Red River Gorge and Natural Bridge State Park, Kentucky The Quick Click pages will scroll automatically or you can click any tab to keep that page open. Numbers on the tabs refer to our Ratings, which are explained on the Tips page. Summary Rock climbing and hiking define the recreational opportunities here and the Red offers world- class opportunities for both, but that’s not all there is and there are plenty of outfitters to help you do whatever you want. Location Address for the park is 2135 Natural Bridge Road, Slade, KY 40376. This is about an hour’s drive east- southeast of Lexington, Kentucky. Phone is 606-663-2214. Google Map to Natural Bridge State Park. Timing Spring is a good time for birding and for wildflower hikes. Summers can be busy to the point of gridlock along Natural Bridge Road. Fall is only slightly less busy. We visit the Gorge most often in winter when rates are low and the crowds are gone. Where to Stay There are a number of small motels in the area, including several new ones. There are also a handful of B&Bs and cabins available from private owners. Natural Bridge State Resort Park has 35 rooms in the Hemlock Lodge and 11 cabins (four 2-bedroom and seven 1- bedroom). The park has two campgrounds; Middle Fork is better suited for large RVs and Whittleton is better suited for small RVs. The park also has tent sites. Cumberland Ranger District of the Daniel Boone National Forest operates Koomer Ridge campground; backcountry camping is also available. Where to Eat Miguel’s Pizza (1890 Natural Bridge Road, on the left as you leave the Mountain Parkway heading for the state park) offers exceptional fare. Meals at the Sandstone Arches restaurant at Natural Bridge State Park range from average to truly wonderful. Beyond those two places and a handful of other, less notable eateries, your best bet is the small cluster of commerce at Stanton (about 20 minutes west on the Mountain Parkway, take the exit for Kentucky 213). Our stops in Red River Gorge and Natural Bridge State Resort Park were once measured in hours. We’d make a day trip or, more often, stop on the way back from someplace else and it was always in summer. We wanted to spend more time but the notion of being encapsulated with a million other rock gawkers in the sweaty season was unappealing. So we took our first winter trip to the area and now winter is our preferred time to go. No crowds. Cheap rates. Stunning scenery, especially under fresh snow. (The picture shows Julie on Whittleton Trail.) Many things, such as kart tracks, are closed, but we don’t use those things when they’re open anyway. It would be nice to use the park’s pool or rent a pedal boat or catch live music at Hoedown Island or join a spring wildflower walk with park naturalists; we may make a few shoulder season trips just to do those things. We may also go back for Rocktoberfest, a time when all vertical surfaces are covered with climbers and all horizontal surfaces are covered with their tents. It would be fun to be immersed in climber culture for a few days even though neither of us climbs. (Here’s the perfect chance to use our Google search box. Plug in “Rocktoberfest RRGCC” without the quotes and add the year to get dates and more information. RRGCC is the Red River Gorge Climber’s Coaltion.) Another advantage of visiting in the off-season is that you get the level of personal attention the employees and business owners earnestly want to provide but cannot when the place is packed. For example, we asked in the Sandstone Arches restaurant at the park if a particular dish was meatless and was told no, it was not, but if we were going to be there the next day they’d make a meatless version. We were staying and they did make it. Not only that but the chef, Susan, came out to tell us how she’d personally prepared our meal. She was thrilled at the opportunity to do something special and the outcome really was special. Incredible, actually. Will you get that level of personal attention when you go? Not during busy times. But the potential for the exceptional is there. We also took time to talk with Miguel, the owner of Miguel’s Pizza. We got the history on how he came to the Red from Connecticut in 1984 and how he developed his business. Miguel is mostly laid-back Red River Gorge with just enough lingering upper East Coast attitude to be charming. Ordering food at Miguel’s seems like a cruel trick the first time but then the logic of the simple system comes through and you wonder why every restaurant doesn’t work this way. Surrounding the tables are every sort of climbing gear. There are shoes on shelves and ropes hung from the ceiling and carabiners stuffed in display cases (see photo). Asked how he came to adopt climbers as his target market, Miguel replied, “I didn’t. They adopted me.” We’ve stayed at the park several times. In general the place is in need of a makeover but until the funds flow the staff does a wonderful job keeping things tidy and functional. All the lodge rooms have private balconies and great views. Tip: rooms not in the main building, ”outside access rooms” in Park terminology, can be uncomfortably cold in winter. Ours never got above 63 degrees at night. Our “inside access” rooms did not have this problem nor did our cabin. Some of the cabins are handicap accessible which means you can drive right up to the door, and some are at the end of lengthy staircases, which means schlepping your bags up and down when you arrive and depart. At times the Park’s website shows the lodge as closed yet rooms were available when we checked. It’s best to call when making plans. More on What To Do The Gladie Cultural-Environmental Learning Center is a great way to learn about the cultural heritage and geologic history of the area. It’s on Sky Bridge Road and makes a nice stopping point on a driving loop that includes Kentucky 77 and 715. That same loop also works well for road cycling. You can find more road ride maps plus cue sheets from the website for the Tour of the Red River Gorge (again, use the Google search box at the top of this page to get current info and links). There is no mountain biking  in the area but the RRGCC has received a Recreational Trails Program (RTP) grant to build trails in the 700-acre Pendergass-Murray Recreational Preserve. PRMP is owned and maintained by RRGCC and features more than 300 climbing routes in 20 separate areas. It is one of six major regions for rock climbing in the Red. Most of the sport and traditional routes are not signed with a name or rating, so working with a guide is helpful. A canoe or kayak provides unique views of the Red’s towering walls from the Red River. The upper Red is challenging while the lower part is nearly all beginner-friendly flatwater. The Red River has no flow control (dams, etc.) and water level is entirely dependent on precipitation. The season generally runs from December through April and sometimes as late as July. You can also paddle around Mill Creek Lake in Natural Bridge State Park. Several companies offer zipline tours in the Red. Our main reason for going to the Red is hiking. Some of the trails are of average appeal, but most are outstanding. In fact, the Red ranks as our second-favorite hiking destination, behind only the Tennessee portion of Big South Fork (a review of BSF is on the distant horizon). We are often asked for our trail recommendations, so here are a few of those. Whittleton Trail comes off the back of the Whittleton campground in Natural Bridge Park. You can take it all the way to KY 15 but we go to the halfway point and turn right to hike to Whittleton Arch. Despite a few areas of rock, a couple of steep pitches, and narrow tread in spots, this out-and-back route is the easiest hike we do in the Red. When we hike from the Park’s lodge or cabins, we make a loop using the Original Trail, Balanced Rock Trail, Battleship Rock Trail, and Rock Garden Trail for ascending/descending and include Laurel Ridge Trail across the top of the natural bridge. These are fairly rugged trails with quite a bit of climbing. If your group includes non-hikers, they can meet you atop the bridge by taking the Skylift. It’s easy to find; just follow the signs when you enter the park. Outside the park we enjoy the trails that lead from Kentucky 39, including 205 Gray’s Arch Trail, 209 Daniel Boone Hut Trail, and 227 Rush Ridge Trail (trail numbers are those given on the map available from the Forest Service). The Red is an almost unbelievable concentration of outdoor recreation. There are two ways for first- timers to approach it. One is to just go and discover what there is to do. The other is to go with a specific purpose and engage a guide to help you achieve that purpose. Either method works. Once you’ve been there a few times you’ll develop your own preferences, just as we have. If your preference is for winter hikes, we’ll probably see you on the trails. 1. One of the trails between the lodge and the natural bridge. 2. Julie crossing the suspension bridge in the park. 3. Overlooks are abundant in the Red. 4. The lobby of the state park is comfortable. 5. The park’s cabins have full kitchens. 6. You should eat at Miguel’s at least once. 7. Inside of Miguel’s. 8. The Gladie Center mixes fun and education.