Alabama trails · Skyway Loop Hiking Trail

Skyway Loop Hiking Trail

A 6.5-mile out-and-back in Alabama, with 659 ft of climbing. Reaches Adams Gap. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

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Length

6.5 mi

Elevation gain

659 ft

Difficulty

Hard

Max grade

26%

Steepest mile

+416 ft

Tread at ≥10% grade

1.6 mi

Shape

out-and-back

Managed by

U.S. Forest Service

Elevation profile

The climbing leans toward the final third: 44% of the ascent falls between mile 4.4 and mile 6.6. It gives back about 678 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5

Reaches

Adams Gap (pass)

Getting there

PINHOTI ADAMS GAP TH — parking nearby. About 50 min drive (19 mi, 9 of them unpaved) from Oxford. 33.40461, -85.87456 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:22 a.m., the sun rises at 6:47 a.m. and sets at 6:11 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:36 p.m. (CDT) — 11 h 24 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 13.1-mile round trip takes roughly 5 h 31 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 12:17 p.m. — 5 h 54 min before sunset.