IA to KY / Red River Gorge
Independence Day Weekend in Iowa | Driving from Iowa to Kentucky | Camping and Hiking in Red River Gorge Geological Area | Black Mountain, Kentucky’s High Point | July 2023
We arrived back in Iowa on July 1, and stayed there with family until the 5th. It was nice to take a break from driving every day, and to prepare for the next leg of our travels. We also appreciated being able to get out of the heat and avoid traveling during the holiday weekend. Over the weekend, we enjoyed spending time with my parents, siblings, and Curtis’ sister who was also in town. On the morning of the 4th, we joined my parents in their holiday tradition of walking around downtown Cedar Rapids, and getting ice cream and popcorn at Almost Famous. We accomplished a few other chores like shuffling things around in storage and deep cleaning the van.
With that, it was time to hit the road again and make our way down to Wilmington. We left on the afternoon of the 5th, and made our way from Iowa, across central Illinois, and into Indiana on a new route. We camped that evening in Owen Putnam State Forest. After camping mostly for free throughout our time out West, we accepted that our choices now were to either pay for camping, or to park for free in Walmart parking lots or wherever overnight parking is allowed. We reasoned that since the company was paying for our trip to Wilmington, we could “splurge” a little on campsites where we can still enjoy being outside, for both our sake and Charlotte’s. We still managed to spend less than $30 over 4 nights, so overall it wasn’t that bad!
The next morning, we drove across Indiana, knocking out a whole new row of counties, and crossed the Ohio River into Milton, Kentucky. We followed the winding US-421 through the woods and up and down the hills until we reached Frankfort. Here we stopped for a little walk and some snacks at a park on the Kentucky River. We then took I-64 East around Lexington, then took the Bert T. Combs Parkway South to Stanton.
In Stanton, we stopped to buy a camping permit from a gas station, then continued on to Daniel Boone National Forest and Red River Gorge Geological Preserve. This was one of those areas that we had no idea about until we started researching things to do along our route, and as soon as we learned about the park we knew we just had to spend some time here! As soon as we saw the tall bluffs along the road, we were impressed, but it was the long one way tunnel cut through the bluffs that really blew our minds!
That evening was humid and the skies were overcast, so after visiting the visitor center we decided to just find a campsite for tonight and save the hiking for tomorrow. We followed the forest road back to where there was dispersed camping, and just as we were nearing our spot the skies opened up and it started to downpour. After finding a spot, we delayed getting out of the van for as long as we could so that Charlotte wouldn’t end up too wet. When she could take the waiting no more, Curtis took her for a walk while I made dinner. It continued to rain throughout the night, so we spent most of the evening cozy in the van.
The next morning, we set off bright and early to do some hiking. The ranger had recommended 5 different hikes, so we started with the one we wanted to do the most knowing that we likely couldn’t do all of them at Charlotte’s pace. We drove up to the Sky Bridge Arch trail, and set off on the trail. At first, we were elated to find that we were all alone here, but we quickly realized that our early start meant that we had to be the ones to walk through all the spider webs across the trail. This resulted in us walking down the trail waving our hands in front of our faces for most of the walk. Starting early also meant that we were walking in the clouds and didn’t have much of a view, but it still looked cool, adding a layer of mystery to what was around us…and below us.
We went about the loop trail clockwise, starting out by walking over the arch. We had no idea how great and tall the arch was as we walked over it, but I think Charlotte knew, because as soon as we were out on the rock, she started acting nervous, like she knew exactly how precarious this situation was. We encouraged her and made jokes about it, but when we continued on the trail, making our way down to the base of the arch, it sort of made sense why she had that reaction. It’s honestly pretty impressive if she could truly sense how high up we were, and how large the arch was.
The real challenge for her came towards the end when we had to walk up many flights of grated stairs, but honestly I think that was still less traumatizing for her than going back over the arch would have been. She did great, and when we made it back to the parking lot, we all enjoyed a nice breakfast and Charlotte took a little nap in the grass before continuing on.
Our next hike was to the Chimney Rock viewpoint. The trail was much easier than the first, but as expected, about halfway through Charlotte decided she had met her quota of hiking for the day, so Curtis and I took turns walking to the overlook. Back at the parking lot, Curtis went on a different short hike to another arch, but said he thought the first one we did was better. With that, we wrapped up our time in Red River Gorge — for now. We’ll save this area away as a place to return to on another inevitable trip between the Midwest and Wilmington, NC!
After that, we began our long drive across Kentucky, winding our way up and down hills and through valleys, making our way generally Southeast. Our last destination in the state was none other than the highest point, Black Mountain, located right on the border with Virginia off of highway 160. As we were nearing the turn off for the mountain, we spotted a bear by the side of the road — our first bear sighting in the East!
Up until today, if you had asked us which state high point was our least favorite, we would have given you some cheesy answer like “Oh each one is special in its own way, you just have to appreciate each state for what it is, blah blah blah.” But now, we can honestly answer, Kentucky. Kentucky is our least favorite, and by a long shot. The drive up? Terrible. The view? Nothing. Worth it? Maybe, just to knock another one off the list, but we’ll never do it again – at least not until they improve the road or make a trail.
The land was previously owned by a coal mine, and they used to ask for waivers to be signed before you drive up the peak. Eventually, the state of Kentucky purchased the right of way and got rid of the waivers, but that was about the extent of their involvement. Either side of the road is still owned by the mines so the road to the top starts off with confusing and threatening signs saying private property. The road itself is rocky, steep, washed out in several places and overall more suited for a 4×4 than anything else. The greatest irony: Air Force personnel drive up this road to get to the FAA station Every. Day. You’d think with that level of use the road would get a bit more attention.
If we had known how bad the road was, we probably wouldn’t have tried to drive our van up there — but once you start, there really isn’t a safe way to go back down, and I’m not sure if walking up is allowed. Thankfully we made it all in one piece, and were able to walk around the viewless summit. Curtis unsuccessfully looked for the letterbox, and we got a quick picture near the plaque. The one interesting part was meeting a guy up there who was doing his annual trip here to do HAM radio stuff.
Once we were safely off the mountain, we stopped at the viewpoint in Virginia to have a snack and celebrate surviving our 33rd high point. We then finished our drive to our campsite for the night in Jefferson National Forest, at the High Knob Recreation Area. Here we were able to enjoy the cooler mountain air free of humidity, and Curtis was able to hike to a peak (which we also drove up to the next morning). The high point aside, today was a good day.
