By Stan Wawer
The day started out on a high note. The buffet breakfast was great and the sun was pushing its warm rays through the forest canopy in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge area.
I was anxiously looking forward to a June Day filled with adventure and discovery in the state’s southeast region where Daniel Boone lore and untrampled wilderness abound. It is the region of Appalachia, the Cumberland Gap, coal mining, rich forests and outdoor activities.
Hiking, climbing and canoeing were on the day one agenda, three activities that maximize your physical endurance. It was definitely my kind of day. At day’s end, I was cut, bruised, bleeding, embarrassed and minus a usable camera.
I bruised my knee climbing a rock that my guide said was a 60 percent grade. I could not make it up Indian Staircase — named for the footprints in the rock made by Native Americans hundreds of years ago — when I pulled a groin muscle. Gary Chaney, our guide, helped six and a half people up Indian Staircase. I was the half. I took a 5-mile walk on the muddy Bison Trail with its slippery rocks and tree roots; after lunch my canoe trip down the hauntingly beautiful Red River turned into a Tim Burton nightmare.
The afternoon canoeing took place on a Red River that had overflowed its banks two weeks earlier from heavy rains that hit the area. Trees had fallen creating a major obstacle course.
Rich, my canoeing partner, and I turned over our canoe when we ran sideways into a downed tree in a futile attempt to avoid another canoe. Rich rode the top-sided canoe downstream while I tried to keep my camera dry. It didn’t work. The rapids carried me into a rock. I punctured my leg just below the knee, which left me with a long, bloody gash. The camera went under. I let the current take me down along the edge of the river until I finally reconnected with Rich. We righted the canoe and, undaunted, headed back down the river. My leg bled the remainder of the trip — eight and a half miles. At the end of this “Deliverance” odyssey, I slipped on a muddy bank and fell back into the canoe, hitting my head and snapping my neck on the seat. The lifejacket protected my back.
Chaney had a first-aid kit in his truck. We cleaned out the wound, put Neosporin on it and wrapped it. At this point, I hoped for better things tomorrow.
The Red River Gorge Geological Area is a unique and scenic natural area designated and managed by the USDA Forest Service. A National Natural Landmark, the gorge is a part of Daniel Boone National Forest. The area has spectacular geological features. The number, size and variety of natural stone arches in the gorge contribute to its uniqueness. Sculpted by 70 million years of wind and water, the gorge offers impressive views of heavily forested slopes, ridges and cliffs that provide a stunning backdrop for more than 100 natural arches.
The gorge gets about 250,000 visitors a year. The Nada Tunnel, built for a steam locomotive in 1910, is now a one lane, dark passageway, which serves as the main entryway into the Red River Gorge. The gorge offers backpacking, fishing, some of he best rock climbing in the country, canoeing and picnicking. In the first few summers of the 21st century, more people came through the gorge than probably came through in the three previous millennia, according to Chaney.
Within the gorge is Clifty Wilderness, a rugged and undeveloped area designated as wilderness by Congress in 1985. This 12,646-acre area features arches, rock shelters and towering cliffs encircling steep, forested slopes and narrow stream valleys. The rugged topography offers opportunities for quiet and solitude. The Red River offers canoeist a “memorable” trip and some breathtaking scenery. History records that the Shawnee and other tribes and adventurers such as Daniel Boone occupied the area.
Boone came to Kentucky in 1775. The Shawnee called him “Sheltowee,” Big Turtle. Boone led a group of settlers across the Appalachian Mountain Range through the Cumberland Gap.
“Very few permanent Native Americans settled in this area,” Chaney said. “Tribes hunted seasonally. Most tribes moved beyond the shared grazing and hunting grounds of the Bluegrass by 1754.”
Many of the arches in the gorge can be found or viewed from the 60 miles of hiking trails. One of the best-known and most accessible arches is Sky Bridge, 75 feet long and 23 feet high.
The gorge also is famous for moonshiners ”but don’t tell the preacher,” according to regional custom. Remains of illegal stills have been found in secluded spots throughout the gorge. To catch moonshiners at work, agents from the IRS stood on a high lookout dubbed Revenuer’s Rock and watched for smoke rising from the stills.
I went to Kingdom Come and back on day three. Kingdom Come State Park, that is. Kingdom Come State Park, with an elevation of 2,700 feet, is the crowning jewel in the crest of the Pine Mountain near the Kentucky-Virginia border. Named after the popular Civil War novel, “The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come,” by Kentucky author John Fox Jr., the park preserves 1,283 acres of unspoiled wilderness. Some of the most extraordinary rock formations in the state are featured at this park, including Log Rock, a natural sandstone bridge, and Raven Rock, a giant rock exposure that soars 290 feet into the air at a 45-degree angle.
Park manager Rick Fuller, our hiking guide, was a cyber highway of knowledge about the park’s flora and fauna. Creech Overlook is the main access point for the Little Shepherd Trail, a 30-mile scenic road that meanders along the top of Pine Mountain and a favorite among bikers. The planned Pine Mountain Trail, which will eventually stretch 120 miles along the crest of Pine Mountain from Breaks Interstate Park to Cumberland Gap National Historic Park, is still under development.
Creech Overlook offers a marvelous view of Black Mountain and the town of Cumberland in the valley below. Black Mountain, with an elevation of 4,400 feet, is the highest point in Kentucky.
Kingdom Come’s 14hiking trails crisscross nearly 5 miles of rugged mountain terrain and provide the opportunity to explore the park’s giant rock formations and scenic overlooks. All of the trails are fairly short in length (an eighth to seven-eighths of a mile) but many trail routes may be combined for hikes of varying lengths and difficulty. A trail guide is available at the park.
“Our woods are Heinz 57,” Fuller said with a smile. “You name it, we have it.” Kingdom Come State Park is a great fall foliage-viewing venue. Peak season, according to Fuller, is Oct. 19 to 26.
Lilley Cornett Woods is another of the region’s fascinating ecological area. Lilley Cornett Woods contains the largest preserved remnant of old-growth forest in eastern Kentucky. This area is part of the Appalachian Plateau, which extends from southern New York to northern Alabama. In Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama, it is known as the Cumberland Plateau and Mountains.
Robert Watts, who manages the Appalachian Ecological Research Station of Eastern Kentucky University at Lilley Cornett Woods, took us on a tough but exhilarating hike. It rained during the hike, but a dense forest protected us, its canopy our umbrella.
Lilley Cornett Woods is a National Natural Landmark and State Wildlife Refuge. “It is a tract of old-growth, mixed mesophytic forest and one of the few surviving tracts of the forest primeval as Daniel Boone would have seen it,” Watts said.
Shortly after World War I, Lilley Cornett purchased the first of five tracts that today comprise the natural area that bears his name. In July of 1969, the Commonwealth of Kentucky was able to purchase this forest through the cooperation of several agencies. More than 80 percent of eastern Kentucky remains in forest, but it is different from the old-growth forests known to the Native Americans, wolf, catamount and bear.
“School groups from elementary school through college can visit the Woods as part of their studies in environmental education, field biology and ecology,” Watts pointed out. “Our guided tours allow groups and individuals to walk through a forest that is one of the last of its kind in Kentucky and the southern Appalachian region.”
No visit to southeastern Kentucky is complete without a visit to the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum in Benham. The town and its neighbor, Lynch, are in the heart of the Cumberland Mountains.
Benham was founded in 1911 by Wisconsin Steel Corp., a subsidiary of International Harvester. With International Harvester and coal mining gone, Benham’s population has gone from 14,000 to 531 and Lynch has gone from 15,000 to 820.
Benham and Lynch were the cream of the crop among coal camps in Kentucky. The two towns also had a fierce football rivalry.
The museum has some outstanding exhibits, including memorabilia from the career of the Coal Miner’s Daughter, Loretta Lynn.
“There has been a great change in mining,” said Bobbie Gothard, a docent at the museum and husband to and daughter to former coal miners. “New safety features and automation put a lot of miners out of work. Those who work in the mines now have two to six years of college.
“Women now work in the mines,” she added. “A woman in the mines used to be considered bad luck.”
The museum is housed in the old commissary, or company store, built by International harvester in the 1920s. Three stories of exhibits feature the history of early coal mining days and the life of the coal miner and his family. One of the museum’s newer exhibits is the Mock Mine, located in the basement. The short walking tour winds along “coal corridors” and includes vivid sound and video from modern mines.
Kentucky is a contrast in cultures and typography — from the upscale and modern Bluegrass Region of central and western Kentucky to the dense forest and wilderness of the southeast region, an area that has almost stood still in time.
Other places to visit
Wendover Big House
Former home of Mary Breckinridge, founder of the Frontier Nursing Service. She was an incredible lady. Mary founded FNS in Leslie County, Kentucky in 1925 and died there in 1965 at the age of 84.
The Frontier Nursing Service is a non-profit healthcare organization in the mountains of eastern Kentucky.
Leslie County at the time was one of the poorest and most inaccessible areas in the United States. Riding their horses up mountains and across streams in blizzard, fog or flood, the FNS nurses brought modern healthcare to families throughout an area of 700 square miles.
Until her death, Mary Breckinridge was the driving force behind the work of the service.
Today, this influence extends far beyond eastern Kentucky. Through the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing, hundreds of nurses have been trained and this important concept or family healthcare has been carried throughout the world.
Appalshop
For more than three decades, this arts and education center in Whitesburg has produced and presented work in a wide range of media, which celebrates the culture and voices the concerns of people living in the Appalachian Mountains.
The National Endowment for the Arts has called Appalshop one of “the nation’s most important arts groups.”
Through its various divisions, Appalshop entertains and informs audiences worldwide — from eastern Kentucky classrooms to the off-Broadway stage to television viewers across Europe. Visit its Website at www.appalshop.org.
Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park
You can fish or swim in the lake, rent a pontoon boat or Johnboat, play tennis, swim in the pool, play basketball, pitch horseshoes and a host of other recreational activities. All this for about $99 a night. Buckhorn rooms are comfortable with all the amenities. Most of the rooms have lake views.Website: www.kystateparks.com.
Where to Stay
Benham School House Inn — Located across from the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum in Benham. Offers visitors a special opportunity to step back in time while experiencing the warm hospitality of a mountain inn. Built in 1926 as a school for coal camp children, the inn was restored in the 1990s and now serves as one of the premier tourist stops in the region.
The 30 guestrooms (formerly classroom) are decorated with warm and inviting furnishings including several equipped with gas fireplaces. The hardwood floors are a little creaky, but it adds to the ambiance. The lockers are still in the hall. The Apple Room Restaurant provides dining for large or small groups. Southeast Community College owns the inn.
For reservations, call (606) 848-3000 or toll free at (800) 231-0627 or visit the inn’s Website at www.kingdomcome.org.
Portal 31 RV Park — Located on Highway 160 in Lynch. Full hookups, $15 per night (subject to change). Primitive sites, $10 per night. For information or reservations, contact The Kentucky Coal Museum at (606) 848-1530 or visit the Website at www.kingdomcome.org.
Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park — Mentioned in the story. For reservations, call (606) 398-7510. Website: www.parks.ky.gov.
Torrent Falls B&B — Torrent Falls Resort is nestled on 42 acres of cliffs and gorgeous trees, where one can commune with nature. The resort is adjacent to the Red River Gorge Geologic Area and within minutes of Natural Bridge State Park. Besides the natural beauty, Torrent Falls contains a Bed and Breakfast, log cabins, Marks Mountain BBQ and Torrent Falls Climbing Adventure. For reservations and information, call (606) 668-6613. Website: www.torrentfalls.com.
Red River Outdoors — 415 Natural Bridge Road, Slade. Luxury cabin rentals in the beautiful Red River Gorge/Natural Bridge area of eastern Kentucky. For reservations or information, call (859) 230-3567. Website: www.redriveroutdoors.com.
All information is accurate at the time of publication but prices, dates and other details are all subject to change. Confirm all information before making any travel arrangements.
