O & W Railroad Trail

I didn't start navigating until I was a mile or so in. Easy trail to follow that runs along Big South Fork River. It was a little muddy closer to O&W Bridge but nothing that couldn't be manuevered around.

We went on only 1/2 the leatherwood trail then turned off to needles eye past the o & w bridge.

Nice hike. LOTS of very wet and very muddy spots.

Great condition of bridge and trails. Good trail to take visitors & novices on as it offers good views while not being strenuous nor requiring any technical expertise.

A mostly easy trail, with absolutely beautiful views of the Cumberland River for nearly the entire way. Some huge bolders dot the trail, and a large rock on the west end of the bridge is perfect for napping.

Magical! Gorgeous hiking!

Great hike. Especially this time of year with all the fall colors. At times the trail gets tough to see because of the fallen leaves. One of my new favorites.

Great fairly easy hike. Was a beautiful day.

Really peaceful, secluded trail. A couple downed trees make the turnaround point a little hard to find but the rest of the trail is well-kept and well-marked.

I only give it one star because we came so close to reaching the end but we came across a baby copperhead on the trail and my husband almost stepped on it so our nerves were shot and we had to turn around

Flat, can get near water pretty easy.

Trails was well maintained. Some sections are starting to wash away from erosion and parts were muddy but too be expected. Loved the portion we walked on.

We just did an out-and-back to the bridge over the river. Very nice views!

A relatively easy trail all the way down and back. I chose to also do the O&W bridge trail as well, which was well worth the extra 5 miles round trip.

beautiful trail with some elevation changes along a river, 2 waterfalls, and pretty rock formations

good trail conditions and easy route to follow

Beautiful trail

Easy hike. Plenty of parking at the trailhead. We didn't see anyone else on the trail at all. There was ice on the river and still snow in the shady parts of the trail. I imagine it would be busier when warmer.

My son and I hiked the trail from the West towards the bridge. This part is all private property and unmaintained. Beautiful land that is rarely hiked since it is outside the park but property owners are aware that the trail is public even though it crosses their land. There is a campsite and a probative cabin along the trail that the owner offers to rent on hipcamp.com is called off grid paradise and moonlight ridge. Great for through hikers on this 34 mile trail.

The tree is still down but you can get around it. Nice trail to hike. Would do again

Nice hike along the river. There is still a half downed tree about 1 mile in. It’s a bit hard to get around.

Good Morning Hike has tree down half way be careful getting around.

7/22/2022 - approx 1.5 miles up trail is a very large downed tree. Trail not passable. Reported to rangers.

Nice walk pretty level some switchbacks some washed out areas mile trail easy to do in 2 miles or more an hour

Great trail

Although the O&W Railroad section of John Muir Trail is one of the most popular hikes in Big South Fork — perhaps second only to Angel Falls Trail, it’s still a lovely outdoor escape. The entire route runs beside the Cumberland River South Fork, covering the section between the bends at Leatherwood Ford and O&W Bridge. There are numerous river access points along sandy banks the entire way. There is one large muddy section closer to the turnaround, but a bypass has been created along the ridge of an embankment. The elevation gain is minimal, and the tail is extremely well maintained year-round. No way-finding is required for this trail; stick to the main path that runs beside the river and turnaround at the bridge. I didn’t realize that my AllTrails recording had crashed until I reached O&W Bridge, so my route only reflects the return leg of this out-and-back trail.

It was a pretty trail, minus all the mud. Had it to ourselves.

Really great hike!

Beautiful day and beautiful scenery. We did the leatherwood loop first since it had a sharp elevation gain. We wanted to get that out of the way first. the old rail bridge is beautiful with a great view. The green hue of the river was magnificent with the beige boulders dotting along it's path. Very quiet for most of the trip. ran into less than 10 people along this trail.