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but it really doesn’t have the all the details necessary to plan a well thought out trip and also it can quickly become out of date.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!