Editor’s Note: Please check ahead on conditions after recent flooding.
Photo Above: The Cut-Through is a defining feature of Pikeville.
Photos Courtesy of Leonard M. and Laurie Adkins
Pikeville, Kentucky, has put itself on the trail-map map with a varied, demanding and rewarding trail.
“Pikeville had an established multiuse trail and an existing ADA route. However, we were lacking an adequate-sized hiking/mountainous trail. So, I wanted the new trail to traverse as many different habitats as possible and knew it would be strenuous due to the natural terrain and topography. It’s designed to appeal to the more seasoned hikers or anyone who wants to challenge themselves physically.”
That is (former) Director of Outdoor Recreation P.J. Collins telling me about the Real McCoy Trail that he created in Pikeville, Kentucky’s Bob Amos Park and opened to the public in 2022.
Laurie and I can corroborate that he has certainly achieved his design of creating a demanding pathway. The route switchbacked uphill at such an angle that we found ourselves huffing and puffing within a few hundred feet of the trailhead. Several places had ropes installed that we used to basically pull ourselves hand over hand up the steep ascents of spur ridges dotted with craggy boulder formations. Protruding rocks twisted ankles while soft soils in other places made for slippery footing. Thorn bushes had the potential of growing into the trail if not cut back on a regular basis.
It was not all hard labor, though. Once ridgelines were attained, the pathway undulated with just minor ups and downs, delivered us to majestic older growth woodlands in isolated mountain coves and wildflowers, such as fire pink and dwarf iris, are always a joy to see on any outing. Powerline rights-of-way provided rewarding views of eastern Kentucky’s rugged topography and one highpoint opened up a soaring vista of Pikeville nestled within the narrow Levisa Fork valley.
In fact, the trail gets downright easy as it nears its end point, making use of the quarter-mile accessible Story Trail (with seasonally changing pages of children’s books displayed on weatherproof signposts) and going near the Muddy Boots stables, which provides horse rides on one of the trails within the park.
And what a park this is. Having grown up in a neighborhood where the city park was a postage stamp-sized sand lot with one picnic table and single basketball hoop, I have to give kudos to Pikeville for providing its citizens with so many amenities within its boundaries. In addition to the Real McCoy, Story and horse trails, the park has additional miles of multiuse pathways, ball fields, a walking track, picnic facilities, children’s playgrounds, dog parks, a swimming pool and even an RV campground.
Also in the park is a developed overlook of the extraordinary Pikeville Cut-Through. Constructed between 1973 and 1987, the project was called by the New York Times, the “Eighth Wonder of the World” as the project moved 18 million cubic yards of earth to create the three-quarter-mile -long, 523-foot-deep cut into Peach Orchard Mountain, into which railroad tracks, a four lane highway and, amazingly, the course of the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River were rerouted.
When You Go
The Walk: A strenuous 4.7-mile loop (Please note: more strenuous than usually presented in The Good Walk) in Pikeville, Kentucky’s Bob Amos Park.
Getting There: Exit US 23 at Hambley Boulevard in Pikeville, cross the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River, go .1 mile, turn left onto Bob Amos Drive and continue another 1.5 miles to the trailhead parking.
More Information: A map of the trail may be downloaded from visitpikeville.com/trails.
Bed and Brews
The Hampton Inn is less than a 10-minute drive from the trailhead, and Bank 253, less than a five-minute walk from the inn, provided us with half-price appetizers and $3 drafts during happy hour (5 PM-7 PM, Monday-Friday).
Leonard has written 20 books on the outdoors and travel. Find out more at www.habitualhiker.com. He also writes Mountain Wildflowers, found on blueridgecountry.com.
The story above first appeared in our May / June 2025 issue.
