July, 2025 I went on a trip to Red River Gorge with my younger sister and some friends. We went there for 3 days and 2 nights and stayed at an airbnb. For the bnb we picked a spot in Slade, which seemed like a good area to stay in by everything. We managed to visit a lot of the main trails in the time we were here and it was very fun! In the gorge you can expect lots of cool archways, rivers, and some waterfalls.
Day 1
The first day we spent just driving to the airbnb and settling in. From Slade, the nearest grocery store is a Kroger in the city of Stanton. We decided to grab groceries on the way there and made dinner and fell asleep after the 6 hour drive from Michigan.
Day 2
The second day we were there, was our first big day of hiking. The first trail we did was the Natural bridge trail. This trail has a few different entrances, we parked at the lot off of Natural Bridge Road. This parking lot doesn’t charge a fee for day use, which is very nice. From the parking lot, you walk along Middle Fork River to a bridge. Across the bridge you will then enter the forest. Upon entering the forest, you’ll go through about 300 feet of elevation gain before getting under the ‘Natural Bridge’.
After the steep walk up, we took our first break under the archway. There’s a lot of traffic of people here coming in and out from the top of the bridge.
The path up can be steep and very narrow. There is a hallway section that is super narrow where if somebody is coming through, you will have to wait for them to come out before entering.
At the top of the bridge is a cool 360 degree view of the surrounding area. When you are walking along the top area of the trail you will come across a ski lift and some cool rock formations, most notably ‘Lover’s Leap’. This is an amazing trail to start with that will show off a lot of what to expect in the Gorge.
From the top there is also another off-shoot path that leads down what is called “Devil’s Gulch”. We didn’t know where it would lead and we had lots of other spots to hit so we decided to turn around at this point. It just goes to show how much is in this area to check out!
The next trail we did right after was the Copperas Falls Trail. This trail is located in the city of Wellington 25 minutes from Slade. This trail is a little more remote than the rest from this trip. There is no parking lot, so you will have to park on the side of the road (free parking). This trail is not well maintained and goes through some creeks, so if the water level is high it can be difficult to go through. If you are interested in camping, this trail has a campsite around a quarter mile in. The trail runs along Copperas creek that offers some small falls leading up to Copperas Falls itself. Around 0.6 miles in there are huge boulders that make some cool rock formations.
Going in the summer, even after rain the past couple days before, the falls unfortunately weren’t flowing as much as we wished for. The falls are said to flow the best in the spring and fall. In total, the trail was 4.3 miles and 308 ft of elevation gain. It is a remote trail (at least when we went we just saw people camping). I would keep an eye out for snakes and keep bear spray on you. We stayed by the falls for a while, it was a peaceful area to hang out at. The walk back it began to rain and it was a silent ‘locked in’ walk back to the car.
After Copperas we returned to the bnb and made some dinner. That was the end of day 2.
Day 3
The beginning of day three, after breakfast, we decided to make a trip to the Kentucky Reptile Zoo we saw the day before that was nearby. They had plenty of different snakes and turtles to see.
After that, the first trail we did of the day was ‘Gray’s Arch’. The trail starts only about 11 minutes from the city of Slade. They do have a loop you can park in and it is free. In total the trail is 2.73 miles long and 341 ft of elevation gain. There are some steep sections with stairs and the last part is a natural pathway up that is steep and slippery so take it slow. Along the trail you can expect some small waterfalls and cool rock formations along the side of the rock face.
Under Gray’s Arch itself has lots of cool areas to take pictures. Take your time here, and enjoy it, before the long staircase sections back up.
After Gray’s we went to go see the Sky bridge, which was about 25 minutes away. The trail is overall very short but it is a very cool area. The bridge is pretty narrow so be careful. The area under the bridge offers amazing views of the bridge and the surrounding area.
The last trail we did in our time here was the Rock Bridge Trail. The trail is a 1.4 mile loop with about 310 ft of elevation gain. This trail has lots of families here that will come and hang out in the Swift Camp Creek this trail runs along. The parking is free and it has a few picnic tables to eat at. The main attractions of the trail are the Rock Bridge itself, and Creation Falls. The Rock Bridge is located about 0.75 miles into the loop from the parking lot. At the bridge, there is a steep path to the top of the bridge where you can take photos at. Do NOT jump into the water from the top of the bridge, the water is very shallow. The Creation Falls are not long after. It is a cool spot, but lots of people like to swim at the bottom of it.
Red River Gorge is a cool area to come and hike to for a weekend. The place is home to lots of cool spots to rock climb and boulder, if you are into that. There are also some caves to kayak through (which sounded so cool). We tried going, but it was booked MONTHS ahead, I would research it and reach out to book it, if you are interested in that. It is through a company called “Gorge Underground”, go check them out! This is a great spot to bring your family to hike, lots of the trails are not that difficult. I highly recommend visiting it sometime in the summer!
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