Natural Bridge is easy to get to. From Lexington, get on I-64, continue past Winchester, and turn right onto the Mountain Parkway. Follow it to Slade. Turn off, turn right, and travel two miles to the entrance to the park (below) on your right. The park is 40-50 minutes from Lexington, depending on traffic and weather. It's an amazing drive. Lexington sits high on a plateau, where a huge bubble rose up from the surrounding area long ago. The bubble collapsed. The jagged edge all around is now called The Knobs. In any direction from Lexington, you'll see these Knobs, worn down by thousands of years of erosion. The photo at right is what you'll see as you drive east on the Mountain Parkway. In Powell County, you transition from the Blue Grass to Eastern Kentucky. Also notice that, because of that bubble, you are literally driving down from Lexington to Natural Bridge. This is the only place in North America where you drive down to the mountains. Lexington sits much higher than the Cumberland Plateau. Until the 1990s you could look from the tops of Lexington and UK buildings down at these Knobs in all directions. Unfortunately, haze and smog now make that view rare. |
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Natural Bridge is a larger park than it first appears. As you enter, turn left to go up the hill to Hemlock Lodge, Sandstone Grill Restaurant and the Tavern (when they're open), and the major trailhead. Turn right to go to the miniature golf course, the Skylift, and the trailheads for Sand Gap, Hoods Branch and Rock Garden Trails. But Mill Creek Lake (fishing and canoeing), the Whittleton Arch Campground and the trailheads for Whittleton Arch Trail and the connectors to the Red River Gorge Trail Network are across Highway 11. To reach the Swimming Pool, Hoedown Island, the Paddleboats, Middle Fork Campground, the Cabins and the Woodland and Nature Centers, continue on Route 11 for another quarter mile then turn right. There's parking over there for hikers if you're just coming for the day. There are gift shops at the Lodge, Hoedown Island and the Skylift. |
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