Paid another visit to Red River Gorge this past week. I'd heard good things about Rock Bridge and Creation Falls so I kind of had to go check it out. Tucked away in the far southeastern corner of the gorge, a few miles down what seemed to have once been a gravel road is the only true bridge (arch over water) in Red River Gorge, along with the waterfall that created it.
I'd timed my trip to try and catch the mountain laurel in full bloom and was not disappointed. Usually you smell them before you see them, they smell even better than they look. Just don't try eating them, they poison.
For as out of the way as it was I expected it to be in the 'path less traveled' category but was unpleasantly surprised. The trailhead didn't have much in the way of parking (and they'll tow you if you park elsewhere) and it was pretty well full when I arrived on Wednesday afternoon. Turns out it's one of the more popular trails in the gorge.
For good reason. I eventually found a place to park and hit the trail. The trail turned out to be a loop, I went down the part that brought you to Creation Falls first.
The falls earned its moniker by causing the erosion that created the Rock Bridge. It was certainly creating plenty of noise, you heard it long before you were able to see it.
In the gorge most of the trails seem to start atop the ridges before descending to the arches. As you get lower the temperature does too, which is rather nice on days like these. The falls just seemed to add to that effect, it was easily 10 degrees cooler there than the 80s (F) at the trailhead.
Just around the bend from the falls was the Rock Bridge itself. With a bit of scrambling you can get up on and walk across the bridge but I saved that for another adventure. The ridges block most of the wind that tries to intrude so there's lots of calm water that makes for good reflections.
Kept me good and busy at the very least. I'd hoped to camp in the general vicinity but finding a place that was both flat and dry proved a bit elusive. Ridgetops are better for that anyway.
Looped on back to the parking lot and consulted my maps, discovered that the older one showed a parking lot that the newer one didn't. Decided to hike up the road a bit and see what I could see, sure enough there was an old gravel lot slowly being reclaimed by the forest. As I suspected, there was an unofficial trail leading away from it to a clearing that was perfect for making camp.
Made camp and made plans to go back to the bridge and falls to try and catch them in a different light. These photos are a mix from both visits. Aside from a deer circling the clearing the night was uneventful but the next morning I found a copperhead as I went to leave.
Much prefer coffee for my morning jolt but poisonous snakes will also do the trick. With that out of the way I headed for the trail once again, discovered that early morning (before 10) is the time to be there, it was much less crowded.
Part of what inspired me to do this project on Red River Gorge was some jackasses' plan to turn the area into another Gatlinburg and overrun the place with tourists. The more I explore the gorge the more absurd that plan seems, it can barely handle the traffic it gets now, increasing it will only serve to destroy the very thing people are coming to see.
Hopefully it won't come to that. I'd like to use my photos to help keep that from happening but I haven't quite figured out how yet. In the meantime I'm going to keep shooting the place up, hope you enjoy the photos.
