Satisfying Scenic Byways
Story and Photo by Keri Porter
Nestled in the heart of the Midwest is the Red River Gorge Geological Area. Many tourists make their way to the popular Kentucky area all year long to experience the rugged terrain, natural caves and arches, and to catch breathtaking views. While we’ve been to the popular area of Slade, Kentucky, in years past to wheel at the offroad parks, this year, we decided to return to the area for a little bit of a different experience. 
Spanning four counties, The Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway is a moderate drive for road-legal 4wd vehicles consisting of highways, gravel roads, and trails. With a small group of vehicles, we set aside a weekend to see what the DBBB had to offer.
Boondock camping along the actual byway is very limited. So, with that in mind, we decided to set up camp towards the middle of the DBBB loop in Slade at the Whittleton Campground. The campground is small, well-shaded, and fairly primitive, although they did have a restroom/shower house available. Our group arrived on a Thursday evening and took time to get settled in and hang out at the campfire.
Our first full day in beautiful Kentucky was spent hitting a couple of the iconic attractions in the area. Our group started the day with a brisk three-mile hike at Natural Sky Bridge State Park. A good portion of the hike out to the natural bridge was uphill and definitely got my heart rate up. The walk returning to the parking lot was much more reasonable. The park does have a chairlift on location that provides transportation to and from the arch. Whether hiking or taking the lift, the Natural Bridge is worth stopping at, especially if you’re visiting in the Fall.
Once we finished our hike, we convoyed to Miguel’s Pizza, a little outdoor hipster slice of heaven. The vibe at the place is laid back and inviting. I’m pretty sure everyone who travels to the area stops at least once to grab a delicious slice and a cold drink. The place is packed on the weekends, so be prepared to wait a little while for your food.
After a relaxing afternoon, complete with a little afternoon guitar session from a friend and dinner at the campground, we headed to The Gorge Underground for an underground kayak tour. Like most towns in the Appalachian Mountains, Slade was built around the mining industry. In this particular mine, sometime during the 1980s, the miners hit an underground spring, and within a few years, the mine was shut down due to flooding. In 2014, the mine was reopened by a private company as a tourist attraction. The tour was fascinating, and I highly recommend it. Book early, though; they fill up fast!
Our next two days were spent along the Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway route, born from a long feud between the government and the people; the official DBBB route was established in 2016 when all parties finally found some common ground. The original loop was 100 miles but has recently expanded to include more. The Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway has partnered with CartoTracks to provide the most up-to-date mapping information for the official route. I recommend purchasing the map and utilizing it while in the area. The route traverses both private and public property; all notes regarding terrain and property ownership are included in the CartoTracks map. Signage for the route is very limited, but RIDE DBBB (the nonprofit that manages the DBBB) has recently partnered with Tread Lightly! to create and post signage to make the DBBB route much clearer. 
Our first day on the trail began at the famous Nada Tunnel and was spent enjoying the upper portion of the original loop. I’ll be honest, the route consisted of more pavement than I had anticipated, but the drive was beautiful, nonetheless. The trail traversed two tracks, creek beds, hill climbs, and mild rocky terrain. If the weather had been at all rainy the week before our visit, the hill climbs would have proven to be muddy and difficult. Our first day on the trail was interrupted by a vehicle with mechanical failure, and after a couple of hours of trying to get the rig up and running, we did have to tow them out. Once back at the campground, we regrouped and decided to eat an early dinner, which still allowed us time to head back out to finish the upper portion of the byway. Our first day on the DBBB was a success, and we celebrated by grabbing an ice cream at a local shop. 
Prior to our trip, we had heard that the lower portion of the loop had more challenging terrain than the upper, so we intentionally saved that for day two of our ride. With our coolers and recovery gear packed, we headed out to explore among the rolling hills and cliff faces. While out on the trail, we discovered the iconic “rock garden” of the DBBB, found more creek-bottom trails, and made our way through exciting hill climbs. Only once did anyone have to pull winch cable. Our smallest vehicle was a lifted JKU on 35” tires. While the day was kept interesting by the different terrain and scenery, I couldn’t help but wonder if most stock vehicles would struggle with these trails, especially if the weather had been at all dicey. We completed the loops we had anticipated running that day and even found time to run a portion of the new trails recently added to the map. We returned to camp after dark and finished our evening with dinner cooked over another relaxing campfire.
The Red River Gorge Geological Area is a great place to disconnect from the hustle of everyday life and get away with the family, all while satisfying that itch to get offroad. Time didn’t allow us the opportunity to run every portion of the DBBB on the map, but I hope to return to the area to finish it in the future.
