
The North-South trail runs the length of LBL. The Golden Pond Visitor Center is near the center of the recreation area, and also near the center of the trail. From here, it's 31+ trail miles to the north entrance station, and 29+ miles to the south entrance station. Of course, I had no intention of hiking the whole thing today!

The trail starts heading directly back towards The Trace. You cross the highway just north of the road you just took to get here. Once across, you soon intersect the main North-South Trail. A two-sided sign indicates distances to various points north and south of you.
If you head north, you weave around the area for maybe 1/2 mile before popping back up on the west side of The Trace, just 1/4 mile further north from where you crossed it the first time. The trail then runs along the west shoulder of The Trace, until shortly after you pass under US68/KY80. Your path then takes you west, again. For much of the hike, you parallel a fair-sized creek bed. Today, the creek was almost entirely dry, but erosion has clearly worn quite aggressively under some trees along the way. The water must run pretty strongly during the spring.

Not much of a view along the way. For much of the hike, hills were on either side, and you couldn't see the forest for the trees. Just before reaching the turnoff for Dead Beaver campground, however, Kentucky Lake came into view.

I also walked down one of the (mostly) dry creek beds, and got a peek at Kentucky Lake (pictured at top), before heading back.
Total mileage for the day was about 9.8 miles. The sign at the junction for the spur trail to Dead Beaver Campground said it was 4.8 miles back to Golden Pond. In addition to the there-and-back walk, I took two roughly 1/4 mile RT detours: one to see the soybean field, and one to see Kentucky Lake. However, on my return, once I passed back under US68/KY80, I figure I saved about 1/4 by just walking along The Trace rather than following the actual trail that last bit.
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