John Muir Trail through Edmonson County
Map of Edmonson with the lower right, orange color area being where Muir Trail will go. PHOTO | Lynn Bledsoe
Lynn Bledsoe
Gimlet Managing Editor
January 20, 2026- Edmonson County Tourism held an informative meeting about a project involving John Muir. Edmonson County is part of the Cave Country Trails project.
Community members were excited to learn how the Muir Trail could impact the county. PHOTO | Lynn Bledsoe
John Muir was a conservationist who sought to understand the unique characteristics of various regions within the country. Muir travelled from Florida to Alaska and Canada in his discovery of the beauty of nature. He later settled in California. Muir helped write the congressional bill that established Yosemite National Park and was a co-founder of the Sierra Club. Muir wrote 12 books and published over 300 articles.
Edmonson County Tourism is looking for community input. Russell Clark from the National Park Service, Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, explained that in 1867, John Muir walked from Louisville, Kentucky, to Cedar Keys, Florida. Muir’s walk took him through Mammoth Cave. That brings Edmonson County into the 1000 Mile Trail project. Clark is working to connect the 8 points in Kentucky that Muir visited. These trails will promote the natural beauty of Kentucky.
Guest speaker Russell Clark. PHOTO | Lynn Bledsoe
Mammoth Cave plans to build a trail that will end behind the high school in the future, and Clark encouraged Edmonson to build out a bike and pedestrian plan, adopt it locally and then submit this to the Kentucky Department of Transportation. This would help ensure that any segment of the plan that follows the state highway corridor, in future highway improvements will be required to build out sidewalks or trails with federal highway dollars. Federal dollars can also be used to help with bridges across any river.
Edmonson News spoke with Judge Executive Scott Lindsey, who stated he would like to see a plan that circled from Brownsville to the Nolin Dam area and back to Mammoth Cave. This could be a large loop through the county that will certainly bring more tourists and their dollars to the county and promote businesses.
Judge Exec. Scott Lindsey and Mammoth Cave Director Barclay Tremble. PHOTO | Lynn Bledsoe
If you missed the meeting and would like to have some input, you can attend one of the following upcoming meetings at Warren County Public Library- Bob Kirby Branch on Jan. 28, 2026, at 4:30 pm or Melissa’s on Main in Munfordville Feb. 5 at 6:00pm.
