In 1972 the state of Kentucky enacted the Kentucky Wild Rivers Act to preserve the distinctive scenery, fish, wildlife, botanical, geological, and cultural character of the state’s wilderness.  Of Kentucky’s many streams and rivers, portions of nine of those rivers have been established as Wild Rivers.  To be classified as such, the river is described as being a linear corridor with the land on both sides of the river up to two thousand feet past the banks being included the corridor.  The total number of miles designated as Wild River is one hundred and fourteen miles with 26,382 acres of land.  One of those Wild Rivers is practically right outside my back door—the Rockcastle River, which begins in—no doubt, Rockcastle County.  It is a tributary of the Cumberland River.  The Rockcastle River has much offer the avid outdoors man or woman.  Whether it be canoeing, white water rafting, camping, swimming, or hiking—there is something for all. 

Last weekend I had the opportunity to take a ride out Hwy 192 (accessible via 914 or 80) to the Rockcastle River.  It was a beautiful hot day—typical for July or August, not necessarily mid-May as it was.  The campers were camping, and we hikers were hiking!  We chose to hike to Bee Rock which overlooks the Rockcastle River—you can see for miles up there!  The story behind the name is that the cliff used to be hollow and became so engrossed with honey bees that it blocked out the sun.  Some local beekeepers determined to reclaim there livelihood used dynamite to blast the bees.  The dynamite destroyed Bee Rock—the tale goes on to say that there was so much honey it flowed into the river.  The area has been a great escape for hundreds of years.

The trail up to the top of Bee Rock (or what is left of it) winds up and through the woods.  At one point I thought I had made a wrong turn when we came upon what I thought was a cave.  It was actually rock overhang with a humungous rock leaning up against it creating the appearance of a cave.  During the wet season or after a good rain, stream trickles down into the overhang and on down to the Rockcastle River.  The trail winds around and all of a sudden it is very sunny with tons of lush greenery—the first thing I noticed was all of the ferns!  They were huge!   There are steps made of logs going down into the overhang—it is really cool down there.  A great place to stop, catch your breath, and cool down.  At this point you are almost there; the trail continues to meander up and around the jeep size boulders and cliffs.  Finally at the top the trail splits, if you want to see the overlook at Bee Rock turn left.  Since it is spring there were some glorious flowers along side the ridge top trail—and it is very sunny up there!  It was so warm that day I felt like I could pull out my marshmallows and make smores by holding a stick and touching the sun. 

From on top of the world—Bee Rock, the Rockcastle River is visible until it winds out of sight between the hills in both directions.  Directly below the lookout is the walking bridge and to the right the driving bridge.  The day we hiked some of the campers had set up all of the gear needed for having a mini-concert.  We could hear them from Bee Rock they sounded good even if they were just piddling around.  The hike took approximately thirty minutes up with a couple stops to catch our breath and only fifteen to get down.  I would highly recommend this hike—the scenery all along the trail is spectacular then the view at the top is breathtaking literally.  Be prepared to get out of breath—I thought I was in decent shape but this was a tough one.  Click here for Pictures of Bee Rock

Categories: Hiking