With the New Year less than two weeks away, now is a good time to make some resolutions. One good choice would be places you would like to visit in the outdoors in Kentucky in 2025.
Here are three suggestions:
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Middlesboro
Cumberland Gap, the gateway to the west, is an outdoors destination that every Kentuckian should visit — to hike, camp, fish or just take in the breath-taking scenery — towering timber, amazing views, waterfalls, rocky outcrops and diverse native plants and animals.
You’ll trace the footsteps of herds of bison, Native Americans, and 18th century longhunters. An estimated 300,000 settlers crossed the Appalachians here to settle Kentucky, and lands to the west.
Kentucky’s historical era began on April 13, 1750 when Virginia physician, surveyor and land speculator Thomas Walker (1715-1794) passed through Cave Gap, “which he renamed for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, son of George II and Queen Caroline.”
Walker found incredible natural resources, diverse fauna and flora, a large number of high-quality streams, and rich mineral deposits. What he wrote in a journal about the plants and animals observed, and what the party encountered, whetted the appetite of a generation of land-hungry settlers who would follow.
The rich Bluegrass Region, between the Kentucky River and Licking River drainages, would become the focus of early settlement.
In the rolling interior, park-like savannas stretched for miles, with clusters of burr oaks, cherry, hickory, walnut and blue ash trees interspersed by grasslands, and vast stands of river cane.
Walker was one of the first of many to venture into this unexplored wilderness on horseback, with little more than a knife, a tomahawk, and a flintlock long rifle.
Others who would follow included Daniel Boone, America’s quintessential frontiersman, who first set foot in Kentucky in the fall of 1767, and in the years afterwards made several trips to hunt, and explore the interior.
One of Boone’s most remembered quotes was “Heaven must be a Kentucky kind of place.”
Boone was accompanied on some of these extended treks which began at Cumberland Gap by his brother, Squire Boone, brother-in-law John Stuart, trader John Finley, and the son of a German immigrant, George Michael Holsteiner (original family name), who took the name Michael Stoner on the frontier.
Visitors today can camp, explore the backcountry on 85 miles of trails that traverse 14,000 acres of wilderness, fish for brook trout in a remote stream, drive to Pinnacle Overlook for an awe-inspiring view, and visit Hensley Settlement, a village built by early settlers.
For more information visit the National Park Service website, or call 606-248-2817.
Red River Gorge, Stanton
Red River Gorge is a canyon system on the upper Red River, a tributary to the Kentucky River.
The “Gorge,” as it is known to those who love this rugged landscape, is east of Stanton, Kentucky in Daniel Boone National Forest.
The Red River Gorge Geological Area, about 29,000 acres, including the 13,379-acre Clifty Wilderness, has been designated a National Natural Landmark, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The canyon has an abundance of high sandstone cliffs, rock shelters, waterfalls, and natural bridges, including more than 100 natural sandstone arches. There are excellent stream fishing opportunities for smallmouth bass, trout and muskie.
There is evidence in rock shelters and other sites in the Gorge of prehistoric occupancy by indigenous people, beginning with the Paleo-Indian period, 10,500 B.C. to 8000 B.C.
In 2003 the Red River Gorge Geological Area and some adjoining private and public lands were designated as a National Archaeological District. The 37,217 acres contain 664 known sites.
Recreational opportunities abound.
The numerous sandstone clifflines of the Gorge have become one of the world’s top rock climbing destinations.
The Red River in the upper gorge offers good fishing and paddling opportunities, and was designated a Kentucky Wild River by the Kentucky General Assembly through the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves’ Wild Rivers Program.
There are lots of day-hiking and backpacking opportunities, with over 60 miles of trails, maintained by the U.S. Forest Service.
The Red River Gorge Geological Area is home to a great variety of wildlife including hawks, owls, peregrine falcons, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, white-tailed deer, fox, black bears, and two venomous snakes, the copperhead and the timber rattlesnake.
It is also home to several endangered species including the white-haired goldenrod which is found only in the Gorge. Plants of Canadian origin are believed to have been established in the Gorge area during the Pliocene-Quaternary glaciation which started about 2.58 million years ago.
Other rare of endangered plants include the Purple Fringed Orchid (Platanthera psycodes), Canadian Lily (Lilium canadense), and Canadian Yew (Taxus canadensis).
The Daniel Boone National Forest Gladie Visitor Center is located in Slade, Kentucky. There are interpretive exhibits about the area’s geology, natural history and cultural history. Visitors can get maps, information about trails, camping and other activities.
Up-to-date information is available at the USDA Forest Service website.
Land Between the Lakes, Golden Pond
Land Between the Lakes (LBL) is a 40 mile-long peninsula, 175,000 acre national recreation area, between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley.
It’s a long drive from central Kentucky but well worth it. LBL is an outdoors paradise, offering fishing, hunting, hiking, beautiful lakeside campsites, horseback riding trails and diverse plant and animal life.
There’s 300 miles of undeveloped shoreline, 26 boat launching ramps and 14 lakeshore campgrounds. The boat launching ramps are located at campgrounds, camping areas and day use areas. Many of these ramps offer access to remote embayments of Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake. They are in shallow, sheltered waters, making them ideal for small, carry down boats, such as fishing kayaks.
There is also a unique natural area, a 700-acre prairie demonstration area called the Elk and Bison Prairie, that takes visitors back in time to pre-settlement Kentucky, when six million acres of grasslands, herds of wild ruminants, and periodic fires created a unique landscape which is now absent from most of the state.
Native people used fire to keep the prairie open, but the U.S. Forest Service had to clear this land, and thin back the trees.
There was fescue and lespedeza and a lot of exotics (plants) that had to be eradicated.
The Elk and Bison Prairie is just north and east of the intersection of US 68 and The Trace, the north-south highway which traverses LBL.
It took 10 years to transform an old farmstead back to what the land looked like around 1790, but managers admit it’s a work in progress. There were remnants of some native grasses, but additional planting are periodically made.
Indian Grass, Big Bluestem and other native grasses are planted, y, their seeds drilled into the soil. It can take three years for the grasses to show up (above the ground) because they build their root system first.
The ongoing habitat management includes applications of herbicides and prescribed burns, which are probably most important to maintaining the prairie, an annual battle against plant succession.
Fire exposes bare ground, helps native grass seeds germinate, and destroys plants (shrubs, hardwood saplings and weeds) that compete with the native grasses for space, nutrients and sunlight.
Between 1996 and 2001, elk and bison were returned to the prairie, to eat grass and naturally fertilize the soil. The animals were fitted with ear tags and implants, so biologists can identify individuals and keep up with their health histories.
When visitors drive through the Elk and Bison Prairie they can get a lesson in ecology and natural history. At three interpretive stations, visitors learn about prairie through images on display boards and recorded messages. Periodically, LBL staff conducts guided group tours.
Visitors drive on a 3 1/2-mile road that traverses the 700-acre fenced enclosure, and have excellent opportunities to see and photograph wildlife up close.
For more information visit the Land Between the Lakes website.
This story is republished with permission from Northern Kentucky Tribune. Read the original.
Art Lander Jr. is outdoors editor for the Northern Kentucky Tribune. He is a native Kentuckian, a graduate of Western Kentucky University and a lifelong hunter, angler, gardener and nature enthusiast. He has worked as a newspaper columnist, magazine journalist and author and is a former staff writer for Kentucky Afield Magazine, editor of the annual Kentucky Hunting & Trapping Guide and Kentucky Spring Hunting Guide, and co-writer of the Kentucky Afield Outdoors newspaper column.
