Red River Gorge

We find that we generally get pretty good service in the visitors centers. There are some standouts but this particular visitor center experience was an a&b, largely due to Josiah (sp?). What a treat to have met him. In fact, so much so that the wife and I drove back through the entire park at the end of our day to say thanks and he remembered our names and the things we had shared early in the say. What a great guy! He was helpful, super friendly, knowledgeable, and seemed very sincere.

There was another young lady who was helping other folks who was also very friendly to them but we didn't hear much
The store was VERY clean, the restrooms were clean (wife approved), and lots of good stuff.

The park was well laid out, trails and warnings clearly indicated, and really just a great day.

I think I went to the Red River Gorge on the best day possible. It's the end of October so the trees were looking stellar with all those fall colors.

During our time, we rode the sky lift up to the Natural Bridge (definitely a beautiful ride that takes ~10 minutes, seems overpriced to me though.. $17 round trip and seeing the lines you know they're making bank). Go earlier to enjoy the views with lower traffic.

Also did the Whittleton Arch trail. There wasn't parking at the trailhead, so the four mile hike was more like six once you tack on our hike from the car to the starting point. The trail wasn't easy, but not hard. Multiple cave like areas, it seemed the temperature would vary ten degrees depending if you were near a cave or not. The end point was a little disappointing for me, not much of an arch and if you climb up on the left side it doesn't really take you anywhere. Fun to climb around the rocks.

Definitely plan ahead where you want to go because you don't get service within the park. I know Miguel's is a favorite of many, but I'll have to try another time when I can spend some time waiting in a line. The ice cream shop was really yummy with lots of options.

Overall, beautiful park and I was surprised there weren't more people there on such an unexpectedly beautiful October day.

Our family reunion here was a lot of fun. We spent the weekend at Quiet Waters Cabin, which is down the street from the all the trails to the Natural Bridge, which I ran to one morning - 5 mile out and back. The community center has square dancing Saturday evenings for a small fee, and some of the elders teach you every step, which was welcome, as I felt foolish, but welcomed by everyone. Another good way to get some exercise in and learn dance moves that needed a lot of rust busting. We toured the Gorge Underground Mine, which was a one of a kind tour of an abandoned / repurposed limestone mine - simply fascinating. We picnicked at the Silvermine Arch from its trailhead, and then had ice crème back in town at the general store. So many things to do too in the summer when it's open season for kayaking the local rivers. Red River Gorge is only about an hour East of 75 another 30 mins south of Lexington, but it's well worth the excursion if you aren't in any rush to head north or south along that route.

I had no idea that such a beautiful national park/hiking area existed so close to Cincy! This was a great way to spend a long Easter weekend, and explore some of the Bluegrass State.

We drove down Saturday morning: from the Florence-Union area, this was just under a 2 hour trip. My fiancé did some research beforehand about which trails were the best without being too rocky, since we were bringing our dog with us. We used the All Trails app (highly recommend downloading this!) and selected the "Double Arch, Courthouse Rock, and Auxier Ridge Loop" trail. If that sounds like a mouthful, that's because it's actually three trails that merge into one another, creating a moderately challenging hike with incredible views.

Once you actually get to "Red River Gorge," there's a decent drive back into the mountains to get to this particular trail. There were lots of options for parking on our drive for other trails ... but when we arrived to the one we actually wanted to hike, it was packed! I realize that this was a holiday weekend, and one of the first with nice weather in recent months, but we probably spent just figuring out where and how to park. We ended up having to get creative and park on a curve in the road ... maybe that's our fault for arriving at the peak of the day, but it seems like if this trail is popular, there should be more parking available?

The All Trails app advised us that the hike is a bit easier if you go counter-clockwise around the loop, so that's what we did. We hiked for around 3.5 hours, and traveled just over 5 miles. We opted out of the "Double Arch" part of the trail, since that would have had us double back a bit.

Again, I realize this was a holiday weekend, but these trails were BUSY! If you were looking to reconnect with nature and center yourself spiritually with your surroundings, this is not the trail to do that on. Most of the other hikers were courteous and friendly, but we ran into at least a few that acted like they owned the trail. And just as a personal pet peeve (literally), I don't care how well-trained your dog is - if the park requires dogs to be leashed, then keep them on a leash! Our dog is a rescue and not comfortable being around other dogs in close quarters, so I definitely did not appreciate when we would pull our fur baby over to the side to let someone pass, only to find a dog without a leash wandering up to him and making him nervous.

All that said, this was a beautiful hike, and we'd love to explore other parts of Red River Gorge. Be advised that certain parts of this particular trail were a bit rocky, and others were quite muddy. There is a lovely creek crossing portion of the hike, and another section where you'll feel like you're literally on top of the world.

Had an Amazing Time!! Beautiful Views, Great Hiking Trails. Would definitely recommend

Amazing experience! We took our 4 kids (5, 10, 11, 13) and they were able to do most of the trails without issues. It's not a playground and it's a dangerous place so if your kids aren't very mature, I would not recommend. The hikes and trails mostly don't have any railings of and kind and are next to steep sloping cliffs. But ours did great and the views were incredible. We will be returning! Our first time camping/in the mountains of Kentucky ever.

It's a great natural space. The visitor experience was not what I'd hoped. One drives in (assuming you come from the parkway) through a rather terrifying rock tunnel that is labeled as historic and which does not inspire much confidence. The roads beyond it were in poor condition when I arrived, with several sections breaking down and with warning signs around them, and with a bridge completely closed, dead-ending my trip before what looked like a pretty appealing overlook. In addition to various (mostly small) parking lots, pull-offs from the road appeared frequently, though it often wasn't obvious where one would go if one parked there.

The area is indeed a gorge, and in most areas I found the road way above the river. The banks were of very soft (and reddish) clay, and it was pretty treacherous on the rainy day I was there, resulting in a twisted ankle and a banged up knee. The river was not big at all and looked wadeable in parts. On the riverbank near the closed bridge, a decidedly unofficial looking campsite was laden with trash and creepily abandoned.

My conclusion boils down to it being a nice area but a bit wilder and less well maintained than I'd hope for. I think I could enjoy it more with the benefit of experience and some better planning. Renting a kayak might also be worthwhile. And definitely watch out for bears.

1/16/21
Came here with my friend for a snow filled winter hike up to the double arch. It was so beautiful to explore during this weather. The hike is a bit steep but it's pretty short once you get to the trailhead. There are a lot of muddy trails but that's to be expected when hiking in the woods. Would recommend good hiking shoes with traction for safety. But over all this hike is pretty easy and worth the views. Shortest and safest for the snowy hiking trails.

I have asked for 3 or 4 winters, To go with my son and group to RRG. Hike is and camp for 2 night.
So this January I said yes.
It's $5 for 3 day pass stay over night, You can the pass at either of the Slade gas station off the Parkway.
So I hike in the dark, Friday night to we're camping a mile in, I'm really I'm pressed with survival skills.
In January I dressed in 3 layer & never wore a jacket. As long as hiking you don't need it. The fire was a life saver.
We never ran into another person tell Sunday morning hiking back to parking lot.
The other guys say come March it starts getting crowded.
No snakes, Bugs or bears in January, But there was plenty of bear evidence left behind were we hiked.

Best place to hike so many trails for all levels the views are extremely beautiful. Pictures from chimney top, rock bridge and princess arch