About the Project
The Kentucky Hiker Project was created to inspire, equip, and connect you to the best hiking adventures in the Commonwealth. Over the years, hundreds of hikes have been shared online with evolving content that now includes an overview, map, elevation profile, route stats, GPS waypoints, .gpx files, parking, trail navigation, notes, rule reminders, cautions, and plenty of photos for each documented hike.
The Project is NOT crowd-sourced, and all routes are verified by a single editor. Crowd-sourcing is great for speed of content creation, but can be rather lousy for accuracy and reliability. That said, the website is designed to be a point of reference, not the only point of reference. Thorough research leads to better and safer adventures.
Project Timeline
August 2015 - First Documented Hike
July 2019 - https://kentuckyhiker.com Begins
July 2019 - Instagram and Weekly Newsletter Begins
January 2021 - https://kentuckyhiker.org Begins
December 2022 - Kentucky Natural Lands Trust Fundraiser
Working Projects
New Guidebook. The immediate term project is to publish a new guidebook entitled, First Weekend in Red River Gorge, as a digital only book. This will include classic routes in the Red with a substantial amount of content designed to more fully prepare hikers for their adventures.
Red River Gorge Compendium. This encyclopedic edition will include every sensible hiking route in the Gorge from short day hikes to classic backpacking routes so hikers can more fully explore what is arguably Kentucky’s most beautiful hiking region. Emphasis on arguably.
ALL of Kentucky’s Best. In the very long-term, The Project will document all of Kentucky’s best hiking routes that will number in the hundreds rather than the small samplings currently published. The Commonwealth is rich with variety in terms of hiking and has something for everyone.
Tourism Boards and Non-Profits
Over the years, many tourism boards, meet-up groups, and non-profits have requested content, and the policy is pretty easy - all content presented on the website, via email, and on social media is free to use for all tourism boards and non-profit organizations. There is no need to request permission for use.
In addition, counties are tagged on each post and can be retrieved for use as follows:
https://kentuckyhiker.org/hikes/tag/XXXXXXX+County
Collaborations
Sensible collaborations are welcome and inquiries can be made via email at hello@kentuckyhiker.com Preference is given to Kentucky-based businesses and national brands with operations in the Commonwealth.
Hiking Meet-ups
The Project does not provide hiking meet-ups, but inquiries for this are received very frequently - mostly from women. Please checkout these groups for their upcoming group hikes:
Eastern Kentucky Hiker Babes
Western Kentucky Hiker Babes
Tri-State IN-KY-OH Hiking
About the Editor
Hi! I’m Michael Harr, and I’m the creator behind this project. I grew up in Burlington, Kentucky and currently reside in Florence Y’all. I’ve been married since ‘98 and raised two young men - one living in Steamboat and the other finishing his degree at home.
I spend most of my free time outdoors hiking, running, and skiing. I’ve retired from the corporate grind, and our family owns and operates Full Body Fitness and Yoga.
I hold undergraduate and graduate degrees in business with concentrations in finance and economics from Thomas More University, and I’m a certified professional ski instructor.
Love dogs, but have two cats instead. #marriedlife
Recent Hikes
