Daniel Boone National Forest is on my to do list

Daniel Boone is a legend among legends. His name conjures up images of mountain men blazing trails through forests and of the Boonesboro settlement. The Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky is the only place that is perhaps bigger than legends of the man himself.

Sheltowee Trace marker

The forest covers 708,000 acres of land west of the Appalachian Mountains. The office in London, Kentucky is easy to find. It is on the main artery through town. To help you recognize it, I have a photo on RedGage.

My daughter and I were in the Daniel Boone National Forest when we visited Camp Wildcat near Wilderness Road. The forest is fairly accessible from Berea, Richmond and has an office in London. Each of these towns are on I-75. Highway 25 out of LaFollette follows Wilderness Road which goes through parts of the forest.

Hikers will be happy to know that there are over 600 miles of trails and roads to be explored. Daniel Boone National Forest is home
 to the The Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail.

One of the trailheads is in Big South Fork in Tennessee. Then the trail goes into Kentucky past Cumberland Falls, Natural Bridge, Pickett State Park and Red River Gorge. Only a few miles from the terminus in Kentucky, hikers can connect with the Jenny Wiley Trail and head into Ohio.

Daniel Boone National Forest has all of the activities that you would expect to find. Fishing is available at Cave Run Lake and Laurel River Lake. Plus there are plenty of other creeks and streams. A Kentucky fishing license is required.

Camping within the Daniel Boone National Forest is on my list of things to do. It looks like summer is going to be busy. I look forward to Cumberland Falls and revisiting Camp Wildcat.