End the Year at Red River Gorge 2024

We will spend the end of the year spending 2 nights and 3 days backpacking in the Red River Gorge. Traveling from near the suspension bridge on the Sheltowee trace to the Osborne bend trailhead. This will be a total of approximately 14 miles passing cloud splitter, adena arch, Indian staircase, eagle point buttress, and more.

Day 1: Meet at the Osborne Bend trailhead (near the concrete bridge). We will leave most of the vehicles here and carpool over to the start point. From the trailhead we will backpack to a spot above Indian staircase and camp there the first night. Along the way we will take a side trip to Adena arch. There will be no water at the campsite, so bring what you will need for the first night. Total distance is 5.5 miles.

Day 2: We will down Indian staircase and around part of the Osborne Bend trail, the bushwhack to Eagle Point Buttress. We will camp near there, and there is a stream there. Total distance 8 miles.

Day 3: We will head from our campsite to the down from Eagle Point Buttress and along the river to the trailhead. Then we will shuttle back to the cars that were dropped at the start point. Very likely stop for pizza too.

This will be an end to end trip and will require a shuttle. We will meet at the end trail head (near the concrete bridge) and take just a few cars to the start point. An overnight parking permit (for 2 nights) will be needed for each vehicle. Everyone is on their own to buy these. I usually buy mine from the Shell station in Slade, but other places also sell them. A portion of this trip will be on unofficial / bushwhacking trails.

Caltopo Map: https://caltopo.com/m/811V3SH

-Keep an eye on the weather and pack appropriately.
-Well behaved dogs are welcome.
-Everyone is responsible for their own food and water.
-This trip is cross posted to the Ohio Valley Backpackers too, it is only necessary to RSVP on one.
-If you have any questions please ask in the comments or message me. More details to follow.