Kentucky trails · Buckskin
Buckskin
A 9.7-mile out-and-back in Kentucky, with 403 ft of climbing. Reaches Alum Knob. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the middle third: 48% of the ascent falls between mile 3.2 and mile 6.5. It gives back about 900 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Alum Knob (summit)
Getting there
Buckskin access — parking nearby. About 58 min drive (27 mi, 3 of them unpaved) from Morehead. 38.06754, -83.50158 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 7:14 a.m., the sun rises at 7:41 a.m. and sets at 6:58 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:24 p.m. (EDT) — 11 h 17 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 19.5-mile round trip takes roughly 7 h 37 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 3:18 p.m. — 3 h 39 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Cave Run + Buckskin + 108 Connector Trail — 8.3 mi loop, 1,241 ft gain
- Cave Run + 108 Connector Trail + Buckskin — 8.8 mi loop, 1,512 ft gain
- Buckskin + Hog Pen — 11.7 mi loop, 1,254 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Lakeview Ridge — 2.4 mi
- Red River — 17.4 mi
- Osborne Bend Loop — 17.4 mi
- Swift Camp Creek — 18.9 mi