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Natural Bridge State Park

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“Outer” or Sand Gap  Loop

 

Trail Combination:  Original/Battleship Rock/Rock Garden/Low Gap/Parking Lot/Hoods Branch/Sand Gap/Balanced Rock

 

Monday, April 21, 2008

 

 

Please note that this journal describes a hike of about 10 miles.  You won't need to go as far as I did today to experience most of what the park has to offer though.  There are many different trail combinations you can use to make your day as long or as short as you like.  I'd recommend picking up a trail map at the Visitor's Center when you come in if you don't already have one  with you.

 

 

Don’t ask me how I did it, but after a botched trip out to Pilot Knob I wound up here.  I might have had bad directions but it’s probably more likely that I was simply misreading them.  I now know that Pilot Knob is pretty easy to find, but at one point I found myself looking at a sign by the side of the road for Natural Bridge Park.  It was only 10 miles away.  I figured: “Why not!”  My luck wasn’t working in one direction.  I would try another. 

 

Well, the experience I was to have would become one of my favorite ways to greet the spring.  This park is an absolute gem.  Not only do you get fantastic vistas from atop Natural Bridge but you also have quite a few other trails to explore.  Most of them go over impressively built bridges as they wind through jungles of rhododendron and forests of pine.  As a bonus, some will also take you by some caves and rock overhangs.  If you then add in all the wildflowers of spring you've got an absolutely captivating and inspiring experience.  I find that I do some of my best thinking and planning on hikes like this – especially on the solitary sections.  You’ll want to be careful on the Sand Gap section though.  It’s quite a long loop in which you’re apt to encounter wildlife (more on this in a bit) and since this hike is so solitary and long you’ll want to be well prepared – both in terms of what you bring with you and in the amount of time you choose to allot.  As mentioned on my "Trip Preparation’ page, I like to bring the phone number for the park with me when I go just in case.

 

I parked at the activities center and started my hike around the backside of it.  This is a really lush and impressive area this time of year and it comes complete with an impressive ravine that has wooden stairways and bridges winding all over it.  There's even a little stream trickling down over algae covered rocks.  Such spots are great to meditate in if you’re into that, although this particular area of the park can get crowded.

 

The first part of this hike is a fairly steep climb up the ravine along some steps.  I went right at the top and continued along what they call the Original Trail (I’d arrive right back at this very same spot on my way out).  One thing to note about the trails in this first section of the hike – they can be quite confusing because a lot of them are basically little arcs in this one large loop I'll be describing.  As a result, you’ll have a title like the one I have above – a conglomeration of trail names.  Hopefully you’ll bring a trail guidebook with you.  I still do and I’ve been out here a few times now!

 

Anyway, as you walk along now you’ll be looking up at rock walls on your left and down at a ridgeline to your right.  There will be a parking lot down there and a lodge as well as some other paths which will lead up to yours.  Take a left along the Original Trail and then make an immediate right onto the next one which is either Rock Garden or a tiny little portion of Battleship Rock Trail.  Next, take an almost immediate right at the sign for the Rock Garden Trail (told you it was confusing!).  Rock Garden is a great trail which is aptly named with all the moss covered rocks.  You'll be on this one a little while anyway, maybe 1/4 mile.

 

 

The next trail junction will be that for the Lower Gap Trail and this one will lead you down to the parking lot for the skylift.  In this section I met with the sight below and it occurred to me just how amazing it is the way trees adapt and grow!

 

 

After a moderate descent to end this part of the trail you’ll be looking at a parking lot.  It's at about the 11 o’clock mark (over by the miniature golf course) that the trail will begin anew as Hoods Branch.  Here you'll ascend anew along a fairly steep gravel coated path, and it’s near the top of this that you’ll veer right onto a much longer trail - Sand Gap.  According to a sign here this one is 8.5 miles long and they suggest allotting 5 hours to hike it.  Now you’ll start to find some solitude!  Rhododendrons and little streams help define the the first miles as you stroll along the ravine cut out by the Lower Hood Branch.

 

 

 

It was in this area that I encountered a baby skunk last year!  I had just turned a “corner” on the path and was looking at a little incline.  Well, coming down at me was this baby skunk…  Totally perplexed as to how to react, I just stood there and watched as this little animal proceeded to do a complete somersault!  It tripped coming down, you see, and fell head over heels!  Then, completely unfazed, it continued on as if nothing had happened - and as if I was not even there!  It didn't even seem to notice me.  It was probably the most amazing hiking encounter I’ve ever had.

 

Once you curve away from the rhododendrons you’ll ascend into a fairly open pine forest for a while.  Here you’ll have some nice rocky views of the ridge top as you look up and to your right.  There are some caves up there too which might be very interesting to explore although I’m betting that this would be frowned upon.  Anyway, it was in walking through this section that I heard the “screeee” of what I’m guessing was a hawk.  When I looked up to see it I couldn’t, but when I looked back toward the path there was a feather just to the left side of the trail.  Of course, I had to pick it up and take it with me.  There seemed to be a special meaning to it. 

 

Anyway, this section must be the namesake of the Sand Gap Trail as it's atop this ridge you'll be walking along sandy areas in the midst the wonderful scent of pine.  There will also be some really nice vistas which will open up to you and make for some great photo opportunities.

 

 

 

 

From this area you’ll soon descend a bit on the side of the ridge to then level out for about the next mile as you stroll through an area which is a little more densely forested than the last.  This section will form the last arc before you link up with the famed Sheltowee Trace.  I had an encounter with a snake here last year.  There it was right in the middle of the path!  It was pretty darned big too!  I didn’t know what kind it was, but I wasn’t going to take any chances on whether or not it was poisonous.  I went WELL around it!

 

When you do see the Sheltowee sign you’ll want to go left to get back to your car, but if you did go around the gate to your right you’d eventually come to the area of the Sheltowee they call the “ Narrows”.  There are supposedly more great views out there and it’s said that the area may eventually, through erosion, become a natural bridge itself.  The Sheltowee sign also indicated that something called Standing Rock was 7 miles further ahead and that Heidelberg and the Kentucky River were 16 miles down.

 

As for today, however, you'll continue along a ridge top hike through the pines.  Here you might notice a lot of trees budding and quite a few different kinds of wildflowers in the spring.  I don’t know exactly what it is.  Maybe it’s just the wonderful color that makes this time of year so incredible!  Or maybe it’s the newness of everything – the renewal!  Whatever it is, it sure makes me feel like my own spirit has been renewed just for having seen all this.

 

 

 

 

At one point in here I looked up to my left and noticed a little shelter which was nearly hidden by the foliage.  There was a little path with a moderate climb leading up to it so I decided to check it out.  It looked like one of the structures I’d seen at the Audubon State Park down in Henderson, Kentucky which was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) back in the 1930’s.  I had to get a couple shots of this – check the view looking out!  This would be a great place to camp for a night if they’d let you (not sure if they would or not, to be honest).

 

 

 

 

The Balanced Rock Trail intersection comes next.  You can go either way here.  Left will take you to the most popular area - natural bridge itself with its far reaching views.  You can also go right and down which is what I did, eventually winding up back at the point at which you’d first entered.  Look for Balanced Rock itself in the midst of this which is an amazing sight (below).

 

 

As I descended this last section I got a feeling similar to the one I get when I'm watching the grand finale of a fireworks show.  Everything seemed to reach a crescendo with the 3 types of scenic areas you’ve passed today giving you “curtain calls” as they take a final bow – first the ridgeline pines, then the rock walls and finally the rhododendron jungles.  It all culminates with the maze of bridge and steps in the last picture.  Extraordinary!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On your way out, there’s a little nature museum room in the activities center which is worth checking out if you didn’t already do this on the way in.  Also on the drive out, check all the unique little businesses and shops they’ve got on the side of KY11.  Some really interesting stuff here.  Red River Outdoors used to be here too, but a fire took their business not too long ago.  It’d be awesome if they could return.

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

I took I64 from Lexington and then got on the Bert T. Combs Parkway.  Then I took KY11 via exit 33 and followed the signs for Natural Bridge (it seems like they’ve got signs within a 50 mile radius of this place though!).  I went past the main entrance to the one which has a sign for the cabins on it (it’s on the right just past the Whittleton Campground entrance on the left).  I then just kept following the signs for the activities center and parked next to it.  You’ll go over a little lake and then veer left, then turn right.