Big Bone Lick State Historic Site: Cedar Run/Big Bone Creek Double Loop (Blog Hike #969)

Trails: Gobbler's Trace, Cedar Run, Bison Trace, and Big Bone Creek Trails
Hike Location: Big Bone Lick State Historic Site
Geographic Location: southwest of Union, KY (38.88424, -84.75212)
Length: 2.7 miles
Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: October 2023
Overview: A double loop passing the park's bison pen and fossilized bone dig site.
Park Information: https://parks.ky.gov/union/parks/historic/big-bone-lick-state-historic-site
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=948925
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video:

Directions to the trailhead: In northern Kentucky, take I-75 to SR 338 (exit 175).  Exit and go west on SR 338.  Drive SR 338 west 7 miles to the park entrance on the left.  Turn left to enter the park, then turn right at the first intersection.  Park in the blacktop lot in front of the park's Museum/Visitor Center.

The hike: I first drove into Big Bone Lick State Historic Site in August 2000 when I worked in Fort Mitchell, KY a few miles to the north.  I came here after work one humid summer evening, and I only hiked the Coralberry Trail around this park's lake, never bothering to visit this park's famous mammoth and mastodon fossil dig site.  Likewise when I returned here to take some photos on a 100+ degree day in 2012, I confined myself to the trail I had hiked several years earlier.  Finally, as the first stop on my October 2023 hiking trip to Michigan and Ohio, I did a hike through the main part of the park on my third visit to Big Bone Lick.

            The fossil dig site that eluded my presence for so long has been an important site for centuries.  Before European settlers arrived, the Shawnee lived here, and Mary Draper Ingles was held hostage here before her daring escape back to Virginia.  Daniel Boone came here in 1770, and future President William Henry Harrison came here to collect fossils in 1795.  Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame dug for fossils here in 1803, and the park today is a stop on the Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail.

            Despite the site's impressive history, Big Bone Lick State Historic Site dates only to 1960.  The park offers a fantastic Visitor Center, which features fossil and art exhibits, a 62-site developed campground, and several hiking trails.  My earlier hike on the park's Coralberry Trail is described elsewhere in this Trail Journal, and this hike focuses on the trails that start at the Visitor Center, including the trails through the famous dig site and around the almost as famous bison pen.

Trailhead across from Visitor Center

            To take the long route to the bison pen and save the dig site for last, start across the parking lot from the Visitor Center and pick up the Gobbler's Trace as it heads southeast, going steeply uphill.  The Gobbler's Trace is the main trail connecting the park's Visitor Center and campground; it is well-trodden and marked with blue rectangular paint blazes.  Some wooden steps make the climb easier, but this is a steep ridge.  Oak and black walnut trees dominate the forest on the lower parts of the ridge.

Climbing the ridge

            After gaining almost 150 feet of elevation, you reach the ridgetop, and the trail flattens out.  Ignore (for now) the red-blazed Cedar Run Trail, which descends to the right, and stay on the blue-blazed Gobbler's Trace as it stays near the top of the narrow finger ridge.  Large numbers of red cedar trees and honeysuckle bushes grow up here, and the young forest allows a lot of light to reach the forest floor.

Trail intersection near park boundary

            At 0.55 miles, you reach a trail intersection with the park's east boundary straight ahead.  The Gobbler's Trace turns left here to continue its journey toward the campground, but you want to turn right to continue our first loop on the red-blazed Cedar Run Trail.  The Cedar Run Trail heads south with the park boundary on your left.  Some sections of this trail have been rerouted due to erosion problems, but the reroutes are well-signed and well-blazed.

Hiking the Cedar Run Trail

            The Cedar Run Trail uses a winding course that goes more downhill than uphill.  You may wonder whether this trail is taking you any direction in particular, but have some faith and keep following the red blazes.  At 1.4 miles, you reach another trail intersection.  The Cedar Run Trail continues straight to close its loop with the Gobbler's Trace, but you want to turn left on an unblazed spur trail marked "bison."

Spur trail to bison pen

            As the sign foretold, a moderate descent brings you to the bison pen at 1.5 miles.  Turn right to walk with the wire-fence pen to your left, and keep an eye out for the park's bison herd.  When I came here on a seasonally warm day in mid-October, most of the herd was laying in the shade, but I did see several bison here.  Take some time to admire these large scruffy animals.

Bison in bison pen

Bison pen

            After viewing the bison, walk the asphalt trail back to the parking lot to complete the first loop.  Next walk behind the Visitor Center to reach the viewing platform for the fossil dig site.  Statues of  mammoths, mastodons, and bones have been constructed to mark the area, and many interpretive signs describe the animals, fossils, and people who dug here.  Take some time to read the signs to appreciate the history of this site.

Fossil dig site

            Past the dig site, continue downhill and angle right to begin heading counterclockwise around the Big Bone Creek Trail's loop.  Soon you pass a couple of salt springs.  These springs are one reason so many large fossils were found in this area, and they still draw wildlife looking to replenish their body's salt today.  More interpretive signs describe the animals that frequent these springs.

Salt spring

            The rest of the Big Bone Creek Trail follows a nearly flat loop on mostly asphalt trail.  At 2.6 miles, you close the loop.  Turn right to walk back uphill past the Visitor Center to the parking lot to complete the hike.