Kentucky Fall Circuit With Photos

We just finished a first-time Kentucky trip and tried to hit most of the iconic must-see spots. Thought I'd post a couple pictures and our route description. Mammoth Caves, unfortunately, yielded nothing in the way of postable pics, owing to very challenging shooting conditions. But I do have some technical suggestions at the end of the post for those of you who are inclined to take away something photographic from this must-see attraction.

We timed our trip (Nov 2-14) based upon this very cool interactive map predictor of fall colour... 2019 Fall Prediction Map which despite its e-source actually covers all the U.S. For the most part it was very accurate in terms of timing. However, a severe drought this summer, combined with a rapid temperature drop (from 90F to below freezing in a couple weeks) and a vicious late-October wind-and-rain storm did nothing for enhancing the colors or actually keeping leaves on the trees for us to see. Kentucky wasn't the only State to suffer this fate apparently.

We designed our route to "follow the leaves" on the map by going in clockwise circuit through the state, starting in the northeast corner, and hopefully keeping ourselves within the projected peak color band for the first part of the trip. Re-tracing on the latter half of the trip, post-color, would include some of the more urban KY activities, such as the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, BBQ and the bourbon distilleries around Louisville and Lexington. Our other main travel planning parameter was that almost all of the 31 Kentucky State Resort Parks with electrical hookups shut down after Nov 12. Only Paintsville Lake in the east stays open year-round for camping , but shuts off water when the risk of burst or frozen pipes becomes too great. Given the below freezing night-time temps that we expected, going non-electric wasn't a practical option. Many of the private campgrounds shut down at the end of October, along with Kentucky's non-Resort state parks, so it wasn't an option to try and plan anything around them either. I didn't look deeply, but got the feeling that Ohio and PA parks don't run past the end of October, and that KY recognizes the utility in staying open at least to mid-November to cater to end-of-season outdoor enthusiasts and leaf-peepers.

Our first 3-night stop was Natural Bridge and the Red River Gorge. Plenty to do here. In fact most of my decent shots were from this area...

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Lots of short day-hikes, arches, bridges, sandstone, a pioneer village and waterfalls. This will be focal point of a return trip to KY.

We continued to the southern end of the Daniel Boone National forest to Cumberland Falls, the state's biggest. The park campground was nothing to write home about, so we stayed in a private one just outside the park which was nice... RV Campground. Cumberland falls was impressive, but no pics. Adjacent and smaller Eagle Falls trail was also a nice walk but the orientation of the falls meant that it was in sun for almost all of the day, and not a good shot for us either.

Mammoth Caves National Park campground has no electrical so we stayed just outside the park at private Diamond Cavern, which is both a campground and an on-site cave system. Cave Tours | Historic Diamond Caverns | Open Year Round. We did both the Diamond tour and the most popular Mammoth "Dripstones" tour, and actually preferred the smaller Diamond Cavern. However, neither tour produced any shots. The lighting in Mammoth was dimmer and poorer (for scientific reasons) than Diamond and neither location allowed tripods, though Diamond did allow flash photography. (More info at the end on how to hand-hold a shot while on a tour, for those with higher end DSLRs).

Though not really a Mammoth cave thing, I have to mention a fantastic hole-in-wall restaurant in nearby Park City:Esters Farm Cafe & Catering. Catfish, frogs legs and collard greens. Real home cooking and family-run, with their kids working in the kitchen. When you have Mennonites with horse and buggy outside, waiting for it to open, you know it has to be good. And it was.

A couple nights at Pennyrile State Resort Park provided a home base in the west end of the State within easy reach of Paducah, Owensboro and Henderson, and closed out our trailering for the trip, as it was now the 12th.

And then the snow and cold came. I had already drained the tanks near the beginning of the trip since it was dipping into the teens at night, and poured in a jug of some very cheap local vodka. Thankfully we were travelling in the Patron State of Cheap Booze. I made sure I ran it through the pump and filled the P-trap.

Paducah was previously unknown to me but has an amazing and varied history which is played out on their flood wall mural series... Wall to Wall Murals | Paducah. Our main draw there however was the National Quilt Museum as its one of Karen's hobbies. Forget what you think you know about quilts; these were amazing. Just a couple close-ups from the hundreds on display...

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They also have a wonderful Quilts of Valor display running to the middle of January Quilts of Valor at the National Quilt Museum

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We stopped at a couple old Buicks half out of the ground beside the interstate and got permission from the owner who just happened to be deer hunting on the property...

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Always get permission. When there's a No Trespassing sign posted. Especially when the owners are armed. And then you end up meeting some really interesting people. And you end up getting the shot. And you're not shot at.

The James Audubon Museum in Henderson on the Indiana border was also another wonderful surprise find John James Audubon State Park - Kentucky State Parks and filled in a lot of blanks in the life of this famous, but not really well-known naturalist. Highly recommended.

We headed back towards Lexington and holed up in a hotel in Bardstown as the snow came down and temps dipped to 11F. We hit a couple of the older distilleries in town: Barton Distillery and their affiliated Buffalo Trace to the north in Frankfort. Both decisions were based upon possible photo opportunities on their very historic properties and not necessarily on their product. Both tours were great. They were free, ran about an hour, and ended with generous samples of their bourbon offerings. I am now a fan.

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A couple roadside BBQ Smokehouse pits that I had pre-identified in Google searches were closed mid-week or had limited hours that didn't coincide with us passing through. Next time. We finished the trip with an overnight stop at a B&B in Hocking Hills Ohio, which also rates high as a return hiking and exploration destination, but is slightly closer to us than Central KY.

Steve

Cave Photography Tech Notes: I use a Nikon D600 full-frame. For the caverns I bumped up the ISO to 1600 and shot mostly with a wide angle to keep as much depth of field as possible, while still keeping a medium F8 aperture., and minimal noise. It still didn't work and I was battling shots anywhere from 1/2 sec to 1/20th at best. If there wasn't camera shake, then my depth of field suffered. The provided lighting was too dim in both locations. (Any promotional shots you see out there are likely taken with auxiliary lighting and on a tripod.) I also used a VR lens to little effect. Mammoth actually lights their caves with a special orange-red light. This (from what the guide told us) is to help control the spread of the fungus which is killing the bats. I hope that's working cuz it doesn't do anything for amateur photography results. A newer model full-frame with better noise than my D600 would likely handle a higher ISO better, like 6400, and then get you the shutter speeds you need for hand-holding. Flash photography, allowed at Diamond, eliminates the camera shake, but really kills the shot. Sometimes when I'm shooting under difficult or less-than-ideal circumstances, I probably should just put the camera away and appreciate the experience for what it is. Both tours were great in that respect and worth the money.

 

Nice love Kentucky! if you return, make sure to see the Kentucky Horse Park, they have a wonderful campground and the Ark and Creation Museum both worth the time..enjoyed your photos

 

Ron and Missy: I will concede that attempting to "hit for the cycle" in Kentucky would have / should have included something about horses, even if you don't really qualify as a 'horse person'. Just as I really wasn't a "Bourbon Person" before the distillery tours. Since our return I've been told by others back home that not seeing the Horse Park was a swing and a miss. Next Inning.

Also... the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in Owensboro was an obvious omission, but not for a lack of trying on our part. We simply ran out of time and decent weather. Lining up one of their infrequent in-house evening/weekend concerts with where we happened to be in the state at the time, was also tough. Being constantly tuned to Bluegrass Junction on Sirius while cruising the backroads, however, was a reasonable facsimile.

 

Next time around! Enjoy your ramblings!

 

Steve and Karen. Sounds like a great time and will add several of this spots to our "must do" list. Love your descriptions and your photography is top notch. Thank you.