Kentucky trails · North South Trail
North South Trail
A 38.3-mile point-to-point in Kentucky, with 294 ft of climbing. Reaches Brown Spring and other lake/spring destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 2,165 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Brown Spring (spring)
- Golden Pond (lake)
Getting there
NORTH TRAILHEAD — parking nearby, restroom, water. 36.97060, -88.19800 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:55 a.m., the sun rises at 6:22 a.m. and sets at 7:23 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:49 p.m. (CDT) — 13 h 00 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 38.3-mile route works out to roughly 14 h 21 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.
Loop options
- NORTH SOUTH TRAIL + WYATT EARP + MATT DILLON — 9.8 mi loop, 1,044 ft gain
Nearby trails
- North-South Trail — 17.1 mi