Trailhead for the Big Sink Trail at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

Length: 1.4-mile loop
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Easy to moderately difficult

The Big Sink Trail at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park is a series of three loops strung together one after another, each labeled with a letter: A, B, and C Loop. The trailhead is located at the intersection of the B and C Loops, so you can hike either of these on their own. A Loop is reached by hiking B Loop. You can also hike all three loops as one oval totaling 1.4 miles.

Distances are as follows:

• A/B Loop: .75 mile
• B Loop: .4 mile (handicap accessible)
• C Loop: .6 mile

The Big Sink Trail begins behind the Picnic Area. A wonderful trail map at the start gives a variety of facts about the trail, including length and the grade (steepness) of the hills.

Map of the Big Sink Trail located at the trailhead, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

I hiked all three loops in the order of B Loop, A Loop, and then C Loop. To do so, at the trail sign take a left. At this point you are technically on C Loop, but as soon as you make the turn the trail forks at the start of B Loop. A directional arrow posted at the intersection instructs you to take a left. This is because B Loop has numbered information panels along its route, and to come to them in numeric order you must hike in a clockwise direction.

Start of the Big Sink Trail’s B Loop at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

The surface of B Loop is crushed limestone, whereas the other two loops have surfaces of coarser gravel. The reason I mention this is because B Loop is handicap accessible. Wheelchairs can more easily roll over the crushed limestone than the gravel, plus it is the only loop of the three that covers fairly level ground.

Typical terrain of the Big Sink Trail’s B Loop at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

The hike proceeds along B Loop for .2 mile before coming to Keith Road, which marks the intersection with A Loop. If all you want to do is hike B Loop, simply stay on the trail that parallels the road without crossing it. To get to A Loop, look across the road to your 10 o’clock position and you will see where the trail continues (there is no sign indicating the trail name). Right from the start, A Loop heads down a fairly steep hill.

Cross Keith Road to continue onto A Loop of the Big Sink Trail at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

If you could put railroad tracks on A Loop, you’d have a nice little roller coaster populated with many short, but steep hills. After the initial hill at Keith Road, the first uphill climb is tippy-toe steep—so steep that you must push off on the balls of your feet to move forward. Fortunately, the climb is short and you can reach the top of the hill in ten seconds. This is typical of all hills on the trail.

One of the hills along A Loop of the Big Sink Trail at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

At .6 mile into the hike you reach the end of A Loop and are back at Keith Road, just a short ways down from where you crossed a few minutes earlier. You can see B Loop on the other side, so cross the road and continue around B Loop in the direction your originally took.

Back at the intersection of the Big Sink Trail’s A and B loops at Keith Road, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

B Loop, while not flat by any means, is much more level than A Loop. Remember, this section is handicap accessible.

Hike along B Loop of the Big Sink Trail at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

In .2 mile you’ll come to the intersection with C Loop—take a left to continue the hike. A right takes you back to the picnic area. You can see the trail map stand from here, that’s how close you are to where you started.

Intersection of the Big Sink Trail’s B and C Loop, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

C Loop is the longest of the three loops at .6 mile. As far as difficulty goes, it is somewhere in between A and B Loop. There’s an initial hill of moderate difficulty, but the rest of the hills climb and descend at a much more gradual rate.

Mildly hilly terrain on C Loop of the Big Sink Trail at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

As with the other two loops, the hike around C Loop is uneventful. There aren’t even any information panels along this stretch of the hike.

Back to the starting point of Big Sink Trail at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

If you find yourself picnicking at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park and want to burn off some calories, the Big Sink Trail is a pleasant way to do so. You don’t have to worry about tripping over rocks and roots, so it’s a perfect trail for walking and talking with your friends without having to pay attention to where you must place your feet. It is also a great jogging trail. Other than that, I don’t see much reason to spend time hiking it. Since Abraham Lincoln moved away from Sinking Spring Farm when he was two years old, you can’t even pretend you are walking in his footsteps. Furthermore, though I hiked the trail in the winter, it’s easy to see that even with leaves on the trees that there isn’t anything particularly scenic about it. The Big Sink Trail is for exercise only.

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