We are planning a trip to the RRG in October and need some recommendations. We are thinking of a 3 day/2 night backpack trip where we total about 18-20 miles.
I would like to incorporate some streams, waterfalls and spectacular views.
Any help or recommended trails would be appreciated. Thanks.
Yakitup
My. 02
Start at Koomer Ridge campground then to Koomer Ridge trail 220 then to Rough Trail 221.
Look at the map many possibilities from those trails.
I'm on my phone now if you want more details I can give more when I'm in front of my PC.
Have fun
Fred
At Red River Gorge, you will limit yourself if you have an absolute requirement that your car must stay parked in the same spot all 3 days.
If you have 3 days and want to see as much of the gorge as possible, what I would do is park, hike/camp, come back to car (resupply) and drive to a second trailhead elsewhere in the gorge, then hike/camp at a different spot before coming back to the car on day 3.
For example, IMO you absolutely should not miss the Auxier/Double Arch loop. It's amazingly fantastic. It has everything you're looking for except waterfalls (of which there aren't a ton in the gorge). If *I* was your trail guide, our itinerary would start like this:
Day 1 -
Park at Auxier Ridge trailhead
Hike out Auxier Ridge trail to end (Courthouse Rock). Enjoy big views.
Take the Auxier Branch trail over to the Double Arch trail. Enjoy the stream at the bottom.
Go check out Double Arch. Don't miss the view from atop the arch (360* view)
Start back toward the parking area along the Double Arch trail.
About halfway back, branch off onto the Star Gap Arch trail (unofficial)
Hike out to Star Gap Arch (one of my faves in the gorge)
Continue on that trail past the arch, enjoy more big views and make camp at one of several great sites along the Star Gap Arch trail.
Total mileage would be around 7-9 miles depending on how far out the Star Gap Arch trail you went before camping, and you'd be camped probably 1-2 miles away from the car, again depending on how far out you decided to go.
Positives: Huge views, 2 fantastic arches, and 2 places for water resupply (stream along Auxier Branch + underground spring at Star Gap Arch)
Then, get up on day 2....hike a mile or two to the car, and relocate to another trailhead. Maybe park at Bison Way trailhead and go climb the Indian Staircase (which is amazeballs). Maybe park at Gray's Arch trailhead and take the Rough trail a few miles until branching off onto the Hanson's Point trail. Many wonderful options are available to you.
I would suggest starting at Rock Bridge parking lot and following Swift Camp Creek North. Creation Falls and Rock Bridge Arch are right there viewed from the trail. You will come up and out from the Swift Camp Creek trail at Angel Windows parking lot. From there you can continue on Rough Trail (221) and catch Grays Arch. You can come up off of Rough Trail where ever you want to park the 2nd vehicle, I would suggest Gray's Arch Parking lot. If time and energy are available you can do the Auxier Ridge to Double Arch loop further up Tunnel Ridge Road. You will need 2 cars and passes to do this though. There are future ideas to extend Swift Camp Creek Trail further North to the concrete bridge (Red River) to create a super loop but that will be some years in the future. Also there are tons of unofficial trails to wonderful places all through the gorge. If you don't know the area well, every where a trail crosses a road there is parking available.
Here is a map link to give you route ideas on 'official' trails.
http://www.outragegis.com/gorge/3d/
Thanks for the recommendations. I purchased this book to help with my planning.
I can already tell you guys have given me some good options to work towards.
I am planning on going in a couple of weeks, where did you find that guide book?
+1Originally Posted by upfromtheashes
I think the Courthouse Rock, Double Arch and Star Gap Arch are some of the best sites in The Gorge. You could also stop by Arch of Triumph on the way back to the car. You can camp along the creek between Courthouse Rock and Double Arch, anywhere along the Star Gap Arch trail or near Arch of Triumph (and possible other spots).
I would also highly recommend seeing Gray's Arch and Hanson's Point. You could make a nice loop over to Koomer Ridge and back. Camping at Hanson's Point and getting up in the morning to see the sunrise from HP is nice (no on HP). There's a few nice campsites along the creek near Koomer's Ridge and you could find something in the bottom near HP off Rough Trail at what I've hear called Footwash Falls (not what I would call a waterfall).
You could extend this by parking at Martin's Fork and hiking Rough Trail to the Gray's Arch area.
If you're going to do the car hopping, you could also check out Eagle's Buttress, Osborne Bend area, for another amazing view.
So many great things to see in RRG.
I'm not sure if I'll be able to do this from my phone, but I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise at Hanson's Point just last week! [AIMG]16-03-08-07-58-51-256_deco.jpg[/AIMG]
Fred...my graph of Rough Trail looks extremely difficult. Is that the case?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks