The Red River Gorge (Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky)
WELCOME TO THE RED RIVER GORGE [Outdoor orientation panel]
Older than the dinosaurs... a favorite campsite of ancient Native Americans... a National Geological Area and a National Natural Landmark site...
The Red River Gorge is one of the most unusual landscapes on earth. In this vast, mysterious land, you can find soaring cliffs, rushing waters, and rare and endangered plants and animals. You can stand, awe-struck, beneath magnificent rock shelters, towers, and "sky bridges" created eons ago as the North American continent evolved.
As you hike, canoe, and picnic along the sparkling Red River that runs through the Gorge, you may feel that you have entered a lost world of long, long ago. And in a sense, you have.
Welcome! But please -- take care!
A CULTURE CARVED IN STONE [Wall panel; touch-feel petroglyph in simulated rock]
By the end of the geologic time period called the Pleistocene Epoch -- roughly 13,000 years ago -- another strong, persistent force began reshaping the rocks of Red River Gorge: the human hand.
Dozens of mysterious rock carvings called petroglyphs appear on sandstone surfaces throughout the Gorge. Archaeologists believe the oldest ones may be 3,000 years old.
No one knows who etched these long-ago symbols in stone. No one today knows what they mean. Examine the rockshelter model behind you to find more tantalizing information about the earliest people in the Gorge.
TIM-M-M-BER-R-R!! WATCH OUT BELOW! [Wall panel]
Historic photographs of logging in the Red River Gorge confirm: Logging was hard, brutal, dangerous work.
Men worked long hours with crosscut-saws, axes, and human muscle, sinew, and bone. There were no gas- or electric-powered chainsaws or front-end loaders, to make the job easier. Nor were there paved roads, modern ambulances, or cell phones to speed your rescue if you got hurt.
The next time you see a beautifully grained Victorian chest of drawers or a strong, tall 1920s barn or farmhouse, stop and muse over where the wood came from. And remember these photographs, these men, these giant trees.