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http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=12&Z=16&X=926&Y=5109&W=3&qs=%7ccumberland+falls%7cky%7c
How to get
there: Bark Camp Creek is on the east side of the
Cumberland River, a little more than half way up between
Cumberland Falls State Park and the mouth of Laurel River. There
are two ways to get there. One is by going to Laurel River Dam,
crossing it, and going south from there, or by going out highway
90 which goes to Cumberland Falls, and turning north off that
road.
Laurel Dam route: Cross the dam and head south on highway 1193 for about 3 miles until you get to paved road 1277. Turn right and follow that one for about 1 mile, then turn left on Forest Service road 193. There should be a typical Forest Service type road sign, brown with white letters. Follow 193 about 1 1/2 miles and you will get to Bark Camp Creek and the trail head. This creek is a Trout stream, and there are signs on trees about fishing for Trout. Road 193 continues. I have put a link above which will go to the appropriate topographical map on the Terraserver website. It won't have the Forest Service road numbers. For that, you have to get a topo map from the Forest Service. The regular USGA map is very helpful, but having the Forest Service road numbers is much better.
Highway 90: If you're traveling on Highway 27, turn off on 90 (east), which will take you to Cumberland Falls State Park. Continue past the park about 5 miles until you get to Forest Service Road 195 on the left (north). A little past this road (going east on 90), is a sign saying that you are leaving the Daniel Boon Forest. Conversely, if you are driving west on 90, look for 195 a little past the sign that says you are entering Daniel Boon National Forest.
Road 195 will also take you to the Dog Slaughter Falls trail. There is just a small parking strip alongside the road at the trailhead. To get to Bark Camp Creek, follow 195 about 3 miles until you get to FS road 88. Turn right. Follow 88 about 2 miles until you get to FS road 193. Turn left on 193 and follow it until you get to the creek, about 2 miles. When near the creek, you will head down hill alongside a cliff on the left, creek on the right. The trail starts at a hairpin turn of the road.
Another point of interest: While on 88, you will pass a small natural arch on the right. It is back away from the road, so you will have to look for it. I've seen it from the road, but I'm not sure if it is discernable as an arch from the road. A lane turns off to the right and goes back near it. If you miss the arch, you will come to FS road 4191 on the right. It's just a Jeep road I think. Before that, is 4193 on the left. I think it comes before the arch.
For the time being, this web page will concern the lower part of Bark Camp creek. There is a way to drive around to a point not far from that end. Later some time, Barb and I will walk about half the 2 1/2 mile trail from the beginning at road 193, and add more material to this page.
To drive closer to the lower end: After you
turn off 1277 onto 193, you 
will come to
Forest Service road 551 in just a very short distance; maybe
equivalent to a city block. Turn right onto 551 and follow it to
its end, about 1 1/2 miles. You will pass 551A as you go. Stay on
551. I don't recommend a car for this road. Some of it is
probably ok, but the far end gets a little rough. A truck or SUV
would be more suitable. Here is a picture of the end of the road,
facing the way out. It doesn't look real bad, but is a little
rutted and a little rocky. A car is not really suitable. You
could park farther back I guess.
The picture of the cliff shows the general situation out there. Road 551 goes along high ground and ends not far from the creek, which is way down below this cliff line. This picture was made from near the creek.
From the small clearing on top at the end of the road, a trail zigzags down the slope to lower ground, and continues to a rocky overlook of the lower part of Bark Camp Creek. You can see a little of the creek from there, and some of the Cumberland River. You can hear the water of the creek running from up there. This part of the creek is close to its junction with the River.
Down to the creek
From that overlook, you switchback down the trail, part of which is shown above. In this picture is the trail sign, shown better at the top of this page. Going on down this trail just a little, you can get to this overhang shown at right, with Barb standing underneath.
Facing toward the creek, as Barb is in this picture, you can see the main falls, as shown next.
I thought this was real neat
the first time I saw the falls, from this view point, and it
still is. This is only part of it. I've made a bunch of pictures
of this place, and Barb did likewise, with the digital camera.
Most of the pictures on this page were made by Barb. It seems
that the digital camera handles contrast better.
That's me and our dog on the
rock overhang. I wonder how long that will stay like that. This
better shows the scale of the falls. They aren't big, but
moderate falls can be nice too, and there is a series of them.
It's a refreshing place.
We tend to make a lot of pictures of these places. Can't seem to get enough.
The bridge
The Sheltowee Trace follows along the Cumberland River on this side. It makes a turn up the creek a short distance, and was connected to this bridge over Bark Camp Creek, then continued back toward the river. Barb and I went there April of 2005, and found this bridge torn out. It may have been rebuilt since then. I don't know.
This is a view on the
downstream side of the bridge. We think this part is close to the
bridge. There are a lot of big rocks along there.
Another view on the downstream side of the bridge.
Upstream from the bridge
This scene is a short distance above that series of falls
Same place, facing
downstream.
That's Barb by the creek a little upstream from the boulders shown above.
Barb went up above the creek and got this picture of me by the water, a little upstream from the previous picture. There are some large rocks out there.
Upstream just a little more, we encountered this red colored rock wall, with some overhang. That was unusual.
There is a 2 1/2 mile trail along this creek, from FS road 193 to the footbridge area. From this red rock on down was to me the more interesting part of the lower half. This summer, Barb and I will walk the first half of the trail, and probably wade some of the creek. There is a side creek that joins Bark Camp Creek and I want to check it out. I'll add more to this page after that trip.
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