No!!! And I have seen videos of Angels Landing!! Yikes! Looks like I picked a great video to come in on from Hooks and Hammocks live stream. 👍

[@thathikingguy]

LOL thanks. I’ve done angels landing too. And half dome

[@LauratheXplora]

@@thathikingguy Well I am glad you are still here to tell us about it!! 😵

[@thathikingguy]

@@LauratheXplora LOL thanks

[@dwaynestewart6095]

that place is really cool. Are those stones as narrow as they look??? Dwayne

[@thathikingguy]

Three feet across in spots

[@KUEHLKUEST]

You are going to have “buns of steel” after this hike lol...perfect for a day hike...is there camping allowed as it looks beautiful with a great water source too.

[@thathikingguy]

No unfortunately there’s no camping allowed in the area. They have developed campgrounds though. This was a great time, going back up the stairs sucked though LOL

[@JimHayesHiking]

Cool area,but man I would have trouble going across the backbone since I suffer from fear of heights. I probably would do it if it wasn't so narrow on top. Great hike!

[@thathikingguy]

Jim, it is actually not as high as it appears but yeah I understand. Was a fun hike though

[@tedjankowski7357]

We were trail diagram shown thethere today. Attempted to do Devil's Backbone from the other direction. The spot where you turned around and said the trail was an 'out and back' we had no problem with: Just grab the small tree there and go backwards like a ladder. We then went down the Backbone, got to the stone artwork (the view was awesome!) and then to the spot where you needed to climb up. We saw no clear way to accomplisch the decent, so turned around at that point. Next time, we'll go your way! Also should be noted that the DNR trail diagram shows Devil's Backbone as a 'loop' trail.

[@thathikingguy]

Yeah when I did this I did very little research on it beforehand. Great feature of this park though

[@BackpackingWithJason]

Wow!! That looks really narrow. What a cool area Chris.

[@thathikingguy]

Yeah reminded me of the corner of that goat path lol. Was not as high though, more survivable lol

[@MidwestMotocamp]

OMG! That lookes terrifying. I'm taking the family Sunday.

[@thathikingguy]

Its got a little bit of a pucker factor but is awesome

[@SteveSherron]

I came for the audio, I stayed for the awesome hiking. Was hoping for some cool graffiti on the beautiful natural rock wall. I guess I'll settle for the satanic carvings in the rock.

[@thathikingguy]

Oddly enough the carvings are the only graffiti there. And some of those carvings are very old, like 1800s old

[@fisheyeguy]

Man this place looks great! Microphone sounds really good too!

[@thathikingguy]

This place was pretty epic for being in Indiana. Thanks Matt

[@Rang76er]

Great video!

[@thathikingguy]

Thanks!

[@myrealfakename6068]

Looks like a fun place to discover one has vertigo. Lol

[@thathikingguy]

It’s a great view of you don’t have it though. Lol The climb isn’t bad either.

[@gtwfan52]

Thanks for the memories. My first visit there was in 30° weather. Edit: the loop you missed, is probably meant to be missed. It's very rugid.

[@thathikingguy]

Had a great time on this one for sure.

[@HooksandHammocks]

Great job! I think I will like it! LOL

[@thathikingguy]

Tellie won't lol its pretty high and narrow

[@turtlecrawford6468]

Cool video. I just got a hero 9 but I don’t know what I’m doing whatsoever

[@thathikingguy]

I am still learning all the things it can do. I watch a lot of videos on it lol

[@BrianWest58]

Aw, I was hoping you'd do the slide.

[@thathikingguy]

Maybe in the spring LOL

[@19stoney64]

When you said, I’m going to go down to the back but then cam back and turned right crossing the creek…….I found a couple back in there lost. It was getting late and they had nothing. They were just sitting on a log tired. I always carry extra bottles of water. I led them back over the top along the back bone and climbed down that ledge to get them back to the stairs asap. I had to get my rope out of my pack and rig it to get them down off that ledge safely then come down to creek. They would of been in trouble and cold if it had been much later. I had no idea about shades, pine hill being so cool either. This could was down past the honeycomb. I was actually looking for more rocks when I found them. I made sure to get them back to Hwy crossing before I felt like I could go on my way.

[@thathikingguy]

Wow that’s crazy. Glad you were there to help them

[@garyday5299]

We hiked it, but the climb up and down to get actually on the narrow spine looked too hard for us not-so-limber 60+ ers, way too scary, so we just took a look and headed back. Met young families with kids and a dog who were going out on it. Very dumb!

[@thathikingguy]

There was a couple with a dog out on it when I was there too. I kept wondering if the dog was gonna fall or not. That would have been tragic.

[@user-qc7hr4my7r]

I want to do this but hate heights, lol.

[@thathikingguy]

It’s really not too high. Less than you think. You can dew eeet