I am a huge fan of waterfalls. As the main family planner of vacation, I booked a few days at the
Cumberland Falls State Resort Park in southern Kentucky or so I thought. I actually booked our 2 night stay at Lake Cumberland, but did not know that until they could not find our reservation at the Cumberland Falls park. Not the way you want to start your family vacation after a 3 hour drive. Fortunately, the staff was super helpful and had a cabin available so we were able to stay and not have to drive an extra 70 or so miles to Lake Cumberland.
Once we unloaded the van, we set off on our first hike to Cumberland Falls which is known as Little Niagara. One of the trailheads was in our cabin area that led to the falls. It was just under a two mile hike roundtrip and fairly easy hike. My 6 and 4 year olds had no issues. Once we reached the falls, we could walk out on the rock bed near the top of the falls - similar to Falls over the Ohio, but much smaller scale. Hiking a bit more, there were several overlooks, sandy beach, and some rocks to climb.
Day 2 we headed south to Natural Arch, Yahoo Falls, and Yahoo Arch near Whitley City which is about 15-19 miles from Cumberland Falls. The parking area for
Natural Arch is $3 which has an envelop right at the entrance. The overlook of Natural Arch was beautiful with the fall colors. The arch is one of the largest in Kentucky - 60 feet high and 100 feet long as compared to Natural Bridge - which is 78 feet long, 65 feet high. The hike to the actual arch was another easy one for my kids - 2 mile round trip again. There are picnic tables, swings and bathrooms in the parking lot area.
Our next stop was the
Yahoo Falls - the tallest waterfall in Kentucky - and the
Yahoo Arch which took us on a gravel road to reach the parking lot. We ate lunch in the parking lot there which had also had bathrooms and picnic tables. These two hikes were about 3 miles. We hiked on top of the falls first and followed the trail to the arch where we could walk on top of this one. This arch was 17 feet tall by 70 feet long. Heading back, we took the Yahoo Falls loop to go down to the 113 foot waterfall. On the way home, we stopped by the Dairy Bar on Main Street in Whitley City that is a 50s diner which was a fun treat after a day of hiking. We pretty much had all these hikes to ourselves, just seeing one other group at each of the hikes.
Day 3 we explored the
Eagle Falls Trail (1.5miles) at Cumberland Falls. We got there right after breakfast so we were first in the parking lot which overflows as the day goes on. This trail was the most rugged of all the trails we hiked and kept our kids close since it follows a cliffline. The views of the Cumberland Falls were gorgeous from this side of the river. Right before reaching the falls, it looks like the trail ends, but just climb over the tree debris. The Eagle Falls offered boulders for climbing, ability to go behind the falls, and a sandy beach to play. Needless to say, we stayed for a long time once we reached the falls. This was the kids' favorite.
This was a great mini hiking fall break. The hikes were short enough for our kids to hike on their own. We packed flashlights so they could check out all the rock crevices and cut throughs along the hikes. I look forward to going back to the Daniel Boone National Forest to explore even more.
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