Places to wheel in South Central KY

First, thanks so much @tcBob for the Kentucky forum!

Looking for some good places to do some light wheeling and exploring (mainly driving gravel or dirt roads) in South Central Kentucky. There's a lot in eastern and western KY but not so much in the middle. Something in Hardin, Nelson, Taylor, Larue, Marion would be awesome.

 

Been on:

Wayne ennis road in Nelson and larue co
Cecil ridge road in Nelson co
Moss brown rd Nelson co
Dry fork rd/salt lick rd marion co

 

I know there is a shit ton of trails in lee county/slade but have not seen it myself just seen the trucks coming on and off it every weekend

 

Subbbb

 

X2

 

Kinda SE Kentucky, kinda not... but there are tons of gravel roads and lots of neat stuff to see in Jackson County. It's been deemed a Sheltowee Trail Town and there are several great campgrounds in the area.

 

SUB, because Louisville has too much concrete to be fun...

 

Are there any access roads along the river?

 

Nothing legal. There used to be an area near the McAlpine Locks & Dam where we rode dirt bikes in the 80's bit that has long since been closed.

 

Somehow missed this post! I'm in the very southern end of Bullitt County, just minutes from Nelson County. Will be exploring these locations as soon as possible!

 

Bumping this thread.

We're seeking camping preferably close to a river for the weekend. Is backcountry camping allowed? We don't get along with campgrounds

Seems like LBL, Daniel Boone could be fun. I'm coming from Knoxville so SE Kentucky is best. A good adventure drive would be fun, too

 

That side of the state gets you Red River Gorge in Daniel Boone NF, Rush Off Road way up here by me, and Black Mountain in Harlan, KY. Those are the only 3 places we know of, as of today, on the eastern side of the state.

RRG has back country camping, but things aren't 100% okay for the off road community down there. They're working on it. Still, plenty of places to wheel! Just watch for private property signs and angry hillbillies with shotguns. This is the only legit government "funded" park of these 3 I mention.

Rush is wide open do whatever the fuck you want camping. Mostly. I didn't see much of any place to set up camp on the trails. Best open and flat ground, with a bit of tree cover for shade, is closer to the entrance of the park. Holler if you go here, I'll tag along if I'm not up at the camper this weekend. Probably will be drunk af in my kayak on the lake though.

Black Mountain has a legit campground, but you can camp in park too.

 

Thanks for the helpful reply. RRG sounds like the move because we don't necessarily need an off-road park but just general backcountry camping / gravel driving (Ya know, "overlanding" braj).
I'll check out Google Maps

 

http://www.harlancountytrails.com/kingdomcome.php

Not far from "Harlan County Campground" (Black Mountain Off Road) Kingdom Come has plenty of back roads (fire roads) and camping spots. More "Overlander" trails than serious off roading....


BTW....Black Mountain is "government funded" trail system. The camp grounds at each entrance are privately owned and operated. Trail area itself is county owned, and state funded recovered coal mine country. Money from Kentucky "Friends of Coal" license plates is used to restore and develop areas like Black Mountain.

 

Be careful down in there. There are some places too tight to turn around, the trail has washed out and barely wide enough for our trucks. Wider tires and you might roll down several feet of hillside. Plenty of obstacles as well.
Stick to the DBBB and you should be okay. Won't be on Google Maps, either. That will only get you as far as pavement.

Might wanna just do what Bill is suggesting here ^^

Safest bet for a family gravel driving outing.

 

Thanks fellas. I wish I had Instagram in cases like this; I found Instagram was really great for getting beta on unknown camping sites. (Granted its also a huge source of trail degradation from all the insta heroes)
All of this depends on weather, too, not looking great

 

I've not seen anything like that on IG. Facebook is where we've found our info about RRG. Several wheeling clubs' pages. All KY and OH pages.
There are TN clubs associated as well, with the SFWDA

 

Check out Blue Holler. About an hours and 15 minutes south of Louisville, near Mammoth Cave Natl Park, also close to Nolin Lake. Pay to play, many 4-wheelers and UTV's but still pretty cool place to play. If you ever get the urge to go, hunt me up. If nothing stops me, I'll go to anything that close to home.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-annual-kentucky-red-river-gorge-meet.539600/