In this video, we’ll take a look at how to find custom Backpacking loop hikes… fast.

There are plenty of high tech route planning methods out there for hiking and backpacking, and trust me, I love them. But sometimes it’s nice to just keep things simple.

In preparation for an upcoming overnight trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I began tinkering with various methods to find an ideal 3 day, 2 night loop. Several futile afternoons later, I was less than successful in my pursuit of Tennessee adventure. But then I broke out the method seen in the video. Within a short amount of time I suddenly had a loop hike that I was excited about. Score 1 for low tech.