Five-Star Trails: Louisville and Southern Indiana: 40 Spectacular Hikes in the Derby City Region

Discover the best hikes in Louisville, Kentucky, and beyond!

Louisville is known as the City of Parks, and its population has long valued the natural landscape and the provisioning of outdoor recreation. Nestled within the Ohio Valley and bordered by the Knobs region to the south and heavily wooded areas to the north, Louisville lies near an endless array of hiking opportunities: national forests, state and local parks, and nature preserves.

Explore 40 of Louisville’s five-star trails--including the best walking paths and hidden hiking treasures in central Kentucky and southern Indiana. With hikes in this guide divided into five distinct areas, you’ll wind through hilly woodlands, around beautiful lakes, along meandering creeks, and across expansive meadows. Kentucky author and hiking expert Valerie Askren details easy strolls along Louisville’s many paved trails, treks past lovely ponds and fields of wildflowers, and longer hikes traversing densely wooded hills--all offering a broad spectrum of diverse landscapes.

Inside you’ll find:

• Descriptions of 40 five-star hiking trails for all levels and interests


• Full-color GPS-based trail maps, elevation profiles, and detailed directions to trailheads


• Insight into the history, flora, and fauna of the routes


• Ratings for scenery, difficulty, trail condition, solitude, and accessibility for children

Save time and make the most of your hiking adventures. Experience the area’s breathtaking scenery, varied terrain, and amazing wildlife. Lace up, grab your pack, and hit the trail!

After having spent more than 20 years as a university researcher and professor, Valerie Askren traded the ivory towers of academia for the hardwood forests and sandstone arches of Kentucky. The proverbial outdoorswoman, she has swum in Africa’s Lake Malawi, climbed China’s Mount Tai, sailed the coast of southern France, biked Nova Scotia, backpacked across Canada, and survived the biting cold of farm life in the Ukraine. She spent her honeymoon kayaking the Grand Canyon with her husband, Ben.

Valerie’s background in natural-resource economics and her love of the wilderness translated into a second career writing outdoor guides, including Hike the Bluegrass and Beyond, Fly Fishing Kentucky, Backpacking Kentucky, and Backcountry Cuisine.

Valerie lives in Lexington, Kentucky, where a peaceful wooded path, beautiful public garden, or historical walking trail is always close at hand.