Big Sink Trail
in Kentucky · centroid 50 mi from Louisville
The Big Sink Trail is a hiking trail located in the picnic area of the Birthplace Unit of the park on the east side of Highway U.S. 31E. The trail has three loops of various lengths with Loop B being accessible.
The trail head is located in the picnic area where parking is available. Please use caution when hiking the trail as it crosses Keith Road at two separate locations. Watch for oncoming traffic when crossing Keith Road.
Duration: 1 - 1 1/2 hours Difficulty: Easy Length: 1.36 mile (2.19 km) Read more about each loop.
- States
- Kentucky
- Trail type
- National Historical Park trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Louisville, KY · 50 mi · ~1.4 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 37.5329°, -85.7307°
About Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park
This trail is inside Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, a national historical park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/big-sink-trail.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/abli/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Big Sink Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Stay nearby
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.