Need some advice for a trip I'm planning for my wife and I. We'll be heading to Red River Gorge in KY memorial day weekend for a 2 day 1 night trip. My dilemma is this, either take the swift creek camp trail (and enjoy less people but not the views) or take the rough trail (and enjoy better views but thousands of people). Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm curious if there is plenty of camping spots along the rough trail? Are the views any good on the swift creek camp trail?
I like the Swift Camp Trail, but there are no "views", just some nice hiking along Swift Camp creek. The biggest drawback is that you either complete a loop with a lot of road walking or you do it out and back. It would be easy to park at Rock Bridge and head north up the trail, there are some nice sites on the creek near the intersection with the Wildcat trail.
There are unofficial trails off the Rough Trail that lead to campsites, but they will almost certainly be occupied that weekend, not saying you won't find a place to sleep, but there will definitely be people around. I did a loop along the Rough Trail (camped at Hanson's Point) the day after xmas and there were 4 other groups of people camping near by, it did not feel crowded, but it didn't feel secluded either. If you have never been, this has some pics from that trip http://backpackandbeer.blogspot.com/...fter-xmas.html
If it was me, I would do the Swift Camp Trail just to avoid the party crowds that congregate near the easy road access points (the ridges of the Rough Trail are easy to get to).
hope that helps
I stayed up at hansons point about a month ago for the first time and there were all kinds of people! It provides great views and some nice camp sites, but seems to be a pretty popular spot now. Almost guaranteed to be a busy spot during that weekend.
I just realized that this was posted in the Trip Reports forum. You might get more feedback in the Trip Planning forum for the Southeast
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/.../113-Southeast
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