Hey Guys!
This post continues our time in Red River Gorge.
Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here & Click here for links to all of my posts
We started our morning with breakfast at Daniel Boone Coffee Shop.
The coffee shop was approximately 15 mins from the treehouse we were staying in called Tradewinds Treehouse.
The restaurant serves breakfast & lunch.
Once you enter the restaurant, you will order at the counter and then they bring it out to you.
There was a long line when we arrived but it moved fairly quickly.
They have a separate line if you are just wanting to order coffee….which, by the way is, organic fair trade…that’s my kind of coffee!
They also have all kinds of baked goods. My hubby really wanted a cinnamon roll but they were sold out!
He also wanted biscuits and gravy but the guy in front of us ordered the last one …..he was not a happy camper! 😉
I ended up ordering the breakfast platter that came with 3 eggs, a meat and toast and the hubby settled on a chocolate chip muffin and a sausage and cheese croissant.
We also ordered two coffees but those didn’t show up until after we had already eaten our breakfast.
The food was very average….we were not impressed but you don’t have many options for breakfast in this area.
Read reviews here
After breakfast, we headed back to the Red River Gorge to check out another area of the 33 mile scenic loop that we had not been able to get to the day before.
Our first stop was the 1.5 mile Rock Bridge Loop trail.
A sign at the beginning of the trailhead described the arch that you would find on this trail.
The trail is a fairly easy hike and leads you to a beautiful sandstone arch that spans across a creek.
Tip: When you park start the trail right behind the parking lot that way you go down the steepest part which is stairs
This was one of our favorite hikes. It felt as if you were walking through a rain forest!
It was so green and lush!
The trail was scattered with rhododendron and towering hemlock trees.
Not long after we started the trail, we arrived at the small but pretty Creation Falls.
Tip: This is a really popular trail so get here early or late afternoon or you may not find parking. Also, there are poisonous snakes in this area so be careful!
As you continue past the falls, you will come to an area where you get an unobstructed view of the falls.
We saw people walking down to the base of the falls but it appeared that you had to wade through the water to get there so, we passed on that.
Shortly after leaving the waterfall, we arrived to the beautiful Rock Bridge Arch.
This natural sandstone arch is the only “bridge” in the Red River Gorge as it’s the only arch that crosses water.
Pictures don’t do this arch justice…it was so cool!
You can walk over the arch but it looked too dangerous to me however, there were two guys on top of it when we arrived.
After finishing the loop trail, we decided to head to the nearby Natural Bridge State Park.
It was about a 20 min drive from the Rock Bridge loop trail.
After getting parked, we headed to the Sky Lift gift shop to purchase tickets for the sky lift.
We saw a Tesla Cybertruck in the parking lot! Who would drive this thing?!
Tip: Click here to read about things to do in this area
The cost to ride the sky lift is $17 for a round trip ticket or $11 for a one way ticket….the price is discounted for children, seniors and military.
There was no wait at the sky lift so we were able to get on as soon as we purchased our tickets.
Tip: The sky lift only operates April through Oct.
The sky lift has been in operation since 1967 and takes you on a mile journey through spectacular mountain scenery. 
It was a beautiful ride but a bit scary considering you are dangling from a cable and it was really high up!
Taking the sky lift keeps you from having to hike to the Natural Bridge Arch.
Click here to read about the shortest trail to the Natural Bridge Arch….it’s less than a mile hike.
After you exit the sky lift, you only have to walk 600 ft to the Natural Bridge Arch.
You will be walking across the top of the arch!
The arch is 30 ft wide so you have plenty of room to safely walk across the arch.
Tip: If you take a right turn after exiting the sky lift, it will take you to a 1200 ft scenic footpath to Lookout Point, a magnificent viewing area and the best place to photograph Natural Bridge. Sadly, we missed this lookout!
Views from the arch 
After you cross the arch, you can take the stairs to the right and this will lead you to the bottom of the arch.
However, you will have to walk through a narrow passageway called, Fat Man’s Misery, in order to get to the bottom.
Keep in mind that people do enter the passageway from both ends so you will have to wait for others to pass through before you can enter.
This can prove to be challenging during the busy months!
The passage is narrow but I was able to walk through without having to turn sideways.
Once you exit the passage, you will be at the bottom of the arch.
The arch is 78 feet long and 65 feet tall.
This is a spectacular arch and you will not want to miss it if you are in this area!
It is the main attraction in this area!
Tip: Click here for the 10 best hikes in the park – Click here for camping in the park – Click here for more camping in the area – Click here for camping in Red River Gorge
After spending a few minutes at the arch, we decided to hike back to our car instead of taking the sky lift.
There are a few trails that take you back to the sky lift parking lot however, the closest one would be the 1.25 mi trail that will take you back to the skylift parking lot.
We ended up taking a different trail that took us to the Hemlock Lodge.
We thought it would be closer but turns out, it was about the same or longer.
Tip: If you want to hike to the arch instead of taking the sky lift, I recommend parking at the Hemlock Lodge…that’s where the shortest trail to the arch is located. Once you arrive to the lodge, drive past the lodge and the trailhead will be on the right.
On the way to the lodge, we passed amazing rock formations!
The hike is really pretty….you are walking through the forest the with lots of cool rocks!
We spotted the Devil’s Gulch stairway and decided to climb the steep stairs to the top!
So many stairs!
The views were amazing!
However, after walking more than half way up, we decided to turn around because the wooden steps turned into really steep, slick steps that were carved out of the stone.
It had been raining in the area and a lot of the trails were really muddy and slick!
And, I really wasn’t in the mood to break a leg or foot so, we played it safe! 😉
Not to mention, there were several people in front of us and it was taking a while for people to reach the top.
After getting to the bottom of the stairs, we continued our hike.
There are several stairs you will have to climb on the way….thankfully, most of them are going down!
Once we made it to the lodge, we noticed a sign that said Original Trail – the shortest and easiest route to the Natural Bridge Arch.
We also saw a sign about black bears in the area. I think it’s rare to see a bear in this area though.
Once we arrived to the Hemlock Lodge, we had to walk at least another 1/2 mile to the sky lift parking lot…..and we had to walk on the road as there was no sidewalk or shoulder!
I would highly recommend that you don’t take this trail if you are parked at the sky lift!
After arriving back to the sky lift parking lot, we headed back to the gift shop to purchase a t-shirt.
We then headed to another trail called Hidden Arch.
We found this trail a bit confusing….each trailhead is numbered and once we figured out where to go, the trail split and we weren’t sure which trail to take.
You need to follow trailhead #208.
There is another arch you can hike to in this area called Silvermine Arch.…however, it was a bit further than we wanted to hike and it was getting late.
You can watch a YouTube Video about that hike here & click here to watch a YouTube video on the hike to Double Arch.
Oh, and speaking of YouTube, I’ve started a YouTube channel that features videos of the places we’ve visited! You can find it here.
So, the hike to Hidden Arch is only 3/4 mile and is a very easy hike through a thick forest.
Tip: Hidden Arch, Silvermine Arch and Cliff Trail are all located in the Koomer Ridge Campground
This arch wasn’t very impressive so, if you have time, I would hike the Silvermine arch instead.
For a list of arches in the area, click here
After leaving this arch, we headed to eat at a restaurant called 145 Roadhouse.
The restaurant was located 10 mins from the Hidden Arch trail.
Once we arrived, we were seated right away.
After looking over the menu, we decided to start out with a half order of potato skins.
For our main course, we both ordered the Ribeye steak ..I got mine with the brussel sprouts and the hubby ordered the baked potato.
Our food was really good!
My hubby decided to order dessert….he settled on the triple layered double chocolate cake and said it was delish!
After dinner we headed back to the treehouse….it was a 20 min drive from the restaurant.
Once we were back at the treehouse, we decided to try out the tree net.
My hubby climbed to the top level and I stayed on the bottom level under him!
I was surprised how comfortable it was!
I decided to climb to the top level and my hubby and I sat there and watched the sunset.
We then decided to check out the slide!
We felt like two kids again!
The property has a hammock too but we never tried that out.
A little bit later, we headed to the hot tub.
It was a beautiful night to stargaze!
After the hot tub, we called it a night.
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for Day 4!