KENTUCKY

It is hit or miss for dogs and hiking at Kentucky’s best trails. The misses include Battleship Rock in Natural Bridge State Resort Park, the uber-popular Raven Run Nature Sanctuary and the Eagle Falls Trail at Cumberland Falls. The hits include the greatest collection of natural stone arches east of the Mississippi in the Red River Gorge and all of Daniel Boone National Forest, the multi-state views at Cumberland Gap and the fractured rock sculptures at Breaks Interstate Park. Mammoth Cave National Park encapsulates the canine hiking experience in the Bluegrass State. Your dog can’t go below ground to experience the world’s longest mapped cave system but the wooded trails above ground are welcoming to dogs. Kentucky has more navigable waterways and streams than any other state and the Between the Lakes National Recreation Area sandwiched inside the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers creates the largest inland peninsula in America. The Honker Trail around and across Honker Lake at the Nature Station is a star day hike among 100 miles of canine hiking trails here. So many giant mastodons and wooly mammoths met a grisly end in the warm salt springs at today’s Big Bone Lick State Park that trappers were said to use mastodon ribs for tent poles; if your dog digs up any such bones any at the state historic site they can’t come home with you.

The Best Day Hike You Can Take With Your Dog In Kentucky

Auxier Ridge Trail/Double Arch Trail
Daniel Boone National Forest • Slade

There are more than 500 miles of trails in the 700,000-acre Daniel Boone National Forest and save for a few designated swimming areas your dog is welcome everywhere. The first destination for many canine hikers is the Red River Gorge Geological Area where 300-foot sandstone cliffs and overhangs are decorated with gnarly rock formations. The more than 100 natural stone arches in the gorge represent the greatest collection east ofthe Mississippi River.

Unlike most arches in the American West, Red River’s natural bridges are tucked among a vibrant deciduous forest and are best viewed up close, often via a short trail from the scenic driving road. Double Arch, with one opening on top of another, takes longer to reach than most, maximizing Seaman’s adventure in the rock formations.

Start this loop on the Auxier Ridge Trail, a narrow clifftop that delivers splendid views of the Red River Valley from multiple vantage points, including the landmark Courthouse Rock, a massive tree-covered monadnock where the two-mile route ends. Seaman can scramble up the sides of the massive boulder for a ways and a staircase gets you closer as well.

The Auxier Branch Trail trips under towering cliffs through a wooded canyon to provide access to the Double Arch with its own postcard views and climbing steps to the top. The Double Arch Trail uses an old forest road to close out this fascinating six-mile canine hike.

HIKING TIME: 3-4 hours

(from the book 300 Day Hikes To Take With Your Dog Before He Tires You Out: Trails where you won’t be able to wipe the wag off your dog’s tail)