We decided to book a cabin and head down to Red River Gorge for our Spring Break this year. We have discovered over the years that we really aren’t big on crowded destinations, we don’t love the beach, and we would rather stay close to home. One year we did Gatlinburg, and while it was a lot of fun, we learned that we mostly just liked the hiking! So this year we opted for Red River Gorge, and it was the perfect Spring Break for our family.
Our cabin was fairly rustic, but it had the basics. And for less than $400 total (for 3 nights), we felt like we got what we payed for!
We drove down on Monday. It was a beautiful day and we decided to stop at the Kentucky Horse Park and stretch our legs. The Horse Park was closed, but there is a walking path almost all the way around it, so we were hoping to spot some horses. We did not. But as we got back to the parking lot, there was a young lady in the parking lot with her horse in a trailer. She not only let the kids look at the horse, but she opened up the trailer and let the kids go inside and pet the horse!
We arrived at our cabin around 4. We LOVED the fact that RRG was just 2.5 hours from our house. It made the road trip feel super smooth and fast. The sunlight was so beautiful so we played outside, heated up some Aldi pizza, played a round of Uno, and then went to bed early!
We all got up early the next morning, but slowly got breakfast and got ourselves out the door. I felt like RRG and Daniel Boone National Forest as a whole were kinda disorganized and chaotic- it was hard to nail down what trails went where and what trails would be suitable for a family with small children. Thankfully, the All Trails App was the HERO of this trip. I found so many great trails that weren’t even listed on park maps. And the reviews from those trails never let us stray!
We started out with a “trail” called Eagles Point Buttress Overlook. We got to the place that the GPS took us, and there was no trail marking, no trail maps, no phone service…nothing but a 4 car parking lot and our spirit of adventure! We set out on the trail and it was incredible. The whole trail ran along the river, and we were climbing over rocks, walking through thick sand, explored aves, climbed over and under trees, and followed the barely visible trail. We felt like wild adventurers! At one point, the “trail” kept going, but thanks to the All Trails reviews I knew we were supposed to find the trees marked with orange spray paint and follow the trees. The orange spray paint literally took us straight up a mountain. I felt like I was 90 years old trying to hike up that mountain. It was hard! When we got to the top, we found the best view in all of RRG (so said the other hikers we found at the top). It was incredible. And incredibly unnerving to have my four children at the top of this cliff.
The hike back to the car was much faster since we knew where we were going. But, man- we were tired! On our way out of the park we stopped at another hike- The Sky Bridge Trail. Review for this one said it was the best bang for your buck- the best views with the least amount of work. It was ok, but after the amount of work we did on the first hike and the views that we had there, this one didn’t feel very impressive. Lots of reviews also mentioned how the dogs wouldn’t go up or down the open grate stairs, which I thought was silly. But then when we were hiking we saw several different dogs who refused to go up or down the stairs. The reviews also told us to go counter clockwise, which was the right direction- you get to see the bottom of the “sky bridge” first, and then climb up and walk over the top of the “sky bridge”. You can see in the two bottom pictures- the first picture is from the bottom of the sky bridge, and the second picture is standing on top of the sky bridge. It was so surprising to us that there was no railings or warning or anything- just wild and free cliffs and rock bridges! That’s how I like it- but we were still surprised.
We were hot, tired and very hungry so we left the park and headed out to a very late lunch- Mexican around 3pm. It was expensive and none of us were overly impressed with our meals. We headed back to the Airbnb and got a little bit of rest and played outside. Then we went out and got ice cream for dinner (since lunch was so late, no one was really hungry for dinner).
We headed home and went right to bed.
We got up in the morning and hung around the cabin a little bit, got some breakfast, planned out our day.
We found an easy loop hike, but we were kind of disappointed in it. Theo said “this is just like a hike in Ohio.” So…it was nice…but not RRG destination nice.
At this point, we were getting kind of tired of hiking. So we found a great spot next to a creek, got some Little Ceaser’s pizza and just enjoyed lunch and playing in the creek. Theo and I hopped on an IEP meeting for one of our kids and we just enjoyed a quiet and calm afternoon.
When I went in search of a bathroom, I discovered that we were actually parked at one of the best trails/scenic views in the RRG. We were all kind of “hiked out”, but I convinced everyone to do one more trail. Famous last words. This was the Rock Bridge trail, and there were four or five different paths all up to the Rock Bridge. One way was taking the ski lift. One way was a 6 or so mile hike. And three ways were about 2 miles- the green was the “easy” trail, the red and purple were the fun trails. We decided to take the red up and the purple back down. Well. That red trail just about killed us. After we had finished it, I read the reviews and found that there are over 600 steps. SO MANY STEPS. Steps of all kinds. Steps, steps, steps. Did I mention that there were steps?!? We reached the top and they were right- the view was INCREDIBLE. The funny thing was that we were all so hot, tired and hangry that there was some bickering and not-so-gentle-words. Check out the picture of me with the kids. HAHA. I’m sure this happens with every family, but it just goes to show that the pictures don’t portray everything! We tried to take the purple trail back down the mountain, but it was closed. So instead we opted for the green- the easy trail.
We loaded up and headed back to the cabin at around 4:30. It was our last night and we knew that we were going to load up and head home in the morning. Theo and I HATED the bed in the airbnb, so we just looked at each other and said, “want to go home now?” and we spontaneously decided to just pack up and head home. Since it was an easy 2.5 hour drive, we made it home around 9:30pm and went right to bed! I am so glad that we left on Wednesday night instead of Thursday morning, because it was so wonderful to wake up in my own bed on Thursday morning and get back into our routine at home. We got so much done around the house and barn/yard that day and it was the most wonderful feeling!
We loved RRG, and I’m sure that we will go back! Have you ever been to RRG? What is your favorite place to hike?
I have never been to RRG but those hikes look lovely… as does the yummy ice cream!