Why Red River Gorge Is Famous & What To See There

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Rock Climbing At The Red River Gorge

Tour The Gorge Underground

Zipline Over The Lush Red River Gorge

Hike The Red River Gorge

Explore The Daniel Boone National Forest

Accommodations And Dining At The Red River Gorge

The scenic Red River Gorge is a canyon system mostly located in the Daniel Boone National Forest (DBNF) in east-central Kentucky. This 29,000 acres gorge, also dubbed 'The Red,' is famous for its rugged cliffs, towering cliffs, sandstone cliffs and arches, rock shelters, waterfalls, and natural bridges.

Formations at the Red River Gorge make this outdoor paradise one of the world's top rock climbing destinations. It might not be the tallest cliff in the world, but yearly it attracts an estimated 7500 climbers. Still, there are other things visitors can see at this geological marvel dubbed the "Grand Canyon of Kentucky."

Rock Climbing At The Red River Gorge

Red River Gorge has many sandstone cliffs around 200 feet tall, where visitors from around the world test their physical mettle and climb. Climbs on these cliffs are adrenaline inducing and thrilling, as visitors cling to rocks and exert all their energy to thrust themselves upwards.

The Red River Gorge Climbers' Coalition oversees three climbing areas at the Red River Gorge and also organizes annual climbing events there.

The three climbing areas are the Bald Rock Recreational Preserve, Pendergrass-Murray Recreational Preserve, and Miller Fork Recreational Preserve which collectively total 1,161 acres in size.

Climbing Excursions: Rock climbers can contact The Red River Gorge Climbers' Coalition to plan their rock climbing excursions.
There are climbing books available for purchase that guide visitors on over 1600 climbs at the Red River Gorge.

Tour The Gorge Underground

Beneath the Red River Gorge surface are scenic caves (grottos) with waters that visitors paddle through with a kayak or explore on boating tours.

Guides are available to direct visitors on these memorable, one-hour underwater tours that at times plunge them into grotto darkness illuminated by LED lights.

The guides also narrate the grotto's history to boating or paddling, visitors including how they got flooded. During these gorge underground water tours, visitors can take photos and are likely to see the rainbow trout.

Tour Costs

Classic Boat Tour: $10-$59
Classic Kayak Tour: $25-$59
Crystal Kayak Tour: $25-$75
Stand-Up Paddleboard Tour: $25-$75
Gorge Underground Unguided Tour: $75-$100

Zipline Over The Lush Red River Gorge

The Red River Gorge has five ziplines, 300 feet above the ground that adrenaline junkies can ride at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour.

When ziplining, visitors get sweeping views of the lush and picturesque Daniel Boone National Forest, and the spectacular gorge. The longest zipline of the five is 1900 feet long, and there are two ziplines two people can race with each other.

Guidelines: The weight requirement of zipliners ranges from 70 to 250 pounds, and there is no age restriction.
Duration: Depending on the group ziplining adventures take 1 to 2 hours.
How to book: Ziplining tours are booked in advance from the Red River Gorge Ziplines website.

Costs

Adults: $99:99
Children: $89:99

Hike The Red River Gorge

At the Red River Gorge, there are ten recommended hiking trails that visitors can explore. At Daniel Boone National Forest there are over 600 miles of nature trails there.

Some trails combine two or smaller hikes and start at the same place.

There are also unmarked trails classified as unofficial which can be easy and challenging to follow and require great navigational skills. These ten hikes are:

Indian Staircase and Indian Arch (3.5 miles – unmarked – difficult)
Whittleton Arch (2.5 miles – easy)
Double Arch, Star Gap Arch, Arch of Triumph (5.6 miles – unmarked – moderate)
Gray’s Arch (4.0 miles – easy)
Auxier Ridge & Courthouse Rock (5.0 miles-moderate)
Natural Bridge & Laurel Ridge Trail (3.0 miles – easy)
Silvermine Arch & Hidden Arch (5.1 miles – moderate)
Turtle Back Arch & Rock Bridge (4.0 miles – unmarked – moderate)
Rock Bridge Loop (1.5 miles – unmarked – easy)
Chimney Top Rock, Princess Arch, & Half Moon Arch (1.8 miles – easy)

To get more information on hikes at the Red River Gorge visitors can call 606-663-8100 or email the Red River Gorge at rrgcabin@gmail.com.

General admission fees to the Red River Gorge are as follows.

Costs

$5/Day
$7 (three days)
$50 Annual Pass

Explore The Daniel Boone National Forest

The picturesque DBNF is over 2000,000 acres in size and touches 21 counties. The forest has lakes, streams, and rivers suited for aquatic recreation.

Visitors can canoe, kayak, boat, scuba dive, swim, water-ski, go tubing, and fish after getting a license. DBNF also has biking trails and some are shared with hikers and are challenging to bike on.

The forest habitat also has trees like hickory, beech, white pines, hemlock, oak varieties, and sugar maples.

Sheltered by these trees are 46 mammal species, 100 bird species, and 67 amphibian and reptile species.

Among the wildlife here are endangered species like the Indiana Bat, red-cockaded woodpecker, Virginia big-eared bat, and the threatened White-haired Goldenrod flowering plant.

There are also over 250 recreational sites awaiting visitors at DBNF.

Entry Fees