Before I got sidetracked, you may remember, we were having fun in Kentucky. I had written about mines and an abandon town, I had also written about a cave, a quarry and a new friend. What I hadn’t gotten around to sharing was the actual reason we went to Kentucky int he first place. A few years ago, I read a post from Justin and Stacy over at Opting Out of Normal. They have an entire series about finding “hidden gems” in their travels called “Off The Beaten Path“. When I read their post Off the Beaten Path in Kentucky. Our Top 5 Hidden Gems! I knew we’d have to go someday.
Well, someday finally rolled around. Their post says this hidden gem can be found at Grayson Lake. Hmmm, where? Grayson Lake is a 1500 acre lake with several boat launches. We drove to the Clifty Creek boat launch where we found a fairly busy launch and several friendly locals willing to share the mysterious location…
When I asked how “exactly” to get to the falls, no one could quite give me an answer but most peoples’ directions included things like “after you pass the big rock, you will see a cliff with a dead tree on top, go left there and you can’t miss it” or “paddle for about and hour and a half and take the waterway to your left, it’ll be right in front of you.” Ooooo-K. Easy-peasy. A few days later, we returned to the launch ready to find that waterfall!
It was a beautiful day and the paddling was easy and smooth. Clifty Creek is nestled in between wonderful sandstone cliffs which loom above you. Years of water and weather have carved them into some fascinating patterns…
Sometimes, we actively paddled, while other times, we just floated along and took in all the scenery…
There were several waterfalls along the way, but none of them were the one we came find…
One thing I began to realize is the fact that there are LOTS of “cliffs with a dead tree on top”! How would I know the right one when I saw it?
And, hey folks, they are ALL “big rocks”! I was beginning to think we would never find this hidden gem. Occasionally, we would pass another watercraft and every time I asked if we were heading the right direction, they would say yes. Ok, keep paddling. We rounded a small bend in the creek, we finally saw THE big rock…
A bit further and we came to an area where we could choose left or right. Everyone had said take the left, so we did. As I neared the what seemed to be a dead end, I began to hear what I was sure was a thundering waterfall, but where was it? When another kayaker seemed to appear out of nowhere, I knew what we had to do.
Watch what happens when you paddle into a “dead end”
I was astounded! This is what we came to find!! Grotto Falls! There wasn’t much room in the grotto. I doubt you could fit more than a couple kayaks in at a time. I paddled the kayak in a 360 to film the entire grotto…
Wow, just wow!
Not wanting to hog the grotto, we paddled back out to make room for others to enjoy the falls. I managed to get turned around quick enough to get a picture of Steve reappearing…
It had definitely been worth the paddle! Thank you to Opting Out of Normal for writing about this hidden gem! You were right on the money!
Up Next…
Heading to Michigan
Thanks for stopping by!
The Wandering RVer 