Red River Gorge, Kentucky

[derek_thornton1]

<p>I am doing a 3 day/2 night camping trip to the Red River Gorge. We are going in the last week of October. I think we will be staying in the Koomer Ridge Campground. I am finding a lot of good info online but 90% is on arches. How about the other stuff?</p>

<p>1) The Red River, what is it like? Are there some good cascades/whitewater and scenic areas along the river? Cant seem to find any photos on the river itself.</p>

<p>2) Waterfalls? I have seen pictures of a fall called Creation Falls. It does not look that good from what I have seen. Any other falls in the area worth checking out?</p>

<p>3) Overllooks? Where should I be when the sun comes up? I hate to cheat, I love finding my own spots but it may be the only time I ever visit the gorge. I would love to get the most possible out of my three day trip. So far all I have seen in the way of overlooks is Auxier Ridge and Hansons point. Also, my 75 year old father is going so I would also love to hear some drive up or very short hike overlooks as well as the good stuff.</p>

<p>4) Reptiles and amphibians, any salamander lovers here? Last night I broke out my field guide to see what was found in the area. It does not look to good. A lot of salamanders are found all around it but not withen. I would really love to get photos of the Green, Longtail, Cave, Jefferson's, Four-toed and the Ravine Salamander. Any tips would be appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks for any help, really looking forward to it.<br>

Derek</p>

[stemked]

<p>Hi Derek.<br>

I have been there twice about 10 years ago and will comment to the best of my recolection.<br>

<em>1) The Red River, what is it like? Are there some good cascades/whitewater and scenic areas along the river? Cant seem to find any photos on the river itself.</em><br>

I took a nature class there and to be honest we didn't spend any time near the river. Sorry. I don't recall it being especially beactiful<br>

<em>2) Waterfalls? I have seen pictures of a fall called Creation Falls. It does not look that good from what I have seen. Any other falls in the area worth checking out?</em><br>

I don't recall any. The canyon is mostly sandstone so while I'm sure there must be some I don't have a memory of any of them. Anyway it has been so dry I would doubt that there will be much waterfall action at this time.<br>

<em>3) Overllooks? Where should I be when the sun comes up? I hate to cheat, I love finding my own spots but it may be the only time I ever visit the gorge. I would love to get the most possible out of my three day trip. So far all I have seen in the way of overlooks is Auxier Ridge and Hansons point. Also, my 75 year old father is going so I would also love to hear some drive up or very short hike overlooks as well as the good stuff.</em><br>

I seem to recall one of the main overlooks can be driven to. That said we spent our time looking for wildlife and there was at least one overlook we hiked into, very nice sandstone formations. The hike WE took wouldn't have been great for someone who has trouble getting around, but I'm pretty sure the others were fine. <em></em><br>

<em>4) Reptiles and amphibians, any salamander lovers here? Last night I broke out my field guide to see what was found in the area. It does not look to good. A lot of salamanders are found all around it but not withen. I would really love to get photos of the Green, Longtail, Cave, Jefferson's, Four-toed and the Ravine Salamander. Any tips would be appreciated.</em><br>

You hit me to a 'T'. Im an Amphibian/Reptile guy who has a special place for Salamanders. I will say that the park is famous for Green Salamanders although the trip I took with students we weren't looking for them. You likely need to go in at night and you need to be in the right habitat (moist, not wet sandstone). Even with my crew we did photograph Northern Dusky, Eastern Hognose snake, Eastern Fence Lizard, even Barn Owls (Ok, not a herp). Green Salamanders are top on my list to photograph when I return hopefully next spring.<br>

For Cave salamanders you are most likely to find them in the twilight areas of caves. They are here in Southern Indiana, but because of White -nose bat fungous the caves are closed to visitors. You can sometimes find them (and Longtails) in the rock rubble near small waterfalls near the opening of caves and the head pools of streams. Ravine Salamanders are Common here (SE. Indiana) too much they are hard to find when it gets too dry. I suspect you won't have much luck for them in Kentucky either.<br>

The ONLY time you will find Four toed is during breeding and then you need to look under clumps of tusset grasses in swampy areas. I have never found any myself but I know of Herpers who do.<br>

There are other salamanders in the area, but I'll leave it there.</p>

[stemked]

<p>I should add the Four Toed and possibly the Green Salamander may well have federal and state protection. Likely you can photograph them but don't handle them. Regardless the Green Salamander is in serious decline, likely due to the loss of the American Chestnut due to the blight which was probably the main habitat of this species.</p>

[frank_major]

<p>Hi -</p>

<p>I'll try to help - i lived about 1 1/2 hours from the Gorge for about 5 years and went there almost monthly. Unfortunately, it was about 6+ years ago.... fwiw.</p>

<p>1) I can't remember the road, but seems like it was the northern end of the "loop" that went through/around the Park intermittenly contacting the Mountain Parkway. Anyway, it had a nice, concrete bridge (maybe the general "name" of the landmark) and the Red coursed above and below it.</p>

<p>2) There were probably 3-6 places that had some nice, short "falls" easily approached from the road between "Concrete Bridge" and "Steel Bridge". Definitely no whitewater in the Fall. The whole area is quite lovely. A great place to get information is a climber hang-out called "Miguels Pizza" (great chicken pesto pizza too!).</p>

<p>3) Again, on the northern end of the loop, there was a side-road that dead-ended (after 2-3 miles of dirt road) into a nice parking area adjacent to a very scenic spot - probably my fav in the whole Gorge side of the park. Unfortunately, i simply don't recall the name of the place....</p>

<p>4) I'd seen some salamanders there on occasion, but as i recall they were usually on the approach to various rock climbs and the trails were not always "good".</p>

<p>An area you may consider is the "Natural Bridge" side of the Gorge (The Red is on one side of the highway, Natural Bridge the other. It is quite lovely, though a good uphill hike (on a huge, very nice trail) is required to gain the "scenic" aspect.</p>

<p>Sorry i can't recall better detail as to road/area names.</p>

[ty22]

<p>Be sure to stop by Miguel's for pizza. You'll have to fight your way through all the climbers, but it's the best i've ever had. <br>

A lot of the climbing areas are in beautiful sandstone amphitheatres. They would be good additions to the trip, along with the natural bridge, etc... Torrent Falls is one of my favourites, both for climbing and location.</p>

<p> </p>

[nathangardner]

<p>Hey Derek,<br>

We have been there the past 3 years in the fall. As for the river, its pretty boring, no cascades. Creation falls is a decent waterfall, and it is better in person than it appears in photos. It is on the same trail as Rock Bridge, which is the only arch in the park to cross over water. This is a fairly short trail with two good points of interest. Auxier Ridge and Courthouse Rock are both good sights. The Auxier Ridge loop is a day hike and the best viewpoints are at Courthouse Rock and the last part of the trail, so I would suggest just doing the loop backwards and going directly to Courthouse Rock then coming back. It is much shorter and you'll see all the good parts without wasting time. Another good spot is Chimney Top Rock. From CTR, you can see Courthouse Rock from afar and most of the gorge. This is a great lookout. Princess Arch is nearby and is a good sight for a short hike as well. Sky Bridge is another one of our favorites. These are all fairly short short hikes from the car and should allow you to see quite a bit in a short time. I'd get a map and pick out some spots and start checking them off. I would suggest to start driving on the south side of the park. If you go through the Nada Tunnel and around the north side of the park you will be driving for awhile and there really aren't any points of interest that way. Most points of interest are only accessible from roads from the south edge of the park.</p>

<p>Also, don't be afraid to poke around. Sometimes if you just go a few feet off the trail you'll find some cool lookouts or viewpoints, but be very careful as it can be very dangerous; a false move could cost you your life with all the cliffs and dropoffs. Just be careful and you'll have a good time. We like to drink, but we always wait till we get back to camp to do that; it would be pretty stupid to get drunk while on these trails.</p>

[nathangardner]

<p>Oh yeah, we usually go to Natural Bridge the morning we leave. Its a good sight to see and takes about an hour (or more if you want) to go up, see it, poke around, and come back. Its definitely the most commanding arch in the area, but as a whole the gorge has a lot more to offer. The Natural Bridge is definitely worth seeing, but I wouldn't spend too much time there as its usually crowded and there's lots of other stuff that's worth seeing as well.</p>

<p>And for my response above; I'm not saying these are the best places in the park, they're just the ones we've been to and like. We have been 3 years and still haven't seen even half of the sites. So there may be other better sights to see, we just haven't seen 'em yet. So don't be afraid to check out places on the map that haven't been mentioned.</p>

[derek_thornton1]

<p>Thanks everyone. I actually forgot about posting this here. It would be nice to find a green salamander but highly doubtful.</p>