Cloudsplitter 100

Pine Mountain represents one of the last great contiguous stretches of unfragmented forest in Kentucky. And while other parts of the region have been developed, strip-mined or heavily logged, Pine Mountain remains relatively untouched. Positioned at the western edge of the Appalachian Mountains, the mountain offers commanding views of Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee. If ever there was a hope of preserving an ecological legacy for future generations of Kentuckians, this is it. The mountain has remained a refuge in the face of increasing human intrusion, mainly because it is a rugged nearly road-less mountain that is guarded by jutting sandstone cliffs, tangled rhododendron thickets and large, prehistoric land slides laden with car-sized boulders. Even when deer and turkey were driven out of most of the region, Pine Mountain remained a refuge for wildlife native to the area. Today the mountain serves as the travel corridor for black bear re-entering the state from Virginia and Tennessee. It provides habitat for the newly restored elk, and is the home of many species of native Kentucky flora dependent upon the unique physiographic and climatic conditions found only in the Appalachian highlands, and specifically on the Pine Mountain ridge line. Rose Pogonia, Frostweed, and the largest known populations of Yellow Wild Indigo in the Commonwealth are here for your discovery. 

Kentucky’s only 100 mile trail race will take place on Pine Mountain, deep in the heart of central Appalachia. The out and back course, will wind along the rugged, rocky and remote Pine Mountain Scenic Trail through Pike and Letcher counties in southeastern Kentucky. The Pine Mountain Scenic Trail traces a razor’s edge geological fault line along the southern Kentucky-Virginia border, stretching from Breaks Interstate Park to near Whitesburg, where it offers breathtaking views of Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee. This unique trail passes through dense forestland dotted with pioneer homesteads, cliffs, waterfalls, rock shelters, rhododendron thickets, caves, upland bogs and enormous sandstone boulders. Breached by only six roads in 110 miles, this is one of the most physically demanding trails in the East, and it remains a significant unprotected wilderness area.