Natural Bridge State Resort Park

Such a beautiful state park! You take a chairlift up to the Natural Bridge and you can either ride it back down or hike down. I recommend getting there when they open as it was a lot less crowded versus waiting until later in the day.

Seems that many/most of the other reviews on this site are for the lodge or cabins--but "Natural Bridge State Resort Park" is the actual park itself so that is what my review is for. I can't speak to the cabins, but as for the lodge my review is under "Hemlock Lodge" and it's a solid 4 despite a few cons.But for the park itself--a 5, hands down. A beautiful, well maintained park full of trails from easy to difficult and each with glimpses of wonderful natural beauty such as the main trail here that leads to the natural bridge. You can hike to the top of the bridge and walk it, then trek under neath it for a view of the arches, then to several overlooks to get a glimpse of it from a distance. I'd recommend doing all of the above as each is breath-taking. This area of KY has more natural arches than any place east of Utah and that doesn't get mentioned nearly enough. There's a local business on site at the park that sells passes to ride a ski lift to the top of the resort park trail where you can then trek to the natural bridge in 15 minutes or so (max) of moderate hiking. We opted for the one way pass and hiked down--a really great hike but one that is a bit more difficult and provides opportunities to slip and fall so if you're a casual at best hiker you may prefer the roundtrip lift. It's worth doing if you're up for it though, as it's a beautiful hike. Really great park in a really great location to use as a homebase to explore all of the red river gorge area which offers a lot of other great hikes and natural beauty.

Overnight at Quiet Waters cabin, I ran to the natural bridge and back, making it a loop from the Saturday morning farmers market. It was a delicious run with over 600ft of climb, and managed the whole 5 mile loop in 55 minutes. Lots of rock features and overlooks of valley beneath. Beautiful day for a hike.

Hands down my favorite state park in Kentucky! Not only is it so beautiful to hike through, but in my opinion is very unique compared to other parks in the state. About 40ish minutes from Lexington, this park sits next to Red River Gorge. It's an outdoor lover's dream, with all kinds of different things you can do. The park itself has multiple trails of different lengths and difficulty ranges. We struggled a bit in the beginning to find the trail we wanted, but after finding it, we were able to see all the others and made our way through easily from there. I recommend starting with the Original Trail that takes you to the bridge, made entirely of rock. It's pretty steep and will get your heart pumping, but it's worth it! Once you make it to the top, the views are absolutely stunning! If you're looking to check out more nature in Kentucky, this park is where you need to go. It really shows off what this state has to offer on the outside!

Natural Bridge State Resort is a GORGEOUS, very well maintained, state park. We visited on Memorial Day weekend around 10am (which I would consider a pretty late arrival for a park, especially on a holiday weekend) and easily found parking at the Natural Bridge trailhead lot. If you're in fairly good shape the hike up to the top of the natural bridge is moderately easy. There is a very narrow passage once you get almost to the top to squeeze through. If you're concerned about the climb they offer a sky lift (basically just a ski lift). Personally, I feel safer walking than getting on those types of lifts. You are allowed on top of the bridge, which was awesome. There are no guard rails so use caution and keep yourself and kids away from the edges. There are some trails that are slightly more challenging, like the Needles Eye stairs and Devils Gulch stairs, that are narrow and steep. The trails are well marked and not very long. They are well trafficked. By midday the trails were getting a lot more crowded. By 1pm we explored many of the trails and since it was getting more crowded we decided to leave. The parking lots were completely full on our way out. I highly recommend arriving somewhat early if you're looking to enjoy the trails when they're quiet.

The perfect place to connect with nature. Trails range in difficulty from lite-easy to challenging. Signs, literature and staff can help you choose the trail suited to your range. The views are gorgeous! Set adjacent to Red River Gorge, it is the perfect location to a long weekend (or more) exploring the area. There is a lodge on premise (I will check out a stay soon) , but make sure to book reservations well in advance. The lodge is closed Dec 20-31. The lodge also has a restaurant and bar with a nice menu selection and adult beverage offering.FYI: Pets are not permitted on all the Natural Bridge State Resort Park hiking trails. They are permitted only on Henson Arch Trail and Whittleton Trail. This is for pet and owner safety as trails are steep, narrow, and many have rock "steps" It would very easy for a pet to be injured.This is a KY must see location.

I was taking a road trip through KY and decided to stop here. It was packed everywhere I went, not easy to find a parking spot. The reason I wanted to write a review was to let people know that if you decide to hike to the actual stone bridge with dogs - DON'T. dogs are not allowed on the trails. I am fine with that and understand. I just wish I knew before trying to find a parking spot. We did find a few places to walk through. Thanks to COVID-19 we walked around an empty swimming pool area.

The natural bridge was beautiful to see. My friend and I took the $17 roundtrip sky lift up to the natural bridge. It took about 16 minutes each way. We only had about an hour at the natural bridge which definitely wasn't enough time! I'd recommend 2-3 hours to see multiple views. There's options to walk over the bridge, under the bridge, view from a distance, etc. Lots of scenic view points/lookouts. To get to the view points you have to pass through some very narrow pathways/stairs in some areas. Definitely recommend coming if you're in the area. The gift shop has some fudge, drinks, normal souvenirs, a souvenir penny machine, bathrooms, etc. Nice pit stop for a few hours to hike.

They advertise they have a restaurant. After spending 2 hours at their bar the bartender informs us no food due to a holiday buffet at over $30 per person. If they would have told us that at check it I would have made other arrangements before I was not able to drive (maybe they don't frown upon drunk driving there). So it was a mike walk with a big hill to get anything else that was around there. If they let us know at check in I wouldn't have an issue. Anyone that knows the area knows that it is on a hill 200 foot above the road.

Check in was fast except if you have any questions about the property, the front desk gives you attitude for taking up their time from watching Netflix and gossiping about their family. Got to our cottage and inspected the place. I saw mold under the sink and shower, 25 baby spiders in the corner of the room, and 7 daddy long legs in the closet, rust on the whole fridge from the outside to the inside. I made the front desk aware of my issues and she said they already knew about the mold that it won't be resolved. I just felt unsafe my whole trip to sleep there. You need a tetanus shot to stay in the cottages! At least offer us to move to the inn! The hikes were nice and definitely recommend kayaking in the Gorge!