Fees proposed for day hiking areas at Kentucky’s Red River Gorge

SLADE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some well-known areas at Red River Gorge could start charging fees for hikers and picnickers, according to a proposal that also would raise the price of backcountry camping permits and add fees for boat ramps.

The U.S. Forest Service, which manages the gorge and the broader Daniel Boone National Forest in eastern Kentucky, is seeking public comment through July 31 on a plan that if approved would end free day use of popular spots such as the Auxier Ridge and Sky Bridge trailheads.

"We are trying to thread a needle," public affairs specialist Mary O'Malley said. "Because we know that we need to build our capacity to better maintain sites. We also know that all this visitation can and does have negative impacts on the natural resources that bring us all to places like the gorge."

The gorge is a federally-recognized geological area within the forest that draws an estimated 500,000 people each year for hiking, backpacking, camping and other outdoor activities.

For now, it costs nothing to park and hike there or simply pull off and take in the views. But the Forest Service proposal would change that by charging fees at 19 areas in and near the gorge. Among them are popular places on Tunnel Ridge Road, including the Auxier Ridge Trailhead – a parking spot used to get to iconic features like Courthouse Rock.

The per-vehicle fees — $5 daily, $7 for three days and $50 annually — also would apply to the Grays Arch Picnic Area, the Chimney Top Overlook and trailhead and the Rock Bridge and Sky Bridge recreation areas, among others.

The Forest Service recreational fees program helps pay for improvements in the gorge and larger forest. In recent years, for example, fees were used to repair a walking bridge over Whittleton Branch on the Whittleton Arch Trail and rehabilitate the Sky Bridge picnic area.

O'Malley said any new fees couldn't be charged at each site unless it has an "amenity," such as a parking lot, picnic tables and restrooms. That means, she said, that some areas would have to be updated before fees could apply.

A Forest Service map shows the improvements planned for each location.

In an interview, O'Malley said public comment will help guide decisions about the fees and how they could be enacted. For instance, would day trippers have to buy a pass beforehand or would the Forest Service have staff collecting money from vehicles?

"There's still a lot of space and flexibility in there," she said. "So the biggest thing is for people to come ask questions."

A virtual meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m., while an in-person meeting is to take place at 6 p.m. June 11 at the Powell County Lions Club, 600 N. Bend Road in Stanton, Kentucky. For details on those meetings and how to give public comment, click on the Forest Service's page on the proposal.

Besides the trail fee recommendation, the proposal would add similar fees at three boat ramps in the London area of the forest – the Hightop ramp on Laurel River Lake; the Mouth of Laurel ramp at the junction of Laurel River and Lake Cumberland; and the Rockcastle ramp at the confluence of the Rockcastle River and Cumberland River on Lake Cumberland.

And it would change the cost of backcountry, or hike-in, camping in the gorge, which now is managed by a per-vehicle fee of $5 per day, $7 for three days and $50 per year. Under the proposal, the fees would instead be assessed per campsite.

A single campsite would cost $10 per day, while larger sites would cost up to $55 per night.

O'Malley said the change is meant to align with a new approach to designating backcountry campsites that follows the 2022 Red River Gorge management plan. "We're just adjusting that fee to match that change," O'Malley said.

Campgrounds aren't included in the proposal, nor is dispersed camping in other parts of the national forest outside the official gorge boundaries.

There are two about two million visits to recreation sites in the Daniel Boone National Forest each year, according to Forest Service data based on a 2017 report. The first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a "sharp increase," O'Malley said.

The gorge's estimated 500,000 annual visits mean that roughly one-fourth of all visits occurs on just 6% of the total land in the forest.

Once the public comment period ends, the proposal will go to an advisory committee made up of citizens. That committee's recommendation then would be sent to the Regional Forester for a decision.

Any new fees would begin at the earliest on Jan. 1, 2025.