Hike Location: Blue Licks Battlefield State Park
Geographic Location: north of Carlisle, KY (38.43202, -83.99307)
Length: 2.9 miles
Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: June 2019
Overview: A loop hike near a Revolutionary War battlefield.
Park Information:
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=755394
Photo Highlight:
Directions to the trailhead: From Paris, take US 68
north 22 miles to the signed park entrance on the left. Turn left to enter the park, and drive the
main park road to the Pioneer Museum.
Park in the parking lot in front of the museum.
The hike: Most
history books will tell you that the American Revolutionary War ended when
British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered to Patriot General George
Washington in Yorktown on October 17, 1781.
While major military operations ended at that time, conflicts involving
the British on America’s western frontier continued for many years
thereafter. One of those conflicts was
the Battle of Blue Licks, which occurred in present-day northern Kentucky on
August 17, 1782.
Earlier
that month, a group of 50 British Loyalists allied with 300 American Indians
had come from present-day Ohio and attacked Bryan Station, a frontier
settlement near present-day Lexington.
When they learned that Kentucky militiamen were on their way to relieve
the settlement, the Loyalists and their allies withdrew to the northeast to return
to Ohio. Led by John Todd and Daniel
Boone, the Kentucky militiamen decided to pursue the Loyalists, and they caught
up to them at a spring and salt lick on the Licking River known as Lower Blue Licks.
Just before
the battle, Daniel Boone voiced concerns that they were being led into a trap,
and his concerns turned out to be justified.
After crossing the Licking River and advancing up a hill, the British
and their allies attacked from concealed positions in ravines on the other
side of the hill. The attack was
devastating on the Kentucky militiamen: nearly half of the militiamen were
killed or taken captive. Daniel Boone
survived, but the dead included John Todd and Israel Boone, Daniel Boone’s son. The remaining militiamen managed to retreat
to Bryan Station.
The site of
the Battle of Blue Licks became Kentucky’s fifth state park in 1927, when local
citizens donated the land to the Kentucky State Parks Commission. The park today offers a nice 32-room lodge, a
51-site campground, a boat ramp on the Licking River, some athletic fields,
some picnic areas, an interesting Pioneer Museum, and 4 hiking trails totaling
3.5 miles. The hike described here uses
most of these trails, and it forms a grand loop tour of the park’s grounds.
Two points
of interest lie near the parking area.
The historic Pioneer Museum contains artifacts from life on the Kentucky
frontier and offers an interesting video about the area. Also, the battlefield is located uphill and
to the left (north) of the museum, and it features a large stone monument in a
sparsely treed grassy area. No trails
pass through these two areas, so you will want to check them out either before
or after your hike.
 |
| Steps leading away from Pioneer Museum |
The only
trail visible from the parking area is the Buffalo Trace Trail, which will be
our return route. To make the climbing
easier, this hike starts on the Licking River Trail. To find it, head down the stone steps that
exit west, the opposite side of the parking lot from the Pioneer Museum. Walk around a picnic shelter and enter the
woods at a signed trailhead for the Licking River Trail. Another sign tells you that this path was the
route used by Daniel Boone and militiamen during their retreat to Bryan
Station.
The single
track dirt trail descends via a moderate to steep grade on a somewhat rocky and
rooty course. This trail gets very
slippery when wet, and I had to be very careful on this descent because I hiked
here the morning after a thunderstorm softened the soil. After descending 150 vertical feet over 0.25
miles, the trail deposits you on an asphalt road the park map calls River
Road. Turn left to continue the Licking
River Trail. The Licking River appears
through the trees to the right here.
 |
| Licking River |
A short
road walk brings you to the park’s boat ramp, where you need to continue south
to leave the park road, walk through a small mowed grass area, and find where
the Licking River Trail reenters the woods at another signed trailhead. The trail crosses a wooden footbridge before
curving left and climbing slightly to reach a three-way trail
intersection. The Savannah Trail going
left leads to the park’s campground, but this hike turns right to start the
Heritage Trail. On my visit this trail
was closed due to storm damage, so I had to take a detour via the park’s roads.
The
Heritage Trail crosses Old Maysville Road, which leads to the historic Licking
River ford at Blue Licks, before passing under the US 68 bridge over the
Licking River. Next you pass Tanner
Station, a reconstructed pioneer settlement founded by David Tanner to exploit
the area’s salt licks. For the next 0.5
miles the trail remains level as it passes through the Licking River’s
floodplain.
 |
| Hiking bluff above Licking River |
|
| Pedestrian bridge over US 68 |
2 miles
into the hike, you begin a gradual to moderate climb up a wooded bluff that
overlooks the river. The trail comes
close to US 68 for several hundred feet before crossing it on a fantastic
stone, concrete, and steel pedestrian bridge.
Just after crossing the bridge, the Heritage Trail ends at a
T-intersection with the Buffalo Trace Trail.
Turn right, and after another 1000 feet of gradual climbing you reach
the parking lot for the Pioneer Museum, thus completing the hike. Make sure you check out the museum and the
battlefield before you leave if you have not already done so.
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