De-Stress Outdoors

Rough River

Peter Cave Boat Ramp to Eveleigh Boat Ramp

October 2022

I don't like driving. I'm a peace and love guy - kinda spiritual - and there's no spirit of good operating on our roadways. You'll only find pettiness, stupidity and outright hatred. Neverless, my reality is that I now need to drive 10 hours to visit my mother in Memphis from Southern Ohio. I'd always driven straight through to save money on a hotel, but not anymore. This time I decided to make a stop and do something pleasant along the way. After consulting online maps I found Leithfield, Kentucky.

Leitchfield is very close to both Rough River Lake and Nolin River Lake, and as a bonus they've got an outstanding place to stop in for coffee in the morning - The Storehouse Coffee and Gifts (they're on Facebook if you have it). You can sit downstairs but they've also got a really cool upstairs where you can also sit. I really enjoyed the experience.

From there, I headed on out to the ramp I'd seen online. It's located in the Southeatern portion of Rough River Lake. If you type "Peter Cave Boat Ramp" into Google Maps it'll come up but it's not free. It's on Peter Cave Marina property so it costs $4 to put in. I didn't have any cash on me so I nearly passed it, but I was lucky enough to encounter some gentlemen who were able to accommodate a credit card. Below are some photos depicting a typical Fall day on the lake.

To start I took a right under a Route 737 bridge and continued taking all the right turns so as not to get confused. Navigating by this method first led me on an exploration of Peter Cave Creek followed by what was essentially a trip upriver on Rough River. The first shot below was taken at the end of navigation on Peter Cave Creek. Here I met a kingfisher along with a swarm of whirlygig beetles. You can see the latter on the surface of the water.

Having seen this, I retraced my path back to the bridge (which will be on your left when you emerge) and continued upriver. One notable spot looks to be called Holiday Landing. There's a ramp here across from a couple coves that I checked out more thoroughly on way back. One doesn't go back far at all but the other does. I didn't have enough to time to see how far, unfortunately.

After this and before another ramp (at which I encountered some wild turkeys on my return) I found a pleasant spot that I found to be pretty picturesque. I think it provides a nice overview of the rocky shorelines that characterize this section of the river (although most rocks are not quite as large as the one you see in the first photo).

You're in the midst of about 1 1/2 mile straight stretch of water here, and as you enter the next curve to the right you'll encounter another nice scene below...

Things are going to get a little more curvy from this point and it's interesting. I now see from looking at a map that the curves in this next section form an "R" within a larger "M" and one of the shoreline roads in here is named MerceR Bend! Coincidence? Anyway, at the top of the "R" I found that I was able to get some of my prettiest photos of the day in the midst of a right curve.

Next, near the end of the "R" and on your right you'll find a pleasant section of exposed rock. As a lover of rock formations this might have been my favorite area yet...

You'll shortly spot a bridge in the distance for Route 259 or Brandenburg Road, and just before it I spotted an egret amid a nice, lower lying section. It's in center of the second photo.

After passing under the bridge you'll see a public ramp on the right after the river straightens out. This is Eveleigh Boat Ramp, run by Kentucky's Fish and Wildlife Department. It's a free one that I plan to use next time to explore more of the headwaters (that is, waters closer to the source) of this lake/river. It looks like there's still a lot of upriver water to explore from here. In fact, there looks to be so much - and without another put in point further up - that I may wait for a much longer summer day to return (note in the second photo below what looks to be the remains of an old bridge support, or perhaps a pier).

Below are some scenes from the way back including a couple of the aforementioned wild turkeys...

..and don't you just love the Fall!