I am in the Dallas area and I am looking for a good two/three night backpacking trail within four or five hours of Dallas. I am still pretty new to backpacking. Also looking for someone to go with. Don't really know anyone that is into backpacking.

Check out beaver's bend state park in oklahoma. Beautiful place with many trailheads on a good trail thats about 25 miles long so you can pretty much do as little or as much as you want in a weekend. The only problen is that it doesn't loop so you either need to backtrack, take two cars, or hike the road back/hitch hike. If you go in the summer you can usually snag a ride back to your car with a river guide. I'd go with ya, but im in colorado now so thats a little far for a weekend.

The Lone Star Hiking Trail in Sam Houston National Forest is a great trail with several different loops. Google the lone star hiking trail club. Their website has maps of all the trails. It's perfect for a 2-3 day hike.

I did not think to look at Beavers Bend for some reason. Is there enough water available for purifing?

I have heard mixed reviews about the Lone Star Trail. A lot of people say that it is extremely muddy and almost impossible to hike at times.

Much of the trail is near the river so water is not really a problem, but you may have to hike a little out of the way to stock up, as i don't remember many stream crossings. There are also some campsites near the trailheads which i think had running water. so if you ran out or something, you could always hike out to one of those and fill up.

Pending on when and where you are going I might be interested in joining.

Taylor, I would not be able to go until March or April. My weekends are booked for the next few weeks. Weather(thunderstorms) may become a problem by that time though.

The odds of me being able to go are better the later it is, I have to baby-sit my grad research