We want to start this blog out by saying these are hikes that we deem to be the best. Although we have spent many hours in Red River Gorge hiking a lot of their trails, we haven’t hiked on ALL the trails the gorge has to offer. We continue to hold onto a list of trails that are on our bucket list but haven’t been hiked just yet. Some of these in RRG include Indian Staircase, Hopewell Arch, and more. As we continue to explore what this vast world has to offer, we hope to continue to update our blogs! Now let’s talk about Red River Gorge!
Nestled in the heart of Appalachia, you’ll find Red River Gorge (RRG). Eastern Kentucky’s natural wonder that keeps on giving. The land of arches. This place is not only a local favorite, but an amazing destination for visitors, especially day or weekend trips. In addition to the amazing hiking here, including both waterfalls and TONS of sandstone arches, RRG is one of the top climbing and rappelling destinations in the world! If canoeing or kayaking is more your speed, you can do that here too. RRG is a place we visit several times a year and we are never dissatisfied with our hikes. We will say, our favorite time of year is Fall or Winter when visiting.
RRG can make a fantastic day or weekend trip from several states surround Kentucky including Tennessee, West Virginia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Ohio.
Day trips from:
Lexington, KY- 57 mins
Louisville, KY 1 hr 53 mins
Knoxville, TN 2 hr 38 mins
Nashville, TN 3 hr 59 mins
Cincinnati Oh- 1 hr 55mins
Charleston, WV-2 hr 46 mins
Asheville, NC- 4 hr 56 mins
Natural Bridge
Natural Bridge is famous for a reason! It’s RRG’s most hiked trail and there is a good reason why. A large sandstone bridge that you can walk across is a pretty promising adventure.
From the parking lot, you’ll find a wooden stair case leading down which is where your hike will begin. The trail leads you along a small creek of water and over a swinging bridge. Once you pass the public restrooms, you’ll find several different trails. It’s important to note that there are several different routes to Natural Bridge. These include:
Laurel Ridge Trail
Original Natural Bridge Trail- 2.5 miles out and back and considered moderately challenging
Natural Bridge Via Rock Garden Trail and Devil’s Gulch
Natural Ridge and Battleship Rock Trail
And the Skylift!
We typically take the Original Trail which is the shorter of the options. The natural sandstone arch bridge is the highlight of the trail of course. It spans 78 feet and is 65 feet high! Hiking through the trail, you will notice some of the most famous features of Ketnucky. These include gorges, canyons, and caves. One of the most unique aspects of this hike is “fat mans squeeze.” A long slender trek between rocks at the very end of the hike before you get on top of Natural Bridge.
Copperas Falls
We can’t speak highly enough of this unmarked trail!
Don’t let the fact that this is an unmarked trail deter you from this hike. Copperas Falls is in the heart of Red River Gorge… and if you are a fellow Kentuckian, you know how special the gorge is. If you are not, do yourself a favor and place RRG at the top of your bucket list here. The area itself is abundant in hiking, unique stays, and food. It is beautiful to say the least and we try to visit as often as we can. If you haven’t hiked Copperas Falls yet, it should be on your bucket list for Kentucky waterfalls! The trail itself is actually one of our favorites. You’ll find yourself crossing streams and walking along beautiful rock formations. Although Copperas Falls is a popular trail, it is not an official trail in Red River Gorge. This means that there are no signs marking the trail and the trail is not kept up by the park. However, the trail is well worn, and the path is relatively easy to follow. This trail is a 3.1 mile out-and-back trail located in Pine Ridge in Eastern Kentucky. We would say to allow at least 2-3 hours to hike the trail, especially if you want to explore more than a beautiful waterfall at the end. The trail is considered moderately challenging; however, we found it to be a relatively easy hike.
We want to note that Hopewell Arch can be found on this trail and is on our list to check out; however, we haven’t gotten the chance just yet!
Double Arch
Double Arch holds no secret on how the name was created. You guessed it, it’s a double arch. Who wouldn’t expect this in the land of arches? This trail offers not only views of a decently sized double arch, but you also get great overlook views!
The hike is relatively flat and a large portion is completed on a gravel road (we estimated approximately 2 miles on the gravel road). This is an out and back trail that comes out to be a total of approximately 4.4 miles. Once you reach the end of the gravel trail, you’ll see a sign that marks the beginning of the wooded section. With an elevation gain of 610 feet, the difficulty on this trail is moderate. Give yourself approximately 2-4 hours to complete.
Rock Bridge Trail and Creation Falls
Rock Bridge Trail offers a very unique sandstone arch as it was formed over a small creek. This is quite unique as out of all the sandstone arches in RRG, this is the only one over a body of water. Not only do you get a fantastic view of a sandstone arch but you also get to check out a small waterfall (Creation Falls) on the trail! We recently hiked Rock Bridge Trail and it’s ranking highly on our list of favorite trails in RRG.
The trail itself is a 1.5 mile loop trail that takes approximately one to two hours to complete. All Trails ranks it as moderate and we would have to agree with this assessment. On the back end of the trail, you will find yourself hiking up a long set of stairs which gives this hike a moderate rating. The elevation gain is 308 feet. Outside of the stairs, we would rate this an overall easy loop trail. Since this is a loop trail, we would recommend starting from the back to perhaps skip some of the difficulty of this trail. You will still find an elevation gain; however, it would not be nearly as difficult.
Sky Bridge Trail
Sky Bridge Trail is quite the rewarding hike. Very little effort for a beautiful arch! At only 0.7 mile loop with 160 elevation gain, this is an easy hike along a narrow ridge. This hike is great to pair with other hikes, such as Chimney Rock and Whistling Arch. We hiked this trail with our 10 month old with relative ease! Give yourself about 30 minutes to an hour to complete!
Chimney Top Rock
Chimney Top Rock is another famous trail in RRG and one can see why. This trail is a beautiful overlook trail making it different from the other trails on this list which are mainly arches. The panoramic view of the gorge makes this trails super worth it. This trail is also relatively easy it’s only ¼ mile walk (can we even call it a hike?) to the overlook.
Whistling Arch
Another easy trail that is amazingly combined with other trails. A cute arch located at the end of this out and back trail that is only 0.6 miles. This is an easy hike that is located within close proximity to Sky Bridge.
If you want more information on each of these trails, check out ApplachianTravelers.com to find blogs on each trail. If there isn’t a blog specific to a trail, it just means we are working on getting it uploaded! We provide detailed information on hiking just about everywhere but being based in KY, we often blog our local hikes or day trip hikes. If you have an upcoming hiking trip in KY, we might just have the blog for you to plan your visit!
As always, safe travels y’all!! ~ Justin & Caitlin