June 17th - Saturday - Drive to the Chattanooga, Tennessee area (525 miles). Spend the night at Harrison Bay State Park, approx. 25 miles north of Chattanooga. Campground has full amenities.
June 18th - Sunday - Drive to the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park in Middlesboro, Kentucky (175 miles). Set up camp in the "Wilderness Road" campground. Campground has full amenities. Do a driving tour of the park to the "Pinnacle Overlook" for a view of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Visit the gift shop and museum while waiting for the 3:00 Park Ranger guided tour of the "Gap Cave".
June 19th - Monday - Drive to the Red River Gorge in the Daniel Boone National Forest, near Slade, Kentucky (175 miles). The Red River Gorge area is known for its abundant natural stone arches, unusual rock formations, and spectacular sandstone cliffs. Begin backpacking on the "loops" of the "Red River Gorge National Recreational Trail". These trails meander along high, narrow ridges and cliffs with magnificent views, and into deep gorges along small, clear creeks and streams with hidden waterfalls. Spend the night at a "backcountry" primitive campsite.
June 20th - Tuesday Continue backpacking on the "Red River Gorge" trails. Spend the night at a second "backcountry" primitive campsite.
June 21st - Wednesday Finish backpacking on the "Red River Gorge" trails by mid afternoon. Set up camp and clean up at Koomer Ridge "Developed" Campground in the "Gorge". Campground has full amenities.
June 22nd - Thursday - Drive to nearby Torrent Falls. Spend the day on a monkey bridge, a high-speed zip line, and doing "Via Ferrata" climbing on hundred foot sandstone cliffs. Via Ferrata is horizontal climbing along a path on the cliff face. Lunch will be at "Mark's Mountain Barbecue" on site. Spend a second night at Koomer Ridge Campground.
June 23rd - Friday - Drive to Foster's Riding Stables near Corbin, Kentucky (125 miles) for horseback riding for approx. 5 hours, until mid afternoon. A sandwich lunch is provided. When finished, drive to nearby Cumberland Falls State Park for the night. Campground has full amenities. This is the first chance for laundry but we only have 2 days left. Supper will be a "sit down" in town. After supper, visit the Colonel Sander's Museum, home of the original Kentucky Fried Chicken kitchen. Back at the campground (after dark), visit Cumberland Falls, a 60' high by 125' wide water fall, and hopefully see a "moonbow", only seen on clear nights during a full moon, a phenomenon not found anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere.
June 24th - Saturday Begin to head home. While still in Tennessee, stop and tour the Atomic Energy Museum in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Drive to Tannehill Historic State Park, just outside of Birmingham, Alabama (375 miles). The campground has full amenities. The park also has a cotton gin, a pioneer farm, a working gristmill, and 45 other restored historic buildings where the blacksmith, miller, and other craftsmen demonstrate their trades.
June 25th - Sunday Have the "breakfast buffet" in the park's restaurant before continuing the drive home (350 miles). We should get home around 2:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon. Those without personal transportation will be taken home. |
