Jefferson Memorial Forest – Red Trail

Another weekend, another hike.  This time Jon and I headed back to Jefferson Memorial Forest as we were already out and about in that part of Louisville.  I didn’t bring our trail maps with us, so we stopped by the Welcome Center to decide on our itinerary for the afternoon. We decided to give the Red Trail in the Horine section of the park a whirl. After obtaining our permit for the Horine section from a very nice volunteer worker, we got back in our vehicle and took the short drive to the parking lot for the hike.

The map for this area lists the Red Trail as being strenuous and I would definitely agree with this rating.  The first half of the hike is on rather flat ground and easy to traverse.  Jon and I even commented to each other about how easy and frankly boring the trail had been up to this point.  Then, the portion of the trail that deserves the strenuous rating kicked in full force.  There are two main sections where you are going up hill for a good distance.  The first one may or may not give you some issues.  The second section is rough.  Standing at the bottom of this section, the trail appears to go straight up.  In comparison to the longer and also strenuous listed Siltstone Trail at Jefferson Memorial Forest, I found this trail to be much more challenging for me.  Yes, it was a shorter distance.  However, the inclines seemed to be a bit more dramatic and made me push harder.

After hiking the second incline, you have the choice of continuing the trail back towards the parking lot or taking a brief detour to see the Horine family cemetery.  From this point on, the trail is mostly flat and easy to complete.  The hike took us a total of 2 hours and 20 minutes to complete from beginning to end.

Siltstone Trail

Found along the Siltstone Trail

This past Saturday, Jon and I hiked the Siltstone Trail at Jefferson Memorial Forest with a group of friends.  The trail is 6.2 miles one way.  It is rated as being strenuous.  It is not a loop trail unless you are up to hiking 12.4 miles.  We had been wanting to hike this trail for a bit as it is one of the longer trails in the Louisville area.

As we are in November now, the leaves have started to fall from the trees.  The trail was still easy to follow, but the leaves could be slick when going downhill and also covered up rocks and branches that were on the trail.  There are several areas of elevation change on this trail.  Up and down, up and down, repeat.  We started our hike from the Scott’s Gap parking lot.  The first climb had all of us catching our breaths.  The good thing about this trail is that just when you think you can’t climb any further, the trail flattens out for a stretch.  Our group kept up a good pace throughout the hike and we finished it in roughly four hours.  On a personal note, I had really thought this trail was going to give me some difficulties.  At the end of the trail, the back of my legs were burning a slight bit.  However, I still felt like I could hike at least another mile or two.  I would really like to go back and attempt to make this hike a loop.

Scott’s Gap Red Trail

Jon and I decided to take advantage of the comfortable weather yesterday by taking a trip out to Jefferson Memorial Forest.  We looked at the trail maps ahead of time and made the decision to hike the Red Trail in the Scott’s Gap section of the forest.  The Red Trail is a 3.0 mile loop that also has a 1.25 mile shortcut loop available.

Trail Head

This was both Jon and I’s first time hiking this particular trail.   The trail was very easy to follow and the red blazes along the trail were highly visible.  The trail map lists this trail as being of moderate difficulty and I would say that assessment is accurate.  There are a few up hill sections that may give some hikers a difficult time.   We could hear what appeared to sound like rounds being fired at Knob Creek.

Just past the halfway point of the 3.0 mile loop, we came across a peculiar site.  An old, rusted out car was right off the side of the trail.

Jon and I are planning on returning to Jefferson Memorial soon, weather permitting, to hike the 6.2 (one way) Siltstone Trail.