Paddling the Palisades of the Kentucky River

Paddling the Palisades of the Kentucky River

Early Morning Wisps of Fog 

Imagine being in a canoe, paddling this river.  It is early morning on a cool autumn day and the fog is dense, limiting the ability to see the bends in the river.  As the wisps of fog lift, the 220 foot magnificent rock cliffs loom in front of us.  THIS is why we are on this stretch of river.  THIS is why we challenged ourselves to paddle 18 miles in one day. 

To be able to paddle the 18 miles in one day we had to get an early start, so we organized to shuttle our car to the take out the day before and to stay at the Inn the Country Bed & Breakfast nearby (located right across from Camp Nelson Cemetery) hosted by Marceline who is listed on Airbnb.  This is a great place to start your trip because it is just a few miles from the put in on Hwy 27.  Marceline is friendly, accommodating and has plenty of room and many beds if people are willing to share rooms.  (Ask her about possibilities of a shuttle.)

This section of the Kentucky River is remote and the next access point from Camp Nelson is 18 miles down the river at High Bridge. That being said, we figured that to do 18 miles in one day we needed to be sure to do at least 3 miles an hour.   The almost still river was not going to give us much of a push so making a 3 mile an hour speed was going to be mostly on us.

We were excited to begin early and get on the river.  We loved the feeling of being surrounded by the looming cliffs and the blanketing fog.  As you paddle past the limestone cliffs, you see the weathering of the rocks from the passage of the river over the eons of time.  The river has shaped these cliffs into columns which have acquired names that are listed on the map. The area near Hwy 27 is part of the Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve on both sides of the river. It preserves the natural beauty of the cliffs, which are some of the oldest exposed rock in the state along with the rare plants found in this area.  Some of these cliffs are homes to vultures and birds of prey.  But other than a few turtles out on a cold day, wood ducks, and kingfishers, the only other animals were the cattle roaming around at the base of the cliffs at Polly’s Bend (from mile marker 131-129)

As we paddled along we kept our eye out to find a place to stop and have lunch.  Both sides of the river had steep sides, one with the rock cliffs going up almost from the water’s edge and the other side had steep muddy banks that were several feet high making it difficult to even get out of the canoe.  We did find a rock shelf at the bottom of a steep cliff that would be a waterfall on a rainy day. Today, with having no recent rains, the shelf was dry enough for us to pull up and take on some nourishment.  It was on the left side of the river before the Boat Hollow Creek enters the river about 10 ½ miles from where we put in.

The day was long.  After 5 hours of almost constant paddling our arms and backs were telling us that we needed to stop.  We had Kentucky River Authority Navigation Charts (found online as a PDF file) along and watched to see, by the map, how much of the river that we had left to go – it was probably two more hours. 

Late afternoon, we realized we were getting close to High Bridge when houses started appearing on the right side of the river.  We also started seeing our first sign of other boaters. Many boaters put in at High Bridge and kayak/canoe up stream to the Dix River which they said has a few small ripples that make it fun.  As we approached High Bridge, a train was going over.  We thought it was a pretty cool bridge to canoe under and to think of the past.

Before getting to the take out on the right 1/3 mile past the High Bridge, Shaker’s Landing is on the left.  Parked at Shaker’s Landing is the excursion boat, the Dixie Belle.  The road from the Landing leads to Shaker Village.  There are so many historic possibilities in the area to explore once getting off the river or even on the river. The take out is within view of Lock 7.  Jessamine County has produced the Kentucky River Guide, which includes historic activities that occurred on the river, along with their GPS.  Jessamine County has also been instrumental in establishing a Kentucky River Task Force which includes working with other organizations to create a Kentucky River Water Trail and to be responsible stewards of the River’s watershed and its resources.

This is a beautiful river encompassing lots of history that keeps calling you back to experience yet another day of joy, paddling your canoe.

The Kentucky River Teasing Us

The Kentucky River Teasing Us

            Labor Day was upon us, and we were anxious to be out on a river.  In the fall in Kentucky rivers can often not be runnable due to low water levels.  “A Canoeing and Kayaking Guide to Kentucky” gives a start to determine where there are some canoe places but it really doesn’t have the all the details necessary to plan a well thought out trip and also it can quickly become out of date. The Kentucky River is usually easy and runnable year round. We thought we’d try a short stretch because we didn’t have much time.  We put in at Lock 8 and canoed 5 miles to the take out at Camp Nelson RV park at Hwy 27.  It was a beautiful fast flowing river  because of a full day of rain three days earlier.  The most difficult part of the whole trip was scouting out the put in spot and finding the place to shuttle our car for the take out at the RV park.  

            A brief word about the shuttle.  To get to the put-in at Lock 8, we turned onto Sugar Creek Rd. (county road 1268) and traveled on that until we got to Lock 8 Rd.  As one looks at the lock, go down the gravel road to the right of the lock – downstream of the lock – down a deeply graveled road.  It was graveled almost to the water’s edge – except for the piles of deadfall that we had to carry our canoes over to be able to get to the water.  Actually, the huge log jam was steadier than I imagined.  Yeah, we had found the put in.  Now the cars had to shuttle to the take out, and leave a car there.  The map seems to suggest that the take out is right there where the bridge crosses the Kentucky River on US 27. And yes it is!  But there’s a big BUT:  one must drive at least a full ½ mile past the river and make a left at the sign that says “Camp Nelson RV Park”.  There is a Shell station there.  Then you travel on that side road 2 miles as it winds around back to the river – with the take out just past the bridge.  So the short 5 miles on the river is a 12 mile shuttle one way.  There is a box to deposit a boat ramp fee.  All the shuttling finished – let’s get on the river.

Lock 8 behind us.

            At the start of our trip, we enjoyed listening to the rush of a wall of water flowing over Lock 8.  The lock and the storm from three days earlier created a fast current for putting in.  The 5 miles were on a wide flowing river with banks and banks of forests.  Great Blue Herons graced our views while the kingfishers darted in and out. We were hungry from the moment we put in, but the banks are steep and there are not many places to bank the canoe and make a leisurely picnic site.  There was one place on the left side of the river about 2 ½ miles down river, where we hoped to park our canoes on a small island for lunch.  But it seemed to have combatting eddies swirling around it, making it difficult to manage the boat or even paddle forward.  I’m not sure we’ve ever encountered those type of eddies in a river before that were not part of rapids.

            We finally found a place to park the canoes for lunch only a mile from the bridge – on the right side of the river, - a road comes down to the edge of the river (you could put in here – if you can find it on a map) – and we walked up the path a ways to lay out our tablecloth in the shade.  Nice picnic spot.

            We were surprised to take out only 20 minutes after a late lunch.  The take out is on the left side of the river right after the HWY 27 bridge.  After the bridge, there is a railroad bridge that people seemed to be walking as on a walking trail.

Hwy 27 Bridge at Camp Nelson

            As we were nearing the take out, we looked in front of us and the limestone cliffs loomed large….teasing us to want to come back and do the next stretch – Pool 7 -which is a 20 mile trip that must be done in one day – because there are no other access points and no place to camp along the way.

            Taking out at Camp Nelson, we took time to visit Camp Nelson Historical Park and Camp Nelson Cemetery, within 3 miles of the bridge over the Kentucky River on US Hwy 27, and is worth a visit.  It was a Union recruitment center and training ground for African-American soldiers and “refugee” camp for their families, who were also freed.  The grounds are enormous.  But it is not really accessible by canoe.  The maps seem to suggest that you can get out of your canoe and be at Camp Nelson.  We did not find that to be true.  But canoeing on the Kentucky River, allows one to explore the interesting historical points in the area.  Find your stretch of the Kentucky, and make a day of it!