Family Friendly Hiking in Red River Gorge & Natural Bridge State Park

 

Red River Gorge and Natural Bridge State Park in Kentucky is beautiful and worth the trip. It is a great place to hike with kids as long as you are aware of them and your surroundings. Stick to trails that match your family’s abilities. Keep in mind that there are cliffs and overhangs that kids or adults could fall off of. People get hurt here or worse every year. Only hike during the day and on clearly marked trails, especially with children. There are rocks and tree roots on the path that you could trip over or fall on. With a little care and respect for the situation, your family and you will do fine. With all that being said, we chose to put Octavia in the baby carrier for part of the hike. We let her walk in areas that we were comfortable with so that she could get rid of some of that energy that toddlers have. Our older girls are eight and seventeen. They are both very responsible, physically capable, and aware of their own safety so they are a pleasure to hike with.

We started at Natural Bridge State Park. It’s in Slade, Kentucky. It’s free to visit. It’s a popular place and the trail was busy at times. There are multiple different trail heads that will lead you to the Natural Bridge. We chose to do the “Original (Quickest route to Natural Bridge)” up to the bridge, followed it along to “Skylift Overlook” and Lookout Point.

The rock formations are so pretty here! It’s a great place to visit while teaching your kids about geography, rock layers, and how water affects different types of stone over time. It’s hard not to be interested in such things while staring at walls of stone like the photo above.

We stopped at the bottom of the natural bridge to rehydrate and take a break. We carry a backpack with us whenever we do things like this. We keep a water bottle in each of the side pockets for easy access and extras inside the pack depending on the length of the hike. We also carry a small first-aid kit, a few extra hair ties, sunscreen, snacks if it will take more than a couple of hours, wet wipes, diapers, and a small changing pad.

There are two ways to get to the top of the Natural Bridge. You can take a sky lift to the top from a different parking lot or you can go the way we did. I should mention that you have to go up the stairs in the photo above to get to the top from the path. I was afraid I would get stuck but it’s not as narrow as it looks.

The views from up there were amazing! Definitely keep ahold of your babies up here! It’s really high. There is a very large area to stand or sit at Lookout Point. I know that they look like they are standing near the edge but it’s deceptive. There is a lot of space between them and the end.

The girls were on the search for animals and pretty plants while walking. They found loads of things to admire along the way. These girls just love being outdoors.

We chose to go back the same way because it was muddy and the other two options didn’t look like a great idea with a toddler. When we made it back to our car, we took the blanket out of our trunk and had lunch next to the water. We had a cooler in the trunk of our car full of drinks and a bag of snacks/food. We bring it with us whenever we are going to be hiking, spending a day at a park, fishing, camping, or anything else outdoors where we will be away from the convenience of restaurants and stores. There was a little bridge over the water near where we parked that the little girls and Michael had a blast playing on. The smallest things sometimes bring the greatest joy.

Next, we all loaded in the car and drove over to the parking lot for Chimney Top and Princess Arch. The drive to get back to the parking lot was a little rough. It had rained the day before so it was muddy and there was water standing on the road in places. We drove my little four-door Nissan and still made it. We just had to go around the bad spots.

Even though the walk to Chimney Top is an easy trail, I put Octavia on my back in the baby carrier.  She was pretty worn out and the sky was threatening rain. Besides she loves “going for a ride.” This is a great view and a good trail for people who are not outdoor types/not physically capable of more difficult or longer trails. Isabella found a little pinecone toward the beginning of the trail and gave it to Octavia. She held it all through this trail and the trail to Princess Arch. Once again, it’s the little things with kids that make all the difference sometimes.

The path to Princess Arch was a little rough. A tree had fallen and blocked part of the path but we were able to climb over. We did make it and it was worth the trouble. We loved Princess Arch and got great pleasure out of being the only people there. It was an unexpected treat. There was a tree that had fallen nearby and you could see the roots. It was pretty neat.

We walked back to our car and started our journey back home after spending a great day outdoors. We were all happily worn out, looking forward to a hot shower and a good nights sleep. We drove through the cave on the way back to the highway. I don’t have any decent pictures of it but it was really neat. It was quite an adventure. I can’t wait to do it again. We hope to see some of the other formations next time.