Alabama trails · Skyway Motorway

Skyway Motorway

A 9.1-mile out-and-back in Alabama, with 574 ft of climbing. Reaches Adams Gap and other pass destinations.

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Length

9.1 mi

Elevation gain

574 ft

Difficulty

Hard

Max grade

13%

Steepest mile

+302 ft

Tread at ≥10% grade

0.4 mi

Shape

out-and-back

Surface

Ground

Elevation profile

The climbing leans toward the first third: 52% of the ascent falls between mile 0.0 and mile 3.0. It gives back about 870 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)
Patterson Gap (pass)
Clairmont Gap (pass)
Ironston Gap (pass)

Getting there

PINHOTI ADAMS GAP TH — parking nearby. 33.40461, -85.87456 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:51 a.m., the sun rises at 6:16 a.m. and sets at 7:10 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:35 p.m. (CDT) — 12 h 54 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 18.2-mile round trip takes roughly 7 h 19 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 1:35 p.m. — 5 h 35 min before sunset.