We were still in the Daniel Boone National Forest and the Big South Fork River Recreation Area when we crossed the border into Kentucky. Blue Heron Campground was our destination in an area known as the Cumberland Plateau region. This was an ancient sea that abutted the western edge of the Appalachian Mountains. It laid down thousands of feet of limestone about 360 million years ago then, as the mountains eroded, thousands of feet of more durable sandstone were piled on top and the whole mass uplifted more than 2000 feet. The sheer weight of it all compacted some of this ‘layer cake’ into coal and shale. Millenniums of erosion by wind and water created canyons, caves, cliffs and arches in the softer limestone. Whew! Hopefully that will give you a back ground for some of the natural and man-made wonders we found. Speaking of wonders, we found BBQ pork sandwiches at the Porky Pig Diner in Pig, KY!! I think it doesn't get any better than that!
Just outside of our campground, called, Blue Heron of course, we photographed our first sandstone arch – Wagon Arch because an old wagon road once crossed over the top. This arch is relatively small at about 50-55 feet and some 10-12 feet high, but hey, it’s an arch. Right?
One of our first outings was down KY 742 to the 1902 coal mining camp of Blue Heron situated on the banks of the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River. Along the way we stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks, Devil’s Jump and Blue Heron. Both were way high on the cliff side and spectacular!
Devil's Jump
Blue Heron
The Blue Heron Outdoor Historical Museum is a restored depiction of the original 1902 mining and logging camp. It seems that way back then Justus Stearns bought 30,000 acres of virgin timberland, discovered coal and established the Stearns Coal and Lumber Company. At one time he employed over 2,000 people in 18 coal camps and built the world’s first all electric sawmill. Needless to say he was pretty successful and even had a town named after him. We ate our lunch right down on the river and I finally got my hairs washed and rinsed several times. I could feel the ticks and stuff just floating away like all my cares and worries. After lunch it was off to explore but I must confess the mining town was kinda spooky because there were simply no people around; nada, zip, zero. There was a train that came into town every few hours from Stearns with tourists but after they leave the silence settles in and the river’s sounds are all you can hear.
One really fun thing was going out across the river on the high tipple bridge. This construction was where they brought the ore cars from the mines to dump the coal. The coal was sorted by grade and type and then dropped into specially marked rail cars for transport out of the canyon. I enjoyed the jog across the bridge where the views up and down the river were spectacular.
We stopped briefly at another mining camp named Barthell which featured a short mine tour, a restaurant, mine train display and some old buildings as they appeared circa 1910. Lo and behold, we also found a barn quilt here!
Next Day we headed out to find Yahoo Falls and Yahoo Arch. Wow! What a great day that turned out to be. The falls are the highest in Kentucky at 113 feet. The water cascades over the top edge of an enormous rock shelter where hunting parties for centuries found shelter to rest and knap new flint points and spearheads. I found it the perfect spot to take a cool stream dip and sip. The humidity in this deep forest made cooling off a bit tough but the many creeks and streams along the trail solved that problem. Cokie was in her bliss taking water shots from many interesting and somewhat precarious positions.
On we hiked through this wonderfully old, dark, moist forest filled to overflowing with such a rich bounty of green life that we felt we must be somewhere in the Amazon Jungle. I smelled thousands of things I couldn’t even begin to identify and hundreds I could. The trail was pretty easy most of the time except for some slippery stone steps here and there. Kae and Cokie kept stopping to photograph things which meant I needed to backtrack to find them and urge them on. It was hard being the lead dog!
After over a mile we came to Yahoo Arch. This thing was huge, by our estimate some 90 feet long and 50 feet high and there were 4 or 5 rock shelters in and near it. Kae climbed up to the top of the arch; she looked so small way up there. These dry rock shelters of the Cumberland Plateau have preserved evidence of nearly 9,000 years of prehistoric life not found in any other open sites. Unfortunately about 98% of these sites have been damaged by vandalism and relic hunting. When we stopped to rest and have a bite of lunch I could feel those sheltering rocks and for a moment thought maybe I could understand the security and comfort those ancient people and their trusty dogs must have felt.
The hike back to the Pod and the parking lot was tough as Kae and I haven’t gone on a 3 mile hike for quite a long time. She had to stop and rest her legs several times so I had to sit beside her to keep her company. Cokie found more beautiful things to photograph, including a five foot long specimen of local wildlife. All in all it was one of the best days we three have been able to spend together out in Mother Nature in a long time.
After another day or so we loaded up and drove to Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. Known as “The Niagara of the South”, Cumberland Falls is advertised as the most impressive waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains except for Niagara Falls itself. Averaging over 100 feet across and nearly 70 feet tall these falls have seen incredible variations in flow: as little as 4 CFS (cubic feet per second is a standardized method of measuring flowing water at a given reference point) to as high as 56,000 CFS! (You can figure out how many gallons per second that would be if you multiply by 11.5. Have fun!) The land was donated by the DuPont Family in the 1930’s for preservation purposes and to provide a secure future for the Moonbow Hotel and Resort which had been operating for many decades on the site. Unfortunately the hotel burned down in 1949 and was never rebuilt. Moonbow is a name given to a natural phenomenon that occurs on nights of a full moon when the rays hit the mist rising from the falls in just the right way to create an arc of light across the river. I think the falls were very beautiful even without a Bo!
On our way to Hwy. 90 and the scenic drive to Mammoth Cave National Park, we stopped at a very sweet spot just west of Cumberland Falls known as the Natural Arch Scenic Area. This arch spans over 150 feet and is one of the most beautiful examples of the area’s signature features. We completely enjoyed the hiking trails and the quiet, unoccupied picnic area where we all enjoyed our lunch. My kinda place, I can tell you!
Well, I’ll wrap this up and save the next Kentucky blog for our visit to Mammoth Cave and the rest of our Kentucky tour. See ya then.
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