The time we went to Kentucky for pizza

Daniel Boone National Forest – Kentucky

Rough Trail

• Loop using connector trails
• 18 miles
• GPS file: Rough Trail

It’s Memorial day weekend and we knew we had to take advantage of our extra day off. We set off without a definitive destination while trying to decide between Smoky National Park in Tennessee and Boone National Forest in South Eastern Kentucky. We decided on the latter and rolled into the trailhead parking lot at midnight and crashed hard.

In the morning we talked with our parking lot neighbors and found out we skimmed by without a permit on night one, but definitely needed one for the rest of the weekend.  You can purchase a 3 day permit for 5 bucks!  We made everything legal and then headed back to Martin’s Fork to start the trail.  Just a few miles in the trail offers a nice lookout point of the surrounding ridges.  Some hikers warned us about copperheads on a side trail so we figured we had to check it out for ourselves.  We hiked off the trail to a lookout point, but a coiled up copperhead a few feet of the trail stopped us in our tracks… We didn’t want to see the small overlook that bad.  We snapped a few pictures from a safe distance and hiked back to the main trail.  While walking along Angelina almost walked face first into a snake!  There was a 4-5 foot rat snack resting on a tree branch digesting his last catch! __ miles in and we hit Gray’s Arch!  This arch was immense and the scenery spectacular, we found ourselves spending about a hour and a half exploring the area and talking to some friendly locals. There’s a nearby access point about 1.5 miles away (3 mile loop) so it’s a popular destination and can get rather busy at peak hours.  After that we kept a lookout for a campsite.  There was a bit of a clearing on some rocks a bit off the main trail so we set up our tent and lounged in the hammock.  We had first dinner and second dinner to make up for lost calories.  Before heading to bed Nick asked Angelina if there was any food she needed to put in the bear bag.  Like a fat kid hiding candy bars she pulled out 5 granola bars, two apples, and trail mix (Yes, it finally made it on the trail) after reassuring Nick she didn’t have anything.

Sunday morning we woke up and hiked about a mile and half to Hanson’s Point after hearing about it the day before from some other hikers.  This lookout point was the best view we’ve had yet! It offered unobstructed views of Chimney Top Rock, Revenuer’s Rock, and layers of fog rolling through the valleys.  The high vantage point allows you to see smoke stacks from the surrounding campsites throughout the park. Rumor is, Revenuer’s Rock used to be a lookout point used by “Revenuers” to spot moonshine distilleries.  After taking in the view w. hiked to Hidden Arch, and lets just say it is well hidden being only about 4 feet tall.  It is a little lackluster after having seen Gray’s Arch the day before, but the rock formations were still pretty neat.  We saw the remains of Daniel Boone’s Hut, which was little more than a sign behind a fence (but it was a pretty spectacular cliff overhang).  We got another recommendation from some hikers, but this one was off the trail.  Miguel’s Pizza is a rock climber hangout.  We decided to finish out the trail and enjoy some pizza and cold beers.  Tip: there is no beer on Sundays in Wolfe County.  When we were in line we noticed everyone had green bottles so we decided to blend in.  The green bottle was Ale8 a Kentucky ginger ale, and it was delicious.

Monday morning we packed up and started driving the scenic byway, but got distracted by the boundless activities of the area.  We parked and hiked into the Roadside Crag to snap a few shots of the climbers.  Wetted our palet and made us eager to get some outdoor climbing experience.  Grabbed a burger at RockHouse farm to table restaurant, and decided we couldn’t stall our drive home any more.

Daniel Boone National Park is quite the melting pot of adventurers from bikers, kayakers, hikers, and climbers from all around the world.  It is very dog-friendly and has a lot of varying terrain ( sand, roots, creek crossings, rock, and mud).

 

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