Daniel Boone National Forest & Cumberland Falls
Saturdays at my house are reserved for TV westerns. I start early with Have Gun, Will Travel, then run through Maverick, Wagon Train, and Gunsmoke (pre-Festus, please) before ending the sofa-bound adventure on the Ponderosa with Bonanza.
My favorite has to be Bonanza, and not just because of Pernell Roberts’ good looks and the Cartwright brotherhood. There’s also the Ponderosa Ranch house. It was just a set, but it was gorgeous. Dark exposed wood beams, red upholstered chairs, wagon wheel parlor tables. Pure cool.
Most awe-inspiring was the Ponderosa Ranch house fireplace, a herculean stone (or stone-like) structure that appeared to be 12 feet wide and maybe half as deep with a mighty fire blazing inside.
You don’t have to watch much of the show to guess the symbolism here: warmth, home, and whatever that feeling is that the Cartwrights get when they settle in after a hard day of herding cattle and nabbing outlaws. I’m sure it was great.
A few of us didn’t make it to Lake Tahoe to see Bonanza’s Ponderosa Ranch theme park before it closed years ago, but that’s OK.. If you’re lucky you live in Kentucky, which has ownership of a 1930s mountain lodge built by men every bit as tough as (or even tougher than) the TV Cartwrights.
DuPont Lodge
DuPont Lodge in the Daniel Boone National Forest was built by the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933. Comprised of unemployed but hard-working men hired for public works projects through the New Deal, the CCC built the lodge on land donated to the Commonwealth of Kentucky by the widow of T. Coleman du Pont.
(You know, T. Coleman du Pont, of the DuPont chemical fortune. He was also a native Kentuckian.)
My husband and I visited the DuPont Lodge just last week on a quick getaway into the Daniel Boone National Forest and I was transported on one of those Saturday sofa adventures right away. The structure’s rustic exterior reminded me of the spectacular Ponderosa Ranch house. Also brought to mind was the State Game Lodge in South Dakota’s Black Hills — a massive stone and wood building known as the “Summer White House” during the Coolidge years. (Folks there make a mean buffalo stew, trust me.)
It was thrilling to enter the DuPont Lodge lobby and find a huge stone fireplace set among dark wood beams and knotty pine walls. Soon my thoughts were wandering yet again to the Ponderosa and the Cartwrights, and then it hit me — this is Kentucky. And this is a lodge, so we can stay here if we want. Bonus!
Of course, my appreciation of the lobby was completely aesthetic on the 85-degree and humid day that we stopped at the lodge. On the next visit, hopefully in late fall, I can appreciate that majestic stone fireplace in all its (fiery) glory!
We left the lobby and walked down to the lodge restaurant to enjoy a delicious fried catfish dinner, a Kentucky state park specialty. There was plenty of daylight left after dinner, so we decided to hike down to the natural wonder for which this park is named: Cumberland Falls.
Cumberland Falls
It had been many years since I visited the overlooks that give us mere mortals a peek at the waterfall known as the “Niagara of the South.”
Cumberland Falls is so named because – at 125 feet wide and 68 feet tall – it is the largest waterfall south of Niagara Falls. It is also the second largest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains, and one of the most powerful waterfalls in the eastern United States.
An estimated 3,600 cubic feet of water per second flows over the rocky ledge of the falls into the river below. That’s a lot of power.
Before we could see the waterfall we could hear it along the short but steep hike from the lodge. We took the half-mile Cumberland Falls Trail, which begins at the lodge parking lot and ends at the falls’ parking lot. The overlooks are a short walk from the lot, each offering a different view of the falls.
Moonbow Trail, Sheltowee Trace & other hikes
Seeing the falls is a sublime experience whether you are visiting for the first or 14th time. But the waterfall is really only part of the experience here. At least 17 miles of hiking trails also run through the park. We hit a few of the less-strenuous trails during our brief visit.
More ambitious hikers may want to traverse the Moonbow Trail, an 11-mile hike that runs concurrent with the 300-plus mile Sheltowee Trace National Recreational Trail. The first few miles of the Moonbow Trail are found inside the park.
The trail’s unusual name comes from its reputation as a superb place to view the falls’ “moonbow” – a lunar rainbow created when light from a full moon is refracted in the mist of the falls. The Cumberland Falls moonbow is the only regular moonbow in the western hemisphere, making it a hot ticket for tourists from near and far.
“Sheltowee” was the name given to Kentucky trailblazer and settler Daniel Boone by the Shawnee tribe. It means “Big Turtle.”
The Cumberland River
The river that produces Cumberland Falls offers other types of fun, too, from kayaking and canoeing to whitewater rafting and more. Sheltowee Trace Adventure Resort, located about five miles from the falls, is an outfitter for guided and unguided water excursions in the area. Trips can be easily booked online with experiences offered for every skill level.
Camping, anyone?
The resort also offers camping to fit every need, want, or budget. There’s tent camping, RV camping, and rustic “camp-inns” and cabins, with a bath house and plenty of toilet facilities available on-site.
Also available are resort cabins with full amenities. Two of the cabins (called “Couples Cabins”) are located at the back of the property in a secluded area away from the hubbub of other activity. We rented one and were glad that we did. It was nice to be away from the noise of the road and artificial light while still having the benefit of a private shower and full kitchen!
If the era of the Old West catches your fancy as it sometimes does mine (read: Ponderosa Ranch house), the resort also has covered wagons for rent during certain months. The wagons don’t have running water but do have heat, air-conditioning, and a few other amenities.
Camping and rental cabins are also offered at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park in addition to rooms at the lodge. Another great option is the Laurel Lake Camping Resort, which is located near Laurel River Lake not far from Cumberland Falls State Resort Park.
Social distancing has been a drain on the body and psyche of so many of us this year. Heading into the great outdoors is one way for us to reenergize, whether in the Daniel Boone National Forest or other locations around the state.
Why not find a spot that makes you smile and get out there, little dogies? Time’s a wastin’.
Happy trails!
