Kentucky trails · BTRL-First Creek Backcountry Surface Trail
BTRL-First Creek Backcountry Surface Trail
A 6.7-mile out-and-back in Kentucky, with 442 ft of climbing. Reaches First Creek Lake.
Elevation profile
Most of the climbing sits in the final third — 69% of the ascent, between mile 4.6 and mile 7.0. It gives back about 616 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- First Creek Lake (lake)
Getting there
McCoy Hollow Trail access. 37.21885, -86.22245 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:47 a.m., the sun rises at 6:14 a.m. and sets at 7:15 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:42 p.m. (CDT) — 13 h 01 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 13.4-mile round trip takes roughly 5 h 25 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 11:39 a.m. — 7 h 36 min before sunset.
Loop options
- First Creek 1 Trail + BTRL-First Creek Backcountry Surface Trail — 4.6 mi loop, 178 ft gain
- BTRL-First Creek Backcountry Surface Trail + First Creek 1 Trail + McCoy Hollow Trail — 13.4 mi loop, 2,087 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Mammoth Cave Railroad Bike and Hike Trail — 12.2 mi
- Green River Hart County — 26.1 mi