I love going here, there's tons to do, It's very rugged in some spots, so if you're not in good physical shape, stay on the beaten path. But, there's lots for people to do of all abilities and all ages. Great for families, and adventure seekers alike.
My boys and I camp heavily in the Daniel Boone. We have camped around the Red River Gorge area as well as the Sterns area. Lots of great hikes all over the forests highlighted by the Sheltowee Trace which traverses the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky. There are arches up and down the entire forest along with waterfalls. I recommend picking up a hiking guide book along with a forest service map to plan out a hike or two.
We took the skylift to the Natural Bridge after hiking half way there. The skylift was quite a ride! The Red River Gorge drive thru the forest was beautiful. Be sure to stop at the Creekside Café for a tasty burger.
Beautiful National Forest. There is a lot to see and do and everything is beautiful and clean.You definitely need to get to the natural bridge.
I can only say it has great scenery various things to do , caves, lakes, beautiful scenery especiall the foothils aroung Morehead, KY--And, yes one of the top regional universities in the South--Morehead State University
beautiful sites. wonderful forest lands and wildlife. glad that there are places tha are preserved for the publics future usage.
Middle Fork Campground in Natural Bridge State Park. Very clean and convenient to several trailheads in Daniel Boone National Forest.The trails are litter free and well-marked. All ramps and stairs are well made and sturdy.Several available trails to see all the beauty this park has to offer. Rangers very helpful. During our stay there were severe thunderstorm warnings. Early on a ranger came by our RV to ask if we would be more comfortable staying in one of the shelters.We decided to ride out the storm in our motor home. During the storm it was comforting to the see ranger drive up to check on the level of the creek. We felt confident the rangers were looking out for our well-being. Our only regret is that we did not schedule more time. We will return.After a long day of hiking, we rode the tram up to the Natural Bridge. It was exquisite and we were sorry we were just too worn out to hike any more, because there were several areas we would like to have explored.
This National Forest and the geological site are really one of a kind. We camped at the Whittleton Campground in the State Park, which is near the Natural Bridge and some of the other cool State Park trails. We found the state park trails much more crowded than the trails in the national forest/geological area . . . but this is to be expected as they are shorter, easier trails. If you're of the adventurous type, make sure to take the "Devil's Gulch" path down from the Natural Bridge trail! Exciting!The National Forest itself has a ton of great trails. I recommend the Rough Trail if you're in good shape. It has all kinds of scenery and you can make a quick stop at Gray's Arch (which is definitely worth going to). Double Arch should also be a priority. I suggest buying a detailed hiking trail guide before setting off to the park and trying to combine a bunch of trails! We did this and the variety was great.We came in the fall and the leaves were just magnificent. The park service does a great job maintaining the roads and just driving the roads was itself awesome. Obviously the trails are even better. Hiking boots are suggested as the trails were quite muddy at times. However, I did wear just my running shoes and it was fine . . . just dirty and a bit moist!
We stayed in September just before the October government shutdown. I'm so happy that we did, this was such a beautiful park. We tent camped at Twin knob campground and has a wonderful experience. We stayed in site B3 close to the bath house and the site was perfect with young children.
We have family that lives close by and go through this area frequently. It is always a beautiful drive in any season. There are many wonderful trails with beautiful views of the mountains and valleys.