Lincoln Boyhood Trail at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

Length:  .4 mile, one way
Time: 30 minutes with stops at the Pioneer Cemetery and Lincoln Cabin Site
Difficulty: Hilly but easy

The layout of the trails at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial is two loops, a northern and a southern loop, with a short connector between them. The southern loop is actually comprised of two trails, with the Lincoln Boyhood Trail being the western side starting at the Pioneer Cemetery and ending at the Lincoln Living Historical Farm. The eastern half of the loop is the Trail of Twelve Stones. There is very little reason not to hike the entire loop, which is only about a mile in length.

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial map (click to enlarge)

A hike on the Lincoln Boyhood Trail starts at the allée across from the Visitor Center. This is the long, grass field flanked by the forest on either side and with a flagpole at the far end. Walk past the flagpole until reaching the Pioneer Cemetery where Abraham Lincoln’s mother, Nancy, is buried. If you keep walking past the cemetery, you will be on the Lincoln Boyhood Trail despite the only directional sign mentioning the Trail of Twelve Stones.

The allée at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

Lincoln Boyhood Trail starts at the Pioneer Cemetery, Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

The path to the cemetery is a concrete sidewalk, but beyond it the Lincoln Boyhood Trail becomes a wide, dirt trail with a smooth surface similar to a gravel road. It starts off down a long, gradual hill that might be a little tiring if you were coming the other way.

Typical terrain on the Lincoln Boyhood Trail in Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

The trail continues for about two tenths of a mile before leveling out at a parking lot for the farm (still a tenth of a mile away). There is also a picnic pavilion and a fancy outhouse, which is what Jed Clampett would call a portable toilet in a permanent building. The Lincoln’s would have loved one, but today they are considered a less-than-desirable place to use the restroom. Just before the outhouse is a trail to the right that cuts over to the Trail of Twelve Stones on the other side of the loop. Ignore this and just follow the sign to the Thomas Lincoln Farm.

Lincoln Boyhood Trail continues past the picnic pavilion and restroom building at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

Just beyond the parking lot are tracks for the Southern Railroad’s Cannelton Spurline. This is an active rail line, so be careful when crossing.

Train passes through Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial near the picnic pavilion

The land on the other side of the railroad tracks is the southern end of what was once Thomas Lincoln’s farm (Abraham’s dad) when the family moved here in December 1816. The National Park Service maintains a crop area at this end of the farm where typical 19th century vegetables are grown and harvested using the same methods as the Lincoln’s would have used. Keep in mind that this is not the Lincoln Living Historical Farm, so keep on walking.

Lincoln Boyhood Trail passes through the crop area of the Lincoln Living Historical Farm at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

The next point of interest is a tenth of a mile from the parking lot, the supposed site of a cabin that Thomas and Abraham started building in 1829 but never finished before they moved to Illinois in 1830 (the new owner, Charles Grigsby, supposedly completed the construction). The Lincoln’s built two other cabins on their property, but the locations are unknown. When they moved to Illinois they were just another anonymous family in rural Indiana. Nobody was concerned about where their old cabins once stood. It wasn’t until after Lincoln’s death in 1865 that there was interest in his early life.

By the time the Lincoln’s moved, Thomas only owned 80 acres of the original 160-acre tract he had purchased from the government. The other half had been sold back in a land deal approved by President James Monroe in 1821. Landowners could sell back the worst half of their land yet get a credit towards what they owed based on the price per acre of the land they kept, which would presumably be the more valuable half (sounds like another great government deal). This allowed Thomas to pay off his mortgage, giving him clear title.

By the time of Abraham Lincoln’s death, the 80 acres had been bought and sold seven times, and the fifth owner actually split the property in two when selling. The final owner of the land prior to 1865, James Gentry, had managed to buy back all 80 acres through various deals. He and others in the area were aware of the cabin that supposedly had been built by the Lincolns. In fact, when Lincoln died, local residents had their photos made in front of it, and a few of these still exist. Gentry eventually sold the land in 1871 to men who hoped to cash in on the newfound interest in Lincoln’s past by establishing the town of Lincoln City. The deal allowed Gentry to keep the Lincoln Cabin, and according to local lore, he had it torn down in 1874 and cut into pieces for sale to souvenir hunters.

In 1917, when Spencer County officials became seriously interested in locating not only the cabin site but also Nancy Lincoln’s grave site (which had also been lost to time), some local ol’ timers identified the site of the 1829 cabin, and a marker was placed on it. By the time the state of Indiana became involved in creating a memorial park in the 1920s, the cabin site was part of a school playground.

With the 1829 cabin site now established as the likely location of the only known Lincoln cabin, in 1931 architect Thomas Hibben was hired to design a permanent memorial marker. His idea was a bronze sculpture of cabin sill logs (bottom logs of a cabin) and a hearth. Before the sculpture was installed in 1935, the site, which was by then part of Nancy Hanks Lincoln State Memorial, was excavated, and hearthstones were located about 18 inches below ground indicating that a cabin did indeed once stand on this spot. However, there is no firm evidence that it belonged to the Lincoln’s, so the site is just symbolic of Abraham Lincoln’s early home.

Lincoln Cabin site at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

Lincoln Cabin site at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

The Lincoln Boyhood Trail ends at the Lincoln Living Historical Farm, which is just a stone’s throw from the cabin site. This is a late-1960s reproduction of a typical 1820s farm in Indiana that was built by the National Park Service. Depending on when you visit, there may be Rangers or park volunteers dressed in period costumes working on the farm, answering questions, and demonstrating crafts that were vital to keeping a farm running in the early 1800s. The farm is staffed from mid-April through September, but visitors are always welcome to walk out to the farm and see the buildings at any time between sunrise and sunset.

The Lincoln Boyhood Trail ends at the Lincoln Living Historical Farm, Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

Living history farmer shapes a piece of wood to repair farm equipment at the Lincoln Living Historical Farm in Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

There is also a short side trail at the farm that leads to the Lincoln Spring. At the end is a small monument marking the location of the spring used by the Lincolns for water.

Small monument marks the location of the spring used by the Lincolns when they lived near Little Pigeon Creek in Indiana, Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

If you continue hiking past the farm, you will be on the Trail of Twelve Stones. Even if you came specifically for the farm, I don’t see any reason to hike back the way you came because the distance to the Visitor Center is about the same either way. If you do continue, the intersection with the connector to the Boyhood Nature Trail (the northern loop) is just up ahead. If you don’t mind an extra mile of hiking on similar terrain, I suggest adding it to your itinerary and making the Trail of Twelve Stones the last leg of your journey. If you do this, you will have hiked all the trails at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, and the total distance is only about two miles.

End of the Lincoln Boyhood Trail and the start of the Trail of Twelve Stones just past the Lincoln Living Historical Farm at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

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