Honey School Road SFR 656/656C

Total Miles
1.9

Elevation

196.55 ft

Duration

1.5 Hours

Technical Rating

6

Moderate

Best Time

Spring, Fall, Summer

Trail Overview

The Honey School Road (SFR 656 & 656C) is a forestry trial in Shawnee National Forest that leads to an old fire tower plot and then loops back to the main road it is connected to, which is Wolf Creek Road, in its own right is a very scenic gravel forestry road. The 656 section is a maintained gravel road that leads to the tower site and seamlessly connects to the 656C, which is a natural trail that quickly shows it's not the gravel road that was before it. It features tightening trees, small mud pits, and steep grades featuring large ruts, which lead to the final hill, a steep downward grade with very tight trees, roots, and 2-foot washes, rutting, and if the season is wet or leaves are present very low traction. This hill eventually leads to a creek bottom (including the 656D trail along the creek) that is very rocky but is usually dry, unless rainwater is collecting and moving through the area, then it becomes a minor creek crossing. The trail features some of the best of the Mississippi Bluffs region of Shawnee National Forest all in a 2-mile trail. Run it in reverse for even more challenge. If the season has been wet or rainy the difficulty increases.

Photos of Honey School Road SFR 656/656C

Honey School Road SFR 656/656C
Honey School Road SFR 656/656C
Honey School Road SFR 656/656C

Difficulty

At it's hardest section the trail features heavy erosion from rain water, this trail features great off camber areas, narrow dirt tunnels, and large ruts, very tight trees and large exposed roots, large dirt embankments, being up to 24"-36" in depth, and if the season is wet the difficulty only increases.

Technical Rating

6

Status Reports

Justin Case
Apr 14, 2024
2000 Jeep TJ
Open
Normal
had to move some lay down to find the trail but a fun ride I can see where it would get more difficult with rain
Tim Vollmer
Feb 03, 2024
2021 Jeep Gladiator
Open
Muddy/Wet
Heading up to the tower was easy enough, and got about half way down the narrow trail until the leaves/mud got too greasy to safely proceed before we backed out and eventually found a spot to turn around. If you choose to do this trail before it drys out, I would recommend stopping at potential turn around spots and walking ahead until you can find another place that you can turn around. There was a spot with lots of downed trees, where someone made a very narrow bypass, including a cutoff stump that looked like it was in the right spot to puncture a tire.
Justin Baros
Nov 24, 2023
4x4
Obstructed
Downed Tree
Kenneth Kisinger
Jun 10, 2023
1992 Toyota Pickup
Obstructed
Downed Tree

Access Description

The west trail entrance is at 37.21285, -89.36782, and the east entrance is at 37.20881, -89.34967. Both of these connect to Wolf Creek Road. Go to Olive Branch, IL, head north on Railroad Road for 4.2 miles, turn Left onto Wolf Creek Road, follow this for 1.8 miles and the east entrance is on the right or go an additional 1.4 miles to get to the west entrance.

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