From quick and easy loops around town to drives that take you to fantastic cricks and knobs, our city has so many options to hit the trail. So lace up your hiking boots, because we’ve compiled a hiking guide for the Louisville area with 14 routes and trails to help you plan your next adventure.
Note: While parks and trails may be listed as open, we recommend checking park websites before visiting for further info, current trail conditions, and safest practices for the area.
Key: Easy = 🥾| Moderate = 🥾🥾 | Hard = 🥾🥾🥾
East of Louisville
Anchorage Trail, Downtown Anchorage, 1500 Evergreen Rd.
- Difficulty: 🥾
- Length: 2-mile loop
- Wheelchair accessible: Yes
- Pet-friendly: Yes, leash required
This 10-foot wide, paved path begins with a herringbone brick walk before it winds through open fields and along Willow Lake + ends under a light tree canopy. Pro tip: Visit in the fall to see giant pumpkins flanking the walkway.
Blackacre State Nature Preserve, 3200 Tucker Station Rd.
- Difficulty: 🥾🥾
- Length: 3.2-mile loop
- Wheelchair accessible: No
- Pet-friendly: No
Walk through history on this combined loop to see a waterfall, cattail pond, historic springhouse, and double-crib barn on this 19th-century farm.
Turkey Run Loop Trail, The Parklands of Floyds Fork, Beckley Creek Pkwy.
- Difficulty: 🥾🥾🥾
- Length: 6.1-mile loop
- Wheelchair accessible: Portions — short paved section
- Pet-friendly: Yes, leash required
Hike some or all of this park’s multiple loop trails, starting at the Brown-Forman Silo Center. Just be on the lookout for mountain bikers sharing the path.
Goose Creek Trail, E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, 300 Freys Hill Rd.
- Difficulty: 🥾
- Length: 1.25-mile loop
- Wheelchair accessible: Portions — some paved sections
- Pet-friendly: Yes, leash required, dog park available
White-tailed deer and American turkeys are often spotted on this trail that winds around most of the 554-acre park. Expect to travel across open fields + lightly wooded areas along the creek.
South of Louisville
Forest Giants Trail, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, 2499 Clermont Rd., Clermont
- Difficulty: 🥾
- Length: 2 miles out-and-back
- Wheelchair accessible: Limited
- Pet-friendly: Yes, leash required
Many visitors to Bernheim Forest head straight to this trail dotted with three giant sculptures of woodland creatures made by Danish artist Thomas Dambo using recycled and repurposed materials. Once you’ve seen the giants, you can finish the rest of the Lake Nevin Loop for a slightly longer excursion.
Tioga Falls Trail, Louisville Nashville Turnpike, West Point, KY 40177
- Difficulty: 🥾🥾
- Length: 2 miles out-and-back
- Wheelchair accessible: No
- Pet-friendly: Yes, leash required
Owned by the U.S. Army Fort Knox, this trail is occasionally closed for military training. But when its not, the uphill hike to the base of its three-tiered, 130-foot waterfall is a must — plus, you get to cross railroad tracks.
Bridges of the Past, Louisville Nashville Turnpike, West Point, KY 40177
- Difficulty: 🥾
- Length: 2.3 miles out-and-back
- Wheelchair accessible: Limited
- Pet-friendly: Yes, leash required
Adjacent to the Tioga Falls trailhead is a second trail option populated with three stone bridges built in the 19th century and later repaired for army use by German POWs in World War II.
Scott’s Gap Trail, Jefferson Memorial Forest, 11311 Mitchell Hill Rd.
- Difficulty: 🥾🥾🥾
- Length: 3.3-mile loop
- Wheelchair accessible: Portions — finely graveled loop trail located at trailhead
- Pet-friendly: Yes, leash required
Located within the largest municipal urban forest in the US, this trail isn’t for the faint of heart. But its steep elevations give way to beautiful ridgetop views of the Kentucky hardwood forest.
Waverly Park Loops, Waverly Park, 4800 Waverly Park Rd.
- Difficulty: 🥾🥾
- Length: 4.7 miles
- Wheelchair accessible: No
- Pet-friendly: Yes, leash required, dog park available
This 300-acre hardwood forest attracts mountain bikers and fishermen, but the park also offers well-maintained trails for hikers. This route combines the Twisting Bends Loop and Clinic Loop paths that wind over creeks, up ridges, and down hills. The park is also located just west of the famous Waverly Hills Sanatorium.
Saunders Springs Nature Preserve Loop, Saunders Springs Nature Preserve, 100 Saunders Spring Ln., Radcliff
- Difficulty: 🥾🥾
- Length: 6.2-mile loop
- Wheelchair accessible: No
- Pet-friendly: Yes, leash required
This picturesque preserve is filled with cascading streams, springs, and four reconstructed 19th-century log cabins. The area is believed to have been a campsite for soldiers during the Civil War. This loop offers a longer, combined hike, but there are 11 trails total to explore on the property.
Central Louisville
White Oak Trail, Beargrass Creek State Nature Preserve, 3745 Illinois Ave.
- Difficulty: 🥾
- Length: 1.5-mile loop
- Wheelchair accessible: No
- Pet-friendly: No
Explore a tiny portion of this 41-acre nature preserve via tree and native plant signs along this trail that starts at the Louisville Nature Center.
Iroquois Park Overlook, Iroquois Park, 521 New Cut Rd.
- Difficulty: 🥾🥾
- Length: 1.2 miles out-and-back
- Wheelchair accessible: Yes
- Pet-friendly: Yes, leash required
Get sweeping views of downtown LOU at the summit of this paved route which is closed to vehicular traffic, except for select weekends. Plus, you can stop by the 86-year-old Iroquois Amphitheater for a concert or outdoor movie.
Cherokee Park Scenic Loop, Cherokee Park, 745 Cochran Hill Rd.
- Difficulty: 🥾
- Length: 2.3-mile paved loop
- Wheelchair accessible: Yes
- Pet-friendly: Yes, leash required
Take a gentle stroll along the main travel artery of this 389-acre Highlands park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1891. The paved loop is divided evenly between pedestrian and vehicular use. Highlights on the path include Hogan’s Fountain, Baringer Hill, and Christensen Memorial Fountain.
North of Louisville
Rose Island Loop, Charlestown State Park, 12500 Indiana 62
- Difficulty: 🥾🥾🥾
- Length: 2.1-mile loop (with an option to make it a 5.5-mile loop)
- Wheelchair accessible: Portions — short paved section at the trailhead
- Pet-friendly: Yes, leash required
Located 20 miles north of downtown Louisville, this loop descends to the site of an early 20th-century amusement park and resort. During the hike, you can see remnants of the park like a swimming pool, bear cage, and walkway arches.
Pro tip: Ready to hike more? Use the “Five-Star Trails: Louisville & Southern Indiana: 40 Spectacular Hikes in the Derby City Region” book by Lexington author Valerie Askren.
Get the right gear
Get the most out of your trip with comfortable, handy, and helpful hiking gear:
- This extra roomy fanny pack — from Chattanooga, TN-based company Burlaep — can carry all the gadgets and accessories you need for your hike.
- For the best footwear, check out Nordstrom Rack’s sneaker edit for hiking.
- If your trail demands a proper hiking boot, we like Columbia’s collection on Amazon.
- For apparel that’s both flattering and functional, we turn to small business Aesthetic Built. We love the oversized scuba hoodies for women and the muscle scallop tees for men.
- Sweat sustainably with SEAAV. Their activewear is not only performance-driven but also planet-friendly.
- Travel light (but still have room for snacks) with lululemon’s Everywhere Belt Bag.
- Get a good bulk deal on Perfect Bars, Clif Bars, or Kind Bars at a warehouse store like Sam’s Club.
- Whether it’s the Active Essentials Kit or the Vegan Victory Set, Fuel Goods delivers the goods to keep you going.
- Don’t forget to bring a compact, portable phone charger (you’ll thank us later).
- Bringing along your 4-legged friend? Hike in style with a new collar and leash.
- We like this Teton hiking backpack.
- We like this lightweight water bottle.
- Sweat sustainably with SEAAV. Their activewear is not only performance-driven but also planet-friendly.
- Whether it’s the Active Essentials Kit or the Vegan Victory Set, Fuel Goods delivers the goods to keep you going.
- Psst — to be ultra-prepared, here are the 10 items you should never enter a national park without, according to the National Park Service.
