Hiking trails near Lexington, Kentucky

55 official trails lie within 25 miles of Lexington — 211 miles in total, 49 rated easy and 0 hard or expert. Every distance and elevation figure below is computed from the agency centerline and a 10 m elevation model, not crowd-sourced.

The biggest climb nearby gains 358 ft; the median trail gains 109 ft.

Open the map on Lexington

24 trails worth the drive

Trail	Miles	Climb	Difficulty	Drive from town
Tanyard	4.5	195 ft	Moderate	46 min · 29 mi
Elkhorn Creek	19.3	162 ft	Moderate	38 min · 27 mi
Pelly Trail	4.5	168 ft	Moderate	46 min · 31 mi
Red Loop Trail (Raven Run Nature Sanctuary)	3.8	277 ft	Moderate	30 min · 14 mi
Green Trail (Life Adventure Center)	3.8	117 ft	Moderate	35 min · 21 mi
Blue (Life Adventure Center)	3.6	194 ft	Moderate	35 min · 21 mi
Sally Brown Nature Preserve Trail	2.1	313 ft	Easy	59 min · 33 mi
Legacy Trail	6.0	87 ft	Easy	16 min · 12 mi
Blue Loop East MTB	3.9	108 ft	Easy	49 min · 29 mi
Lower Palisades Loop Trail	1.9	358 ft	Easy	41 min · 27 mi
Upper Palisades Loop Trail	1.8	191 ft	Easy	35 min · 24 mi
Cross Country Course	2.6	109 ft	Easy	36 min · 22 mi
Orange Loop MTB	3.0	120 ft	Easy	49 min · 29 mi
Upper Hines trail	1.1	342 ft	Easy	24 min · 18 mi
Meadow View Trail	2.0	137 ft	Easy	46 min · 29 mi
Outer Loop (Capitol View Park)	3.9	61 ft	Easy	38 min · 30 mi
Perimeter Trail	1.9	129 ft	Easy	43 min · 27 mi
Fort Jones Loop Trail	1.1	191 ft	Easy	39 min · 24 mi
West Lot	2.1	137 ft	Easy	1 h 02 min · 31 mi
Kentucky River Pool 6	20.7	59 ft	Easy	40 min · 23 mi
John Holder Trail	1.2	209 ft	Easy	26 min · 16 mi
Rim to Rim Trail	1.1	232 ft	Easy	19 min · 15 mi
Shawnee Run Trail	1.9	163 ft	Easy	1 h 00 min · 31 mi
Woodland Trail	1.1	240 ft	Easy	39 min · 24 mi

Quick picks near Lexington

Easy and short: Sally Brown Nature Preserve Trail — 2.1 mi, rated easy, 20 mi from town
Biggest climb: Lower Palisades Loop Trail — 358 ft over 1.9 mi, 21 mi from town
Longest: Kentucky River, Pool 10 — 25.5 mi, 14 mi from town

What the trails reach

Summits: Kentucky River Pool 7 to Chimney Rock

Viewpoints: Red Loop Trail (Raven Run Nature Sanctuary) to Kentucky River (Palisades) Overlook; Woodland Trail to Hickman Creek Overlook; Meadow Trail to Silver Falls; Overlook Trail to Dupree Nature Preserve Palisades Overlook

Trail guides near Lexington

1. Pinnacle Knob Trail (blue, 2.7mi) — 2.6 mi, 591 ft climb · 37 mi away

Nearby towns: Richmond (23 mi) · Frankfort (25 mi) · Mount Sterling (28 mi) · Danville (33 mi)

All Kentucky trail guides · Hiking by city · Dispersed camping rules