Natural Bridge State Resort Park
2135 Natural Bridge Rd
Slade, KY
A sandstone arch wide enough to walk across, standing over the Red River Gorge since long before anyone drew a trail to it.
Natural Bridge is exactly what its name promises: a great arch of sandstone, about seventy-eight feet across and sixty-five feet high, carved by water, ice, and time until a solid ridge became a bridge with open air beneath it. What makes it special is that you do not just look at it. A trail climbs right up onto the top of the span, so you can stand on the stone and look out over a sea of forested ridges in the Red River Gorge, one of the great arch-country landscapes in the eastern United States.
The bridge has drawn visitors for well over a century. Long before it was a state park, a railroad company opened it as a tourist attraction in 1895, cutting a path from a lodge up to the arch so travelers could come see it. That path, still called the Original Trail, is the same route people walk today, which makes a hike here a walk through the history of American tourism as much as a walk through the woods.
What Guests Love
- Standing on top of the arch itself, a broad stone span with long views over the forested gorge
- The short, historic Original Trail that has led hikers to the base since the 1890s
- A network of connecting trails, from easy loops to steeper climbs through the cliffs
- The skylift option for anyone who wants the view without the uphill hike
Worth Knowing
- The arch is reached on foot or by skylift; the Original Trail is short but climbs steadily, so wear real shoes
- The trails wind along cliff edges, so keep children close and stay behind railings at the overlooks
- Fall weekends draw crowds for the color, so arrive early for parking at the trailhead or lodge
- There are no stores on the trails, so bring water, and fuel and supplies in Slade before you head up
Details
Slade, KY
Learn about Natural Bridge State Resort Park
How the bridge came to be
The arch is made of hard Corbin sandstone, a caprock that resists weathering while the softer rock beneath it wears away. Over a very long stretch of time, rain, freezing water, and the slow work of the seasons hollowed out the rock under the ridge until only the tough top layer remained, spanning the gap like a bridge. The result is one of the largest and most graceful of the many natural arches scattered through this corner of Kentucky.
It stands within Natural Bridge State Resort Park, which sits right beside the better-known Red River Gorge Geological Area in the Daniel Boone National Forest. The whole region is famous for its sandstone: hundreds of arches, deep sheltered ravines full of hemlock and rhododendron, and cliff lines that today draw rock climbers from all over the country. The bridge is the landmark that first made the area famous, and it remains its heart.
The Original Trail and the skylift
The story of tourism here begins in 1895, when the Lexington and Eastern Railroad promoted the arch to bring passengers into the mountains. They built a lodge and cut a trail from it up to the bridge, and that route, less than a mile long but climbing steadily, is still the classic way up. It is called the Original Trail for good reason, and walking it is a small piece of living history, following the same switchbacks that Victorian-era day-trippers climbed in their traveling clothes.
For those who would rather ride, a skylift has carried visitors up the mountainside since 1967, dropping them near the top of the arch after a quiet trip over the forest. From the upper trails you can loop back down past features with names like Balanced Rock and squeeze through Fat Man's Misery, a narrow slot in the cliffs. The mix means a strong hiker and a grandparent can meet at the same spot on top of the bridge, having taken very different routes to get there.
A park in the arch country
Kentucky made Natural Bridge a state park in 1926, and it grew into a full resort park with a lodge, cottages, and campgrounds set among the trees. That makes it an easy base for exploring the wider Red River Gorge, where the roads wind past sheer cliffs, a one-lane rock tunnel, and trailheads to dozens of other arches for anyone who catches the arch-hunting bug.
The park keeps a real sense of the old resort era while serving as a gateway to some of the best hiking and climbing in the South. Come in spring for wildflowers, in summer for cool ravines, and in October for the hardwood color that turns the whole gorge gold and red. Whenever you come, the walk out onto the bridge and the long view from its stone are the reason the place has pulled people up the mountain for well over a hundred years.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Slade
Red River Gorge Geological Area
About 6 miles
The famous cliff-and-arch country in the Daniel Boone National Forest, with scenic drives, a one-lane rock tunnel, and world-class rock climbing.
Sky Bridge
About 12 miles
Another large natural arch reached by a short loop trail, with overlooks down into the gorge, deeper inside the geological area.
Nada Tunnel
About 10 miles
A narrow one-lane tunnel blasted through solid rock for old logging trains, now the atmospheric back-door entrance into the gorge.
Daniel Boone National Forest
Surrounding
The vast forest that wraps the park, laced with trails, sandstone cliffs, and quiet backcountry for further exploring.