Pilot Knob, Kentucky

Pilot Knob (W4K/EC-184) is located southeast of Lexington, Kentucky. The summit is part of the Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve and offers a short hike to the top. Supposedly Daniel Boone visited this summit back in the day.

Summit Information:

Summit Name: Pilot Knob, (W4K/EC-184 )

Location: Kentucky

Latitude/Longitude: 37.5639,-84.199

Date: January 22nd, 2021

Parking: Free

Points: 1

County: Powell County

Grid: EM77vn

Weather: Partly cloudy, 48 degrees

Permit: Yes, $20 Entrance fee

Full Trip Planning Guide

Difficulty

Views

Solitude

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As part of my master SOTA plan of activating a SOTA summit in every state that has one, I still lacked a summit in Kentucky. Luckily I was doing a 8 day road trip through the south and part of the midwest.

After an overnight at Lexington, KY a short ride later we arrived at the Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve trailhead. There is a small parking lot where you should park. I mention this obvious statement because the road continues on but isn’t actually a road. In fact the “road” is full of massive holes that would bottom out a car. A good 30 feet in and the “road” crosses a good size stream, so park at the parking lot. Once you cross the stream you come to a nice covered kiosk. Note there is no map available. As you hike on the trail, there is a junction. Later coming off the summit we realized that one could take either trail as they re-join higher up on the mountain.

After a nice hike (in nice weather) we arrived. I made several contacts on HF (20 & 40 meters) and my power cable fix worked just fine. After a nice relaxing afternoon, my wife and I headed on to West Virginia. Kentucky has been activated!