The Discovery Trail is a 4.5-mile trail mosaic comprised of all the Big Bone Lick State Historic Site’s hiking trails combined into continuous circuit. Collectively, the trails pass through grasslands, woodlands, a woody savanna, the salt-sulfur springs and the bison viewing area.
Big Bone Lick State Historic Park is just off Ky. 338 not far from Beaver Lick and Rabbit Hash in a hilly section of country where thousands of years ago huge animals distantly related to today’s bison roamed the woods finding food in salt licks, plentiful water and very little interference from humans. The animals are extinct but their bones remain, hence the clever name, Big Bone.
Hiking up the wet, rocky, slippery Gobblers trail, there is evidence of contemporary animals such as deer, fox and squirrels. Dead leaves contribute clues to varieties of maple, oak, hickory and beech trees in the woods. An abundance of invasive honeysuckle bushes creeep to the trail’s edge.
Gobblers links with Cedar Run on a ridge. Cedar Run curves and bends through younger woods passing the Bison Herd field and terminating near the park’s Museum & Visitor Center.
Information about Big Bone is plentiful on the park’s website, and a general park map is available in the Museum & Visitor Center. Informative displays are in the Museum & Visitor Center along with a gift shop. Not to be missed is a hike around the lake, which is named Lake on Coralberry Trail. Extending about two miles, the lake trail is lightly used compared to Gobblers and Cedar Run.
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. I live in Western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my door, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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