Red River Gorge is a pretty area in eastern Kentucky within Daniel Boone National Forest. It is a great outdoorsy area with lots of hiking, rock climbing, camping, and more!
Red River Gorge is just an hour east of Lexington, a fun city to explore! Check out my Lexington guide here.
Red River Gorge Lodging, food & drink Recommendations:
Glamp with Dappled Light: This is a superb glamping experience with 9 tents and a cabin. The tents all have electricity and heaters to ensure a comfy experience, along with a shared bathhouse. There are thoughtful touches in the tents along with great views from the decks. Highly recommend!
Hop’s: A great restaurant and bar with tasty eats and a solid beer and bourbon list. Their seating is an outside covered patio with heaters that is dog-friendly. They’ve also got a great happy hour!
Miguel’s Pizza: This spot is a popular backpacker’s hangout with pizza, beer and camping. They have ample outdoor seating, some of which is covered, and an indoor space.
Daniel Boone Coffee Shop: A nice spot for breakfast, lunch, and coffee. They also have a little shop with some groceries and souvenirs.
Red River Gorge Hiking recommendations:
Double Arch, Courthouse Rock and Auxier Ridge Loop Trail: This is a great highlight trail of a few different nice spots in Red River Gorge. It is 6.7 miles long with 1036ft of elevation gain and is rated moderate. This is a popular trail and the parking lot can get crowded. Double Arch is very cool, you can climb up under it and look out. Courthouse Rock is nothing special, it looks cooler from the stairs just after you pass it. Auxier Ridge is a cool skinny strip to walk along with views. Right before Haystack Rock is a nice cliff where you can see out to Double Arch and beyond. The beginning and end of the trail both are a bit long and boring, but overall it is a sold trail that takes just about 3 hours.
Chimney Top Trail: This is a quick .7 mile trail with 88ft of elevation gain that is rated easy. It takes 18 minutes to complete and leads out to a nice viewpoint. It is a good spot for both sunrise and sunset. The last section of road to the trailhead is gravel but it is smooth, and the parking lot is shared with Princess Arch.
Sky Bridge Trail: This is a quick .6 mile trail with 150ft of elevation gain and some stairs—it is rated moderate but is an easy hike. It takes about 20 minutes to do the loop under and on top of the sky bridge.
Another idea in the area is Natural Bridge State Resort Park. I had planned to do the Natural Bridge via Rock Garden Trail and Devil’s Gulch Trail, but this park is not dog-friendly and it was raining.