3 Trip Reports
4
out of
5
The bare-rock crest of Pine Mountain provides spectacular vistas to the north.You also visit a 60-foot waterfall on this walk through a little-known preserve on the state’s southeastern edge. The 2,639-acre Bad Branch State Nature Preserve is one of the prettiest hiking spots in eastern Kentucky, just outside the Whitesburg area.
Bad Branch, a designated Kentucky Wild River, is a clear stream flowing down the south side of Pine Mountain. It empties into the Poor Fork of the Cumberland River just below the parking area. On this hike you follow Bad Branch upstream part of the way as you climb Pine Mountain to a sandstone cliff known as High Rock.
