Edge of Kentucky and Beyond

Having spent an adventure-filled week in central Kentucky, I once again commenced another westward push. As usual, I studied my maps looking for that ideal destination; a vibrant small town or city from which to work, adjacent to ample wilderness ripe with adventure and camping opportunities.

To ensure that I experience as much of the country as possible, I like to limit my traveling to 4-6 hour chucks. This put me squarely in western Kentucky, close to Land Between the Lakes and Shawnee National Forest, located just across the state line in southern Illinois. Nearby cities included, Paducah, Kentucky, and the small town of Cadiz.

As usual, I had no idea what to expect!

The Land Between the Lakes

Not having done any research in advance, my first stop was The Cabin Coffee & Cafe in Cadiz, where I grabbed a quick brew and fired up my laptop to learn what I could about The Land Between the Lakes.

The Land Between the Lakes is a sprawling national forest situated between Lake Barkley to the east, and Kentucky Lake to the west. Both lakes are reservoirs formed by the damming of the Cumberland, and Kentucky Rivers, and the land in between is 170,000 acres of wilderness preserved by the US Forest Service for recreational use.

Throughout The Land Between the Lakes, there are countless backcountry routes suitable for overland travel, and just as many primitive campsites available for use with a backcountry camping permit. A permit can be purchased online (and then printed), or purchased at a centrally-located visitor center, which might be more convenient if you don’t have access to a printer.

The best part is, the cost of a dispersed camping permit is $7.00 USD (as of 5/2017) for three nights. Since I’m living self-sufficiently in the Jeep, I’m a total cheapskate when it comes to camping. However, $2.33 per night is a small price to pay to have 170,000 acres of wilderness at your disposal for exploration!

For the duration of the week, I would travel into Cadiz to do work, and then back to The Land Between the Lakes to camp. Every day, I’d try a different campsite. Some were primitive, and a few were maintained camping areas. I found that some of the primitive campsites close to high-traffic routes were spoiled with litter and debris, while many of the campsites became unspoiled as you traveled deeper into the wilderness. On some nights, when I didn’t feel like seeking out that perfect primitive location, I’d opt for a maintained camping area for the sake of convenience.

My favorite campsites were along the shore of Kentucky Lake, on the southwest side of The Land Between the Lakes. These largely unspoiled locations offered amazing views of the lake, not to mention the sunset!

While most of the primitive roads I encountered weren’t technical, The Land Between the Lakes does offer challenging terrain if you know where to look. There is also a designated off-highway vehicle area called Turkey Bay area that guarantees no shortage of sick lines.

Jackson Falls

Having explored much of The Land Between the Lakes during the work week, I decided to venture a little further north into Illinois to experience Shawnee National Forest over the weekend. Once again, I utilized freecampsites.net to find a nice spot to hunker down for a couple of days before I resumed traveling.

My search led me to a rural area called Jackson Falls that offered free dispersed camping.

I don’t know if it’s luck that I keep finding amazing destinations with such ease, or if the national forests in the United States are all amazing, and wholly underappreciated. Given my experience, I’m inclined to believe it’s the latter.

I drove down a winding dirt road into a wooded valley, and there was absolutely no traffic, and no one to be seen. Then, at the bottom of the valley, cars were parked everywhere. The woods were strewn with ground tents. Following a stream-crossing, a two-track led me to a vacant clearing that would be a perfect place to deploy camp for the weekend.

However, I was still wondering what the attraction was. I knew there was a waterfall in the area, but not much else.

After settling in, I went for a walk downstream, past tent-city, and found myself at the top of a brilliant waterfall that emptied into an aquamarine pool. Hikers are rock-climbers were milling around in a valley lined with tall cliffs and massive boulders belched up by the Earth millions of years ago. It was an incredible landscape. I wanted to explore further, but it was late in the day, so I decided to return to the Jeep and wait until morning.

The next morning, I commenced my hike. My initial goal was simply to descend to the base of the falls, but I quickly found that the area offered so much more. The cliffs and rock formations were a sight to behold, and a popular attraction for rock-climbers.

I had hiked along the ridge for roughly a mile before I found a place to descend into the valley. Once in the valley, I followed a well-trodden trail at the base of towering cliffs through a maze of house-sized boulders, back to the waterfall, where I relaxed for at least a few hours.

The whole hike was a three mile loop in the shape of a crescent moon, where the waterfall is the start, midpoint, and finish. It was varied, wonderfully scenic, and extremely refreshing to spend some time exploring on foot.

Without much ado, I spent the remainder of the weekend relaxing at Jackson Falls, and then on Monday morning… onward!