Illinois trails · Kinkaid Lake Trail
Kinkaid Lake Trail
A 14.3-mile network in Illinois, with 205 ft of climbing. Reaches Kinkaid Lake. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 1,142 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Kinkaid Lake (lake)
Getting there
HIDDEN COVE — parking nearby, restroom, water. About 43 min drive (24 mi) from Carbondale. 37.81658, -89.49847 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:38 a.m., the sun rises at 7:05 a.m. and sets at 6:22 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:48 p.m. (CDT) — 11 h 17 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 14.3-mile route takes roughly 5 h 23 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 12:28 p.m. — 5 h 54 min before sunset.
Loop options
- KINKAID LAKE TRAIL + 393 + GUM RIDGE — 1.8 mi loop, 328 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Little Grand Canyon — 10.9 mi
- Godwin — 16.5 mi
- Red Cedar Trail — 23.2 mi