Paint Rock Unit to Camp Hennessy

Yellow River State Forest, Paint Rock Unit (Allamakee County, north of Waukon Junction)

The Paint Rock Unit is a small, separate piece of Yellow River State Forest on the bluffs above the Mississippi River. The DNR says it has 8 miles of hiking-only trails and a backpack camping area with three sites, and a 2018 Iowa Outdoors story describes a three-mile round-trip overnight to Camp Hennessy, with an overlook and ancient mounds nearby.

It’s one of the shortest backpacking trips on this site, which makes it a reasonable first night out close to the car.

The hike

Iowa Outdoors writer Brian Gibb describes the approach: from Paint Rock Road, just north of Waukon Junction, an access road runs about a third of a mile to the Paint Rock Trailhead parking lot. The trail climbs right away, gaining about 250 feet in the first three-quarters of a mile before reaching Camp Hennessy, the walk-in camp.

From camp, Gibb follows the Mississippi Loop Trail, which he describes as well marked and shaded by oak forest. A junction trail leads out to the Paint Rock Overlook, passing Native American mounds that the article dates to the Middle to Late Woodland period. Mounds like these are ceremonial and burial sites; stay on the trail and leave them undisturbed.

The DNR’s Paint Rock trail map shows a compact network with short segments, 0.2 to 0.8 mile each, on the Paint Rock Trail, Mississippi Trail, Big Bear Trail, and Mud Hen Loop. The map marks a scenic overlook near Paint Rock Road, Camp Terry and Hennessy as camping spots, and a hike-in group camp site. That leaves room to stretch a short walk into a longer day with a light pack after setting up camp.

The article lists what to look for in season. In spring and summer, the bluffs host cerulean warblers, a state-threatened bird, along with red-shouldered hawks. Peregrine falcons use the area, pasque flowers bloom in early spring, and prickly pear cactus grows on rocky outcrops.

The DNR page for the forest as a whole notes that hunting is allowed throughout the 8,900-acre forest except in the campgrounds, so expect to share the woods in fall.

For a full weekend loop with several camps, the forest’s main Backpack Trail in the Paint Creek Unit is a short drive away. For another short Iowa overnight with hike-in sites, see Preparation Canyon in the Loess Hills.

Tips

Call ahead. Confirm registration rules and which Paint Rock camps are open for individual backpackers.
Carry water. No drinking water source was found in the sources.
Short but steep. The first three-quarters of a mile gains about 250 feet.
Respect the mounds. Stay on the trail near the Woodland-period mounds.
Wear blaze orange in hunting season. Hunting is allowed in the forest outside campgrounds.

Camping

The DNR says Paint Rock has a backpack camping area with three sites. Iowa’s state forest rules say backpack camping areas (no vehicle access) are marked with signs and have fire rings. For the forest’s backpack sites in general, the DNR says there are no restrooms, everything is carry in, carry out, and firewood must be down and dead and cut with hand saws only. The DNR says backpack campers sign in at forest headquarters at 729 State Forest Road, Harpers Ferry; check whether that applies to Paint Rock.

Inside Intel: We didn’t find camper accounts recommending a particular site at Paint Rock. The 2018 Iowa Outdoors story uses Camp Hennessy as its base for the overlook and mounds.

Trail facts

Distance: About 3 miles round trip (Iowa Outdoors, 2018); 8 miles of hiking-only trail in the unit (DNR)
Route type: Out-and-back, with short loops
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
Elevation: About 250 feet of climbing to camp
Campsites: A backpack camping area with three sites (DNR); Camp Hennessy is named in the 2018 article, and the DNR map also shows Camp Terry and a hike-in group site
Water: None found; carry it
Permits: Confirm registration with the forest office
Trailhead: Paint Rock Trailhead, off Paint Rock Road north of Waukon Junction
Contact: Yellow River State Forest office, 563-586-2254
Last verified: October 17, 2026

The Lowdown

A short climb to Camp Hennessy:

Camp Hennessy is about three-quarters of a mile from the Paint Rock trailhead, an easy overnight to try out gear. Thinking about a new rain shell? We compared three.

See what testers found →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.