Collie Ridge Trail in Mammoth Cave National Park

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If you plan to hike in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park, do not rely on the map that comes with the free park brochure. Purchase the weatherproof map by National Geographic that is available in the Visitor Center book and souvenir store. This map has more detail, and it is going to last much longer than the paper map. I hiked most trails in the backcountry using the National Geographic map, and it’s nearly as good as new.

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Length:  4.6 miles (one way)
Time:  1.5 hours
Difficulty: Between easy and moderate
Suitable for Horses:  Yes

The Collie Ridge Trail is one of the many backcountry hiking and equestrian trails within Mammoth Cave National Park. It is a 4.6-mile out-and-back trail that leads to the Collie Ridge Backcountry Campsite. It is an old dirt road that is suitable for both hikers and horseback riders. I say this because some of the backcountry trails are CERTIFIED ROTTEN and not suitable for man or beast.

It is possible to combine the Collie Ridge Trail with other trails to form a loop, but don’t expect any short hikes in the backcountry. I hiked the entire trail as part of a loop with the Wet Prong and Blair Spring Hollow trails (13.6 miles). I also hiked the first two miles of it before looping back on the Mill Branch and Raymer Hollow trails (14 miles). As I said, there are no short hikes in the backcountry if you want to form any sort of loop.

Collie Ridge Trail Map (click to enlarge)

The Collie Ridge Trail begins at the Lincoln Trailhead on Ollie Road (if you are using Google Maps for directions, search LINCOLN TRAILHEAD MAMMOTH CAVE). From the Visitor Center or the Mammoth Cave Campground, which is where most people find themselves when visiting Mammoth Cave National Park, there is no quick way to get there. If the Green River Ferry is operating, it is a 10-mile drive. However, the road to the trailhead is a winding, inner-park road with a low speed limit, so it still takes about 45 minutes to get there. If the ferry is not operating, it is a 30-mile drive along state highways, which also takes about 45 minutes. Regardless of which route you take, depart an hour before you wish to start your hike.

This trail report covers only the Collie Ridge Trail. See the Mill Branch Trail, Raymer Hollow Trail, Wet Prong Trail, and Blair Spring Hollow Trail reports for reviews of these trails.

There is no trail identification sign at the Lincoln Trailhead other than one stating that you are at the Lincoln Trailhead, but rest assured the only trail here is the Collie Ridge Trail. The route is marked with blue blazes, which are colored markers or paint splotches on trees that you follow like Hansel and Gretel breadcrumbs. In a perfect world, you can typically see from one blaze to the next, but the world is far from perfect. However, you should see one every few minutes, so if you think you might have made a wrong turn and haven’t seen a blaze in quite a while, you probably did make a wrong turn. In truth, the trails are pretty well marked at Mammoth Cave, so you won’t be relying on blazes that often.

Start of the Collie Ridge Trail at the Lincoln Trailhead in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park

Blue blazes mark the route of the Collie Ridge Trail in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park

The first quarter mile of the Collie Ridge Trail is slightly hilly (mainly downhill) with grades topping out at 10%. Most hikers agree that 15% is where strenuous hiking begins, so a 10% grade is noticeable but not very difficult. The trail surface is fairly smooth, but there are some ruts. Black erosion mats cover this terrain to keep things from getting worse.

Erosion-protection mats at the start of the Collie Ridge Trail in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park

At .4 mile into the hike, the trail dead ends into an old dirt road. This is not on any of the maps (I added it to the one above), and there is no directional signage, at least not when I did the hike. There is a post, so maybe there was a sign at one time. Regardless, take a right. A left just leads back to Ollie Road.

Intersection of the Collie Ridge Trail and an old road .4 mile from the Lincoln Trailhead, Mammoth Cave National Park

Typical terrain on the Collie Ridge Trail as it follows an old dirt road in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park

Note: If you are returning to the Lincoln Trailhead on the Collie Ridge Trail, be on the lookout for the turn back to the parking lot, otherwise you will end up at another location on Ollie Road. There is a PARKING sign prior to the turn, but it is on the other side of the trail and 50 feet prior to it, so it is easy to miss. The sign should be directly at the intersection.

View of the turn to the Lincoln Trailhead when returning along the Collie Ridge Trail in the Mammoth Cave backcountry

While the terrain remains slightly hilly as before, most of the time you might as well consider it flat. The only notable thing to be aware of is that patches of the trail are covered with loose, golf-ball-size rocks that can slip out from under your feet. They don’t look like they belong on the trail naturally, and my guess is that the National Park Service dumped them here for erosion control. The best bet is to walk in the old tire tracks where there isn’t as much loose gravel.

Gravel dumped on the Collie Ridge Trail to control erosion, Mammoth Cave National Park

At .8 mile into the hike is a T-intersection. Take a left to remain on the Collie Ridge Trail. A right leads out of the park to the Double J Riding Stables and Horse Camp. You’ll see a lot more horseback riders than hikers in the backcountry, and this is one place where they start their rides.

Collie Ridge Trail at the intersection with a connector to the Double J Riding Stables just outside of Mammoth Cave National Park

For the next half mile, the general lay of the land is uphill, but again, grades never exceed 10%. It is just a long, steady, gradual ascent, somewhere between easy and moderate in difficulty. If you have walked from the Visitor Center down to the Historic Entrance of Mammoth Cave, the most difficult sections of the Collie Ridge Trail are similar to that. The only worry is the patches of loose rock that show up every so often.

Hilly terrain on the Collie Ridge Trail starting a mile into the hike, Mammoth Cave National Park

The top of the hill comes at 1.3 mile into the hike, and for the next .7 mile to the four-way intersection with the Raymer Hollow Trail (on the left) and the Blair Spring Hollow Trail (on the right), the Collie Ridge Trail is relatively flat and easy to hike. There is a picnic table and horse hitching posts at the intersection.

Intersection of the Collie Ridge, Raymer Hollow, and Blair Spring Hollow trails in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park

The Collie Ridge Trail continues straight, and about a tenth of a mile past the intersection is the Sand Spring Cemetery. Despite the cemetery being out in the middle of nowhere, there was a burial as recently as 1990. There aren’t a lot of tombstones, and a few are nothing more than field stones with no inscriptions on them or inscriptions so worn by time that they are no longer legible.

Sand Spring Cemetery on the Collie Ridge Trail in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park

Infant grave of Zelbert Elmore (1922-1925) at the Sand Spring Cemetery in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park

Grave of Elmer L. Elmore (1921-1990) at the Sand Spring Cemetery in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park

Fieldstone grave marker with an illegible inscription at the Sand Spring Cemetery in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park

Just past the cemetery is a dip in the trail, with the descent being quite steep—much steeper than anything previously. It is a 400-foot walk from top to bottom, and to make matters worse, the National Park Service has dumped another load of gravel on the trail. I had my foot slide out from under me on a couple of occasions. It’s so bad that the horseback riders actually made a short trail around some of it just so their horses don’t have to walk on the rocks. The climb out of the gully is equal in length and similar to the previous hills in difficulty.

Path around the gravel on the Collie Ridge Trail south of the Raymer Hollow Trail intersection, Mammoth Cave National Park

The intersection with the Mill Branch Trail is at the top of the hill, four tenths of a mile past the cemetery. There is a picnic table and hitching posts here as well, and as before, the Collie Ridge Trail continues straight ahead on the old road. The Mill Branch Trail, a traditional hiking trail, forks off to the left.

Intersection of the Collie Ridge and Mill Branch trails in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park

The intersection with the Wet Prong and Buffalo Creek Trails comes 1.4 miles after the Mill Branch Trail intersection. On this stretch of trail the terrain continues to be mildly hilly with grades never exceeding 9%. If you aren’t paying attention, for most of the way you’d swear you were traveling on flat ground.

I haven’t mentioned it before, but every now and then a mileage marker is attached to a tree. There is supposed to be one every quarter mile, and either I just didn’t pay attention to them or they were missing, but the first one I noticed was the 2.75-mile marker. CR on the marker stands for Collie Ridge.

Mileage marker on the Collie Ridge Trail in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park

The four-way intersection with the Wet Prong and Buffalo Creek trails has ten hitching posts for horses and a picnic table.

Hitching posts and picnic table at the intersection of the Collie Ridge, Wet Prong, and Buffalo Creek trails, Mammoth Cave National Park

I eventually made a loop back to the Lincoln Trailhead via the Wet Prong Trail, but I first continued to the end of the Collie Ridge Trail to see the Collie Ridge Backcountry Campsite, which is the only reason anyone would hike beyond the Wet Prong intersection. It is a .7-mile hike to the campsite, but the Collie Ridge Trail ends halfway. This segment is still a dirt road, but with much less traffic it is not in as good of shape as the rest of the Collie Ridge Trail. Also due to less traffic, it seemed like there were spider webs across the trail every few feet.

Terrain on the Collie Ridge Trail south of the intersection with the Wet Prong and Buffalo Creek trails, Mammoth Cave National Park

When the road portion of the Collie Ridge Trail comes to an end, hikers must continue another .35 mile on a traditional hiking trail to the campsite. See the Collie Ridge Backcountry Campsite web page here on National Park Planner for information and photos of the campsite.

End of the dirt road portion of the Collie Ridge Trail in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park

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