A hiker's path: Marveling at the rock formations in Kentucky's Red River Gorge
The Red River Gorge is a unique, scenic, natural area that is designated as a geological area and a national landmark. It's also registered on the National Registry of Historic places.
It features spectacular rock formations, sandstone arches, and high, twisting cliffs.
The Red River Gorge lies within the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky. The forest maintains 706,000 acres while the Red River Gorge consists of 29,000 acres of rugged terrain inside of it.
The Red River tumbles through the high boulders in a narrow, twisting, and largely inaccessible hemlock grove.
The Sheltowee Trace trail meanders through the gorge area.
Not long ago, a friend and I made the trip down to Kentucky to visit this beautiful place. It was a bit of a drive but well worth the effort. The sky had been overcast but with no rain in the forecast, we decided to camp a couple of days to hike as much as we could while there. On the first day, we decided to hike 8 miles back on a trail that was very secluded and led to a beautiful waterfall.
We had been told that there were a couple of beautiful campsites back in the forest, and we found the perfect one after we had hiked most of the day.
The forest around us was very dense and full of small caves and rock shelters.
After we set up camp, We hiked just a bit farther to the falls. Another spectacular site. There was a climb to get up to it and we found we could go behind it. It’s a great experience standing behind a waterfall!
We spent a quiet night out in the wilderness with a small campfire and a night sky full of stars.
The next day we hiked back to the main road and decided to climb up a significant cliff to see some special rock formations. We would be climbing on Auxier Ridge.
One of the formations we would see was called the "courthouse" rock. It was a huge domed shaped rock on top of a high ridge which meant a lot of climbing.
On our way there, before we started our hike, we got to cross a beautiful suspension bridge. I don't know how long it was but it crossed over a creek about 20 feet below us. It swayed back and forth with every step we took.
The bridge joined the Sheltowee Trace trail and the Red River Gorge from the footpath. We spent nearly the entire day climbing and eventually got to the top of the ridge.
It was beautiful at the precipice of the Courthouse rock. There would be no climbing of that, just photo opportunities.
We had time for one more stop so we continued on to another known rock formation, the Double arches. These were two sandstone arches that stood back off the trail. More photos and more hiking!
The trail was a loop trail on top of the ridge and all together we hiked about 7 miles.
That night, we made camp again and slept very soundly.
The next day we hiked to see the Rock Bridge arch which was pretty awesome. I climbed up on it as far as I could. Beside it, I looked pretty small.
We also saw the Sky Bridge, the Angel windows rock formation, and others. There are over 100 stone arches in the Red River Gorge area. We would just see a handful on this trip.
We ended our last day there camping and enjoying a meal of campfire chili and roasted marshmallows.
The next morning it was time to pack up and head home. It had been a wonderful adventure!
To get to this place: The Red River Gorge is located about a hour east of Lexington, Kentucky. Take I-64 East to Bert T Combs Mountain highway. Then continue to Slade (exit 33). To enter the Gorge through Nada Tunnel, turn left onto KY-15 and then right onto KY-77.
A quote for your week: “In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins, not through strength but by perseverance.” — H. Jackson Brown, Jr., author, 1949-2021
Until the next trail,Susan
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Hiker visits Daniel Boone National Forest to see Red River Gorge
