A Weekend in Red River Gorge: Top Activities, Tips, and Travel Guide
Red River Gorge Geological Area is located in Daniel Boone National Forest and is known for their rock climbing. As a couple of girls who would rather keep their feet firmly planted on the ground, we weren’t sure what there might be for us to do in the area. However, even if you don’t want to try your hand at rock climbing, there is plenty of adventure to be had in the area. We’ve compiled our favorites below in a long weekend Itinerary!
When going on a trip to the mountains, I feel like its required that you stay in a cabin. It just fits the vibe. We stayed at Red River Gorge Getaways. They have so many cabins in the area and our experience was wonderful! They have newly built, Nordic cabins and they are perfect for a weekend of exploring. Perfect Perch is the specific one we stayed in (and where the view above was taken), though any of their Nordic style cabins would be perfect!
The drive to the cabin might have been a little frightening to us (small roads and tight corners) until we got used to it, but let me tell you: it was worth it. The Perfect Perch had a full kitchen, a fire pit, a hot tub, and wonderful views. It was both secluded and also close to everything we wanted to do. And at the end of a long day of exploring, there might be nothing better than sitting in that hot tub and watching the sun set over the mountain. Now that you know where you’re going to be staying, let’s talk about what to do!
Actually, before we talk about everything we did, let me tell you about the beach access at the Perfect Perch! Well, I’ll tell you about what happened to me at the beach, not the actual beach. The week before we visited, it had rained quite a bit! So naturally, everything was muddy. And the path to the beach access had a giant mud pit that you had to walk through. Now, me being me, I decided that I could just march on through all of that and get to the beach. And boy was I wrong. What started as me slipping and sliding quickly in to me on my butt covered in mud! And don’t even get me started on trying to climb out of that pit. There’s a video out there somewhere of my slipping and sliding trying to climb my way out! Did I learn my lesson? No, I will definitely do something like that again. However, you can learn from my experience and be careful walking through mud pits! Okay, now that I’ve embarrassed myself, let’s talk about what to do in Red River Gorge.
Day 1: Kayaking
If you’re going to be in Red River Gorge, doing an underground kayak tour is a MUST. I have not stopped talking about it since we got home. And honestly was so excited to do it that I talked about it way too much leading up to it. The Gorge Underground offers two different kayaking trips: Kayak Tour and Crystal Kayak Tour. The Crystal Kayak Tour has glass bottomed kayaks and LED lights to give you a glow in the dark kayaking experience. The Kayak Tour is a classic kayaking trip!
The cave you are kayaking through used to be a mine until, you guessed it, it filled with water and became unusable. Since it is a cave, it does get cold! Even on warm days, it’ll be chilly, so don’t be fooled by the weather outdoors. Once you get in to the caves, you’re going to wish you had a jacket and some pants!
During your guided tour, you will get to hear about the history of the caves, how they came to be operated as they are, and get to experience total darkness. Not going to lie, the total darkness was cool, but also super freaky! Sitting there, not being able to see anything gave me the creeps. By the time we turned our lights back on, I was definitely ready to see some light! That being said, I would 100% do it again and would recommend everyone experience it at least once.
If kayaking isn’t your thing, they also offer SUP and boat tours. Whether you kayak, SUP, or take a boat, we can’t recommend this experience enough!
Here, I’m going to pause you in your exploring to tell you to get ice cream. If I could eat ice cream every single day, I would. So you know I searched out the best ice cream in the area. So, before you get any further, you’ll want to stop at the Red River Gorge General Store for a cone, sundae, milkshake. Dealers choice. Whatever your favorite way to consume ice cream is, I can tell you it’s going to be delicious! And if you are dairy free, don’t worry! They also have vegan options.
Once you’ve finished with your cave tour, you’ll want to warm up by exploring the surrounding area! We found that visiting the Sky Bridge was a great post kayaking experience. To visit the sky bridge, you can either hike or ride the Sky Lift. Or a combination of both as you can purchase both one way and round trip rides on the sky lift. While we love hiking, we chose to ride the lift because it sounded like fun! And we were right. The Sky Lift takes you slowly up the mountain, letting you chill and chat while you get to see the scenery.
From the top of the lift, there are two short paths you can take (though they are part of the same trail). We recommend both, as each one has a different view and each is worth the short walk! When you get off the platform, turn right and it will take you to a good view of the sky bridge (the top photo). However, if you get off the lift and take a left, you’ll be taken to the sky bridge. Here you can walk over the bridge and see beautiful views of the surrounding areas. You’ll also get the experience of being able to take some stairs down to view the bridge from below (the middle photo above). We are always going to advocate for exploring the outdoors as much as possible because otherwise you wouldn’t get to experience the breathtaking views and natural wonders like the Sky Bridge!
And as much as we’re going to tell you to explore the outdoors, we’re also going to suggest relaxing! Because in order to explore and have fun doing so, you need to be rested. So here is where we’re going to tell you to spend the rest of the evening at your cabin soaking in the hot tub with a margarita in hand enjoying the views of the surrounding mountains. Because what’s a vacation without a margarita?
Day 2: Hiking
For hiking, there are two trails that we really loved. The first one was the Princess Arch Trail. Above is a photo of the arch. From the parking lot, its a short and easy .5 mile (for round trip) trail. Once you reach the arch, you can explore the area and find all the ways nature has shaped and created the arch.
In the parking area for this hike, there are picnic tables, which would be a great place to have a packed lunch, a snack, or just to have some water and relax. After you’ve refueled, the Chimney Tops trailhead, is also located here!
Above is the view from the end of the Chimney Tops trail. This hike is also a .5 mile round trip hike which is easy! Both the Chimney Tops and Princess Arch hikes are low effort, high reward as they both are very easy hikes, but also have beautiful views. These two hikes are great for people who don’t or can’t hike far, but still want to see the beauty of the area. While it’s only 1 mile to do both, we spent a good amount of time here having lunch, walking, and just taking in the views.
Next on your list of must do’s in Red River Gorge is Nada Tunnel. Nada Tunnel used to be a railway, but is now a road! Even if it is out of your way, we really suggest making it a stop on your way back to your cabin. For just being a tunnel, it is quite fun to drive through! For some reason, driving through a tunnel carved from limestone really brings out a childlike joy and wonder. It will only fit one car, so before entering please be sure to look for oncoming traffic!
Now that you’ve explored for the day, you’re going to want to get dinner! What’s better after a day of hiking and exploring than pizza? Exactly, nothing. Miguel’s Pizza is a well known pizza place in the area and you’re going to want to stop because it’s delicious. You’ll be able to relax with pizza, drinks, and great company!
*Note: for hiking this day, we have only suggest 2 very short hikes. This is because these are the only ones we did in the area as we had a very relaxing vacation with little hiking! If you would like to add more hikes to your day, please see a list of trails in the area here.
Day 3: Breakfast and Head Home
Before you head out, you’ll want to make a stop at Daniel Boone Coffee Shop. Grab some breakfast, coffee, and reminisce over your relaxing weekend. The atmosphere here is fun and the drinks are delicious. Really, there isn’t a better way to end your trip than by spending time here!
If you want to extend your stay for a while, there is a reptile zoo and adventure golf just around the corner that sound like a wonderful way to continue your weekend! Overall, Red River Gorge is perfect for everyone from families to the experienced rock climbers. And we can’t wait to go back to hike more, eat as much ice cream we can, and relax in a hot tub.