Oh boy, it’s been a LONG time coming for this Red River Gorge Camping Trip blog post. Over three years to be exact. I was going through my log of drafts tonight and realized I never posted these photos. Better late than never, I suppose! During October of 2020, the pandemic was taking a huge toll on not just me, but my best friend, Rachel. Such a toll that she decided it would be best to move back home to Lafayette and live with me for a little while. I am so grateful for that decision because it brought both of us so much closer together. The weekend after she moved home, we packed our bags and headed down to Red River Gorge in Kentucky for a mini camping trip, just the two of us!

We had such a lovely little view from our campsite at the Natural Bridge Campground in Slade. It has a nightly fee of $30, access to a fire pit, firewood, and bathrooms and showers on site. For how secluded this campground felt, it’s also super close to other activities like gem mining, kayaking, coffee shops, etc! We felt super safe there as well, which is always a top concern! I highly recommend Natural Bridge Campground if this is your first adventure alone!

Upon arrival, we set our tents up and immediately set out for a hike on the Auxier Trail! Neither of us were in particularly good shape, and I would say this trail was pretty easy for two adults. We spent much longer on the trail than a normal person would because you know, your girl’s got to stop for pictures every three minutes! Once we got to one of our favorite views, we set up our hammocks to watch the sunset before heading back down. And yes, it was scary at night because I’m especially afraid of the dark, even with a headlamp! However, we made it back to camp all in one piece, but not before stopping for pizza at Miguel’s of course! When you’re too tired to cook food over the fire, you order pizza!

We woke up to a beautiful fog that rolled in over night, which definitely made sleeping a little difficult because of how cold it got (we’ll prepare better next time!). It was so worth it though. The dew on the grass, the fog so thick you couldn’t see a quarter mile in front of you… and it was quiet. It was one of my favorite mornings I’ve experienced! By the time we got our fire started and breakfast cooking, the warmth from the sun cleared that fog right up. Time to begin our adventures for the day!

We hit up the Daniel Boone Coffee Shop (soooo good!!) and made our way over to the local tourist shop for a little gem mining adventure! It was a cute stop filled with tons of unique items to take home with you. We were even graced with the presence of their in house peacock! That was something we definitely weren’t expecting to see roaming around! Afterwards we hit up a local kayaking hot spot for some beautiful creek views and even a few spots of challenging water which made this excursion even more fun (a little scary but still fun).

For our final trick of our Red River Gorge Camping Trip, we attempted to reheat our pizza from the night before… over the fire… on top of the firewood. We were being lazy and thought it would work, but alas, it did not. We video chatted the rest of our friends before heading to bed that night. Telling them all about our trip, especially after such a terrible year made everything feel so much better. Almost like it was the light at the end of the tunnel. Red River Gorge will always hold a special place in my heart and I highly recommend this location to anyone passing through or wanting to take a weekend just to get away. This trip with Rachel is one of my favorite memories and I can’t wait to go back one day!