Land Activity

The Breaks Park has an amazing set of mountain biking trails. With the help of some fine folk in the National Park Service, the E.C. Heritage Council partnered with the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) to create the latest addition to the system. Not to be missed if you're a serious mountain-biker!

There's an abundance of fee and free camping in the area. The Breaks Interstate Park offers camping in season in the main Park and Ratliff Hole. Primitive sites in Ratliff Hole are $10 per night. All the park camping areas include bathroom/shower facilities. Free primitive camping is available in Elkhorn City at Carson Island, Elkhorn Beach, and along the river bank at Polly Island. Portajohns are usually provided at these sites during release season.

The Pine Mountain Trail has its northern end in Elkhorn. There is a parking area and picnic shelter for the trailhead on Carson Island. Kentucky's first linear state park extends down the ridge over 60 miles to the Pine Mountain State Park near Pineville. The ancient trail system throughout the upper Breaks Park offers everything from easy walks to rigorous descents into the gorge to the river. Tall cliffs have attracted local climbers and rappellers for years and the area is gaining a regional reputation. For multi-day hiking trips, a marked trail runs the Pine Mountain from Pound Gap at Jenkins to Potter Flats in the Breaks Park and countless side trails from this route offer breathtaking sights of Blowing Rock, Skeggs Gap, Pretty Rock House, Potter Flats and the Towers of the Breaks Gorge.