Location: Clark State Forest
State: Indiana
Length: 58 Miles
Trail Type: Out and Back
Difficulty: Difficult
Starting out on the Knobstone Trail Indiana
Trail Information:
The Knobstone Trail (KT) is Indiana’s longest footpath - a 58-mile backcountry-hiking trail passing through Clark State Forest, Elk Creek Public Fishing Area, and Jackson-Washington State Forest.
Containing about 42,000 acres of rugged, forested land the trail extends from Deam Lake, just north of S.R. 60 in Clark County, to Delaney Park, just east of S.R. 135 in Washington County.
Eight trailheads have been developed along the trail, along wtih parking areas and direct access to the Knobstone Trail.
The Delaney Park Trailhead is located within Delaney Park, a Washington County Park that includes facilities for camping, cabins, showers, and a gated entrance.
The Elk Creek Trailhead is located at a public access site on Elk Creek Lake. The parking area for the lake and trail is paved. All of the other trailheads include a small gravel parking area.
The trail is marked by 2-inch by 6-inch white blazes painted near eye level on trees.
Two blazes on a tree indicate the trail changes direction at an intersection with another trail or forest road.
Attempts are made to mark the trail so that it is easy to follow. Trees which fall on the trail because of natural events can make it more challenging.
It is important to utilize both the map and the blazes while hiking the trail.
While using the trail, stay on public property.
In some areas, the trail follows a very narrow corridor of public property.
The trail travels over some flat land with extreme relief distinguished by narrow, relatively flat-topped ridges typical of the Knobstone Escarpment - and then a knobby slope between the Norman Upland and Scottsburg Lowland, two of southern Indiana’s natural land regions.
The Knobstone Escarpment is one of Indiana’s most scenic areas, rising more than 300 feet above low-lying farmland in some areas as it snakes northward from near the Ohio River to just south of Martinsville.
A central upland, mixed hardwood forest (oak-hickory and beech-maple association) dominates much of the escarpment. “Knobstone” shale, which is actually a combination of weathered brown shale, sandstone and siltstone, is common in the area and gives the escarpment its name.
Caution
Because the trail follows the Knobstone Escarpment, there are many steep climbs and descents. It can be regarded as a rugged, difficult trail to hike.
