Natural Bridge

School and life are crazy as usual, but I wanted to make another blog post because it's been a week or two since my last one!

So, about a month ago, I was sitting at home and decided it was about time for another adventure. I texted my friend Ashley and told her we needed to go exploring, asked if she would like to go to Natural Bridge in Slade, Kentucky, and told her to be ready by 10:00 am sharp the next day.

Luckily, the day we chose just happened to be one of those randomly gorgeous sunny and warm enough to wear a sweatshirt as long as you keep moving and don't sit for too long type of days...

And after what felt like weeks of the sun hiding behind clouds, this day felt like a little slice of spring in the middle of winter.

BUT! Anyway, Natural Bridge State Resort Park offers lots of different hiking trails ranging in length from a quarter of a mile to 7.5 miles, and in difficulty from easy to strenuous. According to their website, this state park contains at least 12 different hiking trails.

Because we wanted to get back before dark and Natural Bridge is about an hour east of Lexington (in Slade, KY), we chose to do The Original Trail (.75 miles) on the way up to the bridge, and The Balanced Rock Trail (.75 miles) on the way down. It probably took us about half an hour to climb up to the top, and another half an hour to get back to where we'd parked the car.

Depending on your level of experience/fitness these trails could take more or less time, just as a warning. However, I also have a knack for stopping every 20 feet to take a picture with my fancy camera when I hike, so that adds a bit of time as well...

Although sometimes you get some lovely pictures like this if you're lucky, so the extra time is totally worth it! (I was loving the light and my little camera remote on this trip!)



The top of the bridge offers one of the best views you can get while hiking in Kentucky... We went in the middle of winter, so obviously the trees were fairly bare, but the lookout was still very pretty!

One of these days I want to come back here again because I've heard of a place called the Froggy Bottom Diner that I'd like to try, so hopefully that'll happen soon! (And another blog post will ensue, of course.)


Also, Natural Bridge is surrounded by Red River Gorge, which I've also heard is great hiking and even rock climbing... Unfortunately I haven't managed to actually hike or climb in the gorge yet, but I hope to over the summer!

So, if you're looking for a great place to enjoy the outdoors in Kentucky, the city of Slade offers some great trails that lead to great views!

Thanks for reading! More to come soon...