Memorable Forest

I don’t know what possessed me to hike for 14 miles. It wasn’t what I sought out when I woke up. Sure, I wanted to get some exercise in, check out Jefferson Memorial Forest and then enjoy the afternoon. There was an event in downtown Louisville I had planned on going to afterwards. And that changed quickly.

So, according to the web, JMF is the largest municipal urban forest in the US. I have no idea what that ultimately means, but I wanted to see the area, find a trail and get some hiking in. I checked in at the Visitors Center which was under construction as they are making improvements to the facility. Definitely a great spot to go see, I decided to take the the Siltstone Trail out and back. Now, I was warned it’s around a 6.7 mile one way trip. But, the elevation gain was only 330 feet…supposedly. I packed a bag of food and drink and set out for the trek.

Here’s what I’d say about the trail. Very easy to follow, vastly cleared of any debris, the occasional leaf pile made going down ‘slippery’ at times but a really good hike. No places to stop and sit, if you’re on this trail it’s a mission. I made it to Scott’s Gap trail where there’s a parking lot, rested for a bit and got back at it. Fortunately, I had an audio book to listen to and got through 35 chapters of that while on the trail. Now, as you’ll see below, the elevation gained all in for the 14 mile round trip was 10x the 330 feet advertised. The overall elevation difference may have been that small, but the actual hike was much more than that.

All the trees in the forest

I’d be curious to hike it once the trees are full of leaves. Didn’t go in thinking I’d have a 5 hour hike, so I crashed pretty hard after. Got a little nap in, a shower and then drove around for a bit before chilling in the evening. Read a book, caught up on a few journal entries and was asleep pretty dang early.