View Full Version : Red River Gorge Hiking/Canoeing
My wife and I are planning on going to RRG this Friday-Monday. We are looking to Canoe on Saturday, but camp Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Would anyone recommend some campsites that would help us out? I am thinking we find a campsite close to a parking lot for Friday night, camp out, then hike out Saturday morning to the car, take the car and do the canoeing, then hike out again to a more primitive site for the last two nights. Does this seem like a good plan, or should we just canoe out Friday, camp out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, then canoe out on Monday? Also, any links to good maps for the area is appreciated. Apparently, the USFS site is down and I am unable to get maps from there. Thanks!
Dobie Swift
05-19-2011, 09:13
Koomer Ridge Campground is the way to go. Camp there and then head out on the Koome Ridge trail until it hits Rough Trail. Rough Trail runs most of the "width" of the RRG area and has many great backcountry camping opportunities and ways to loop back to Koomer Ridge Campground. You can get a decent trail map (not topo) at the Shell station at the Slade exit off the Mountain Parkway or print this one:
http://www.redrivergorge.com/RRGMap-8.5x11.pdf
I don't have any helpful suggestions, but wanted to say enjoy your trip--it's beautiful out there. Last year I hiked the stretch of the Sheltowee Trace that runs through the park, and had a great time.
I have been back for a while, but neglected to post on here because it has been hard getting back into the swing of things. Not to mention cancelling my credit/debit cards, getting a new license, etc. because I lost my wallet down the Red River!
My wife and I had just put in our canoe with our dog, and we came around the first turn and nailed a boulder. The current got us sideways, water came pouring in, and that was the end of it. We went into the water. My dog latched on to my wife and her backpack. She's kinda small, so only her head was above the water. We had everything but my wallet in her backpack (listen to your wife).
The only thing I was worried about were our Bibles. Her backpack is water resistant, not water proof. I was completely surprised to know that our Bibles made it out without a drop on them. I don't get it, that backpack was underwater for a good 7 seconds or so. It's the North Face Recon, blue-ish color. A great daypack.
I went in and threw my paddle on the bank. By this time the canoe was submerged completely. I jumped on a rock and chased down her paddle and put it on the rock. Then I braced myself for the canoe as it came down the river at me. I wrestled with it for about 4 feet or so, and finally managed to turn it over. To my surprise, the compartment that had my wallet in it had come undone and my wallet was gone. I yelled it at my wife and she pointed downstream and said "There it is!" I look back and saw it floating on top of the water! There was no way for me to get it without losing the canoe, so I let it go. I pulled the canoe ashore, and tried to tip the water out. No luck! Even with my wifes help. I pulled it onto a rock and still no help.
There was a man who put in just after us, and he came down the river to our assistance. Scott was his name, AWESOME guy. We actually ran into him later that day on the Skybridge 1 mile loop trail. We got our canoe back in the water, and after a few minutes of coaxing our sheltie to get back in, we were back in the water and didn't flip again.
The only other bad thing that happened was the day before we left, my MSR Miniworks EX water filter broke. I had only used the thing like 5 times! I was pumping into my nalgene, and all of a sudden I had some surge of pressure and that did it. No cracks, lost o-rings, or anything. Good news is I am sending it to MSR for free repair!
It was a great trip, we got to see some good sights, meet some good people, and hike some good trails. The Daniel Boone trading post was the ONLY place in that area we could find that had the "RRG" bumper sticker. We searched nearly everywhere.
We did in fact hear of Miguel's pizza numerous times while we were there, and found the pizza place to be a great bite to eat. The parking is wherever you can find a spot. Sideways, diagonal, left or right, the lot is not labeled!
There is talk of us going back in August, so I will post more information on that. I got the book "Hinterlands" by Jerrell Goodpaster, and it is a good read. I picked it out because he gives ample info on all the main trails as well as the unofficial ones too! Great book.
I will post pictures from the trip when I get home tonight!
Cookerhiker
05-30-2011, 22:29
Jerrell Goodpastor is also the author of the Red River Trail Gorge Trail Guide which describes the trails in the Gorge and Natural Bridge SP. I've lived in KY less than 2 years and drawn on it heavily.
Dobie Swift
05-31-2011, 06:56
Jerrell Goodpastor is also the author of the Red River Trail Gorge Trail Guide which describes the trails in the Gorge and Natural Bridge SP. I've lived in KY less than 2 years and drawn on it heavily.
Jerrell is also a helluva nice guy and is a monster on a bicycle.
58starter
05-31-2011, 10:37
I want to do a Sept. hike somewhere on the trail. Maybe 3-7 days. I do not want to hike on a road. What would you suggest?
You could yo-yo rough trail plus there are all kinds of trails that run off of rough to make some loops