Red River Gorge – Hiking trail info for Red River Gorge

As a result of the abundant sandstone cliffs, rock climbers from all over the world have discovered first class climbing in the Gorge area. The overhanging rock faces offer challenges for beginners and climbing masters alike.

In 1973, a 9-mile stretch of the Red River upstream from the confluence of Copperas Creek was designated as a Kentucky Wild River. Congress designated this same section as a National Wild River in 1993, making it the first National Wild and Scenic River in Kentucky.

With passage of the Kentucky Wilderness Act of 1985, the U.S. Congress designated about half of the geological area as the Clifty Wilderness.

In 2003, the Red River Gorge, Clifty Wilderness, and the Indian Creek area were designated as a National Archaeological District and placed on the National Register of Historic Places due to the pre-historic peoples that lived in the region.

An interesting way to enter and exit the Red River Gorge is through the 900-foot Nada Tunnel along KY 77. This 12’ x 12’ tunnel is open to one-lane traffic only.

Nada Tunnel and the small community of Nada were named for the Dana Lumber Company. In the early 1900s a logging company built the tunnel in order to haul logs out of the Red River Gorge by railroad. The tunnel is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Hiking in Red River Gorge

Be extremely careful while hiking in Red River Gorge. Each year 1 or 2 people fall to their deaths in the Gorge because they don’t exercise proper caution.

A couple of trails that I highly recommend that will give you a broad flavor of the Gorge area include Auxier Ridge Trail, Chimney Top, Sky Bridge, Gray’s Arch and Rock Bridge.

Below is a full list of trails, which includes trail names, national forest trail number, and one-way mileage. Due to the way the trail system is set-up in Red River Gorge, many of the destinations require a combinations of trails. For instance, Trail #5, Gray’s Arch, is only 0.3 miles in length. However, this trail doesn’t pass by its namesake. You must turn onto the Rough Trail for another 0.6 miles in order to reach Gray’s Arch.

Angel Windows (#218) 0.3 miles

Auxier Branch (#203) 0.8 miles

Auxier Ridge Trail (#204) 2.0 miles

Bison Way (#210) 0.4 miles

Buck (#226) 1.5 miles

Chimney Top Trail (#235) 0.3 miles

Cliff (#206) 0.4 miles

Court House Rock (#202) 2.4 miles

Daniel Boone Hut (#209) 0.7 miles

Double Arch (#201) 2.1 miles

Gray's Arch (#205) 0.3 miles

Hidden Arch (#208) 1 miles

Koomer Ridge (#220) 2.3 miles

Princess Arch (#233) 0.2 miles

Rock Bridge (#207) 1.3 miles

Rough Trail (#221) 6.6 miles

Rush Ridge (#227) 1 mile

Silvermine Arch (#225) 1.3 miles

Silvermine Spur (#225S) 0.1 miles

Sky Bridge (#214) 0.8 miles

Swift Camp Creek (#219) 6.7 miles

Tower Rock (#229) 0.4 miles

Whistling Arch (#234) 0.2 miles

Whittleton Branch (#217) 0.2 miles

Wildcat (#228) 1.7 miles

Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail

The Sheltowee Trace is a 282-mile multi-use trail that passes through Red River Gorge while traversing the length of the Daniel Boone National Forest. The trail is named in honor of Daniel Boone. Sheltowee (meaning Big Turtle) was the name given to Boone when he was adopted into the Shawnee Indian tribe as the son of the great war chief, Blackfish. Boone made several explorations throughout the area that is now the Daniel Boone National Forest in search of a route from Virginia to Kentucky.

Completed in 1976, the Sheltowee Trace has been designated as a National Recreation Trail. Along the path, hikers pass waterfalls, arches, panoramic ridge-top views and massive sandstone cliffs.

The entire length of the trail runs from HWY 377 north of Morehead, KY to Picket State Park in Tennessee. Along the way it passes through Cave Run Lake, Natural Bridge State Park, Laurel River Lake, Cumberland Falls State Resort Park and the Big South Fork National Recration Area.

In Red River Gorge, the path traverses roughly 11 miles from the northern boundary to Natural Bridge State Park in the south.