Pine Mountain State Scenic Trail

Pine Mountain State Scenic Trail
Pine Mountain State Scenic Trail
Length	120 mi (190 km)
Location	Eastern Kentucky, United States
Trailheads	Breaks Interstate Park, Kentucky; Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Kentucky
Use	Hiking
Difficulty	Moderate to Difficult
Sights	Cumberland Plateau
Hazards	Severe weather; American black bear; Tick-borne diseases; Mosquitos; Biting flies; Chiggers; Steep grades; Limited water; Diarrhea from water; Poison ivy; Venomous snakes

Pine Mountain State Scenic Trail is a 120 mi (193 km) trail under development in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Once completed, the trail will wind along Pine Mountain Ridge from the Breaks Interstate Park to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. The park itself will cover a 1,000 acres (4.0 km²) band along Pine Mountain.^[1] The trail will connect Bad Branch State Nature Preserve and many other natural areas owned by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves.

As of May 2014, the trail is completed from the Breaks Interstate Park to Kingdom Come State Park.^[2]

Trail sections

The following chart lists the completed trail sections as of May 2014:

Trail Section	Length	Shelters	Start to Finish
Birch Knob	28 mi (45 km)	one	Breaks Interstate Park to U.S. 23
Highland Section	16 mi (26 km)	two	U.S. 23 to U.S. 119

Foot traffic only between US 23 and US 119
Camping at designated sites only (There are a number of shelters along the trail - check for details on camping.)
No overnight camping permitted in state nature preserves.
No overnight parking at state nature preserves.
Trails have sign-in and sign-out stations that help identify who is and has been on the mountain in the event of an emergency.

^ Susan Reigler, Pam Spaulding (2009). "Eastern Kentucky Parks". The Complete Guide to Kentucky State Parks. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-9208-0.
^ Pine Mountain Trail Conference Retrieved on 2009-12-28