Hensley Settlement to Thomas Walker Civic Park

A couple of our hiking club members have hiked all the trails in Cumberland Gap National Park except for one section of Ridge trail between Hensley Settlement and Ewing Trail.  The section is too lengthy to do an out and back as we are day hikers.  So we scheduled a Hensley Settlement tour and took the shuttle up as a beginning point.  We had counted on no more than about 8 miles, but the mileages listed on signs and maps are notoriously inaccurate, and we ended up hiking 9.1 miles.  We began our hike at the western end of the settlement.  We then took Ridge trail for supposedly 3.2 miles but it was more like 3.8.  And finally we went down Ewing Trail.  We encountered several hikers and horseback riders on the trail.  It was a gorgeous day.  It has been very dry and the trail was dusty and full of loose dirt and rocks.  We were on the trail almost 6 hours, and we were tired, but it was a good tired.  Congrats to Bob and Mary for completing all the trails in Cumberland Gap National Park.

It is exactly one mile from one end to other of Hensley Settlement.  As you can see, it was beautiful.

 
The western end of the settlement at the beginning of Ridge Trail.

One of many views off the ridge.  Weather was great and color is hanging on.

Dennis Cove to Laurel Falls

We had a group of five today for the hike to Laurel Falls from Dennis Cove.  This hike is entirely on the Appalachian Trail.  It is only 1.3 miles to the falls so it is the most popular starting point for this hike; however you must negotiate 310 stone steps when hiking from the Dennis Cove end.  The hike today was quite chilly with the temps in the forties and low fifties with a steady breeze.  The hike began on a wide, leaf strewn path and crossed a couple small footbridges.  It progressed into the gorge with sheer rock walls in several places.  The trail was the former site of a standard gauge railway which was built in 1911 and operated for 14 years, hauling timber out of the mountain.  We crossed Koonford bridge, which was the site of a rail trestle, at 0.8 mark.  From there, it was mostly downhill.  Lots of steps, 310 to be exact, to descend.  They were dry though, so we just took our time down, down, down to the base of the falls.  The falls are one of the biggest in our area.  Quite amazing, but hard to capture in a photo as usual.  The trip back up the staircase, though dreaded, was easier than going down.  The sun made an attempt to peek through on our way back out, which made the fall color more brilliant.  We got back to the parking area before noon.  Nice hike.

Koonford Bridge

Admiring the falls

Big falls, but not nearly the volume as our last visit.