General Burnside Island State Park: Point Isabel Trail (Blog Hike #1030)

Trail: Point Isabel Trail
Hike Location: General Burnside Island State Park
Geographic Location: south of Somerset, KY (36.97541, -84.59766)
Length: 2 miles
Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: September 2024
Overview: An out-and-back to a fantastic overlook of the Cumberland River.
Park Information: https://parks.ky.gov/explore/general-burnside-island-state-park-7812
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=972909
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming November 21, 2025)

Directions to the trailhead: From downtown Somerset, take US 27 south 9.5 miles to the signed park entrance on the right.  Turn right to enter the park, and park on the right side of the large blacktop parking lot for boat trailers.  This parking lot is located just before reaching the ranger station and old swimming pool.

The hike: Located deep in the hills of south-central Kentucky, cozy General Burnside Island State Park protects 430 acres on an island where the Cumberland River receives its Big South Fork.  The island was created with the construction of Wolf Creek Dam and Lake Cumberland in 1939, and the park was formed in 1958.  The park is named for General Ambrose E. Burnside, a Union Civil War general.  Although Burnside is most famously connected with the Burnside Bridge at Antietam, he later commanded Union troops in the Civil War's western theater including here and in eastern Tennessee.

            Today the park is best known for its golf course, which consistently ranks as one of the best public courses in Kentucky.  The park also features a 94-site developed campground, a marina on Lake Cumberland, and several picnic areas.  For hikers, General Burnside Island State Park offers only 1 trail, but it is a good out-and-back trail that leads along a hillside past Burnside's historic defenses to a fantastic river overlook.  Such is the hike described here.

Picnic area trailhead

            From the parking lot, your first task is to find the trailhead.  Walk inbound (south) on the main park road out of the parking lot, then turn right on a gated paved picnic area road.  The trailhead is on the right in a couple hundred feet; a brown carsonite post and a sign stating trail regulations mark this trailhead.

Hiking the Point Isabel Trail

            The single-track dirt trail climbs steeply but only for a short distance.  The mixed pine and broadleaf forest features a dense understory of honeysuckle.  The trail stays in a fairly narrow swath of forest with the developed area of the park uphill to the left and a cliff through the trees to the right.  After passing through a power line corridor, ignore a signed spur trail that exits left.

Old stone wall

            At 0.6 miles, the trail starts paralleling a stone wall on the right.  Interpretive signs tell you that General Burnside stationed his troops in this area, probably using the steep hill that falls to the right as a natural defense.  After a short climb and shorter rocky area, you come out at the campground road.  As directed by a sign, angle right to begin walking along the road and continue heading for Point Isabel.

Entering the campground

            When you get to campsite #27, the trail exits the road to the right.  Again, a nice wooden sign marks this turn.  Turn right and top a final rocky section to reach the Point Isabel overlook.  Legend says that this overlook is named for a girl named Isabel who did a "lover's leap" to her death here, but details of her or her circumstances are sketchy.

Point Isabel overlook

            Point Isabel offers a fantastic northward view from more than 100 feet above the Cumberland River, which looks more like a lake than a river at this point.  You can also see the SR 90 river bridge in the distance.  The trail ends here, so the only option is to retrace your steps to the trailhead and parking lot to complete the hike.