Exploring
Central Kentucky
Lick Creek [To South Fork]

 

How to get there:
There are two main ways to get to Lick Creek. One is by starting at the trailhead in Whitley City, and following an old road and then a trail way back and down to the creek. It's over two miles to the creek. The other way is to go to the lower end and start up. This way will get you to the creek sooner, and Princess Falls, which is near the lower end. From the parking area by the bridge, it is over a mile to that falls, via an old road and trail.

Picture at right was made not far upstream from Princess Falls, facing upstream.

 

To get to Lick Creek trailhead: Go to Whitley City, Kentucky, which is south of Somerset, Kentucky, and not far from the Tennessee line. From highway 27 at Whitley City, take route 478 west (short distance) to route 1651. Turn left (south) and follow 1651 for one mile until you get to Forest Service road 622. It is the first paved road on the right past the school bus yard. The 622 sign (brown, white numbers) is up in there a little ways, not right at the turnoff. Road 622 is short, only 100 yards maybe. You will see an old dirt road with a bar across it (forest service gate) going off to the left uphill. Road 622, which is paved, is a driveway for a Forest Service house farther back. You can park on the right in an open area. The dirt road at the left is the beginning of the trail.

To get to the lower end: Heading south, stay on highway 27 and go past Whitley City until you get to the turnoff for highway 92, west. It isn't far. Highway 92 goes over railroad tracks at the town of Sterns, Kentucky. The scenic ride South Fork train is headquartered there. Go past Sterns and 92 comes to a Y intersection soon. There is a Citgo station in that Y. Turn right, and follow Hwy. 92 several miles and then it will descend to the South Fork River (Big South Fork of the Cumberland). This picture, facing upstream (south), shows the bridge over the river. South Fork flows from south to north.This place is called Yamacraw, supposedly named after Indians of long ago by that name. At the time this picture was made, the river was very low.

Coming from Hwy. 27, you would arrive at the east end of the bridge. There is a turnoff, on your right, that goes down to a little parking area, and it also goes back under the bridge to a larger parking area. Be warned: there is a thief, or thieves in the area. Someone tried to get into our car. I've seen a warning about that in the forest service hiking guide, saying not to leave valuables in the car. I thought a car would be safe in daytime, but last time there, someone tried to open a door lock on our car, in the middle of the afternoon. We had left the windows down an inch or so. Shouldn't do that.

From the trailhead
My wife Barb and I walked partway down Lick Creek from the trailhead one time, and then up a side trail to Lick Creek Falls. A couple other times we drove around to the river and walked to the lower end of the creek, and up to Princess Falls, and once a little further.

The trail starts as an old road, which goes for about a mile, then narrows down to a trail. It isn't hard walking; just takes a while. It's kind of a long walk to get to the creek, but once down there, it is interesting. The road and trail are on high ground, and eventually the trail goes down slope and comes to a metal stairway. We walked down the stair, which isn't long, and descended further along the trail, walking beside a high rock wall. The trail comes to a corner of the cliff and goes around. At right is a picture of this corner, made after going around it. Shortly, we came to another corner area of high rock, turning the other way. There is a little waterfall off this inside corner, more like a shower. Some huge boulders lay in that corner too. The picture at left shows the trail going between the cliff and some big rocks. That's my wife Barb standing there. She's in the other picture, on the trail, but hard to see; small compared to the cliff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The picture on the right shows another view of that inside corner, with Barb and I standing on the trail.

Ferns are plentiful in this region.

 

 

 

 

 

These are "Firepinks", and they are found in patches here and there. They seem to be scarce. There are some living by this cliff away from the corner.

 

 

 

 

After leaving this high rocky place, we followed the trail along a hollow, overlooking the hollow. A tributary of Lick Creek flows down there and meets with the main creek nearby. The trail heads toward Lick Creek, and then turns and heads down to creek level. We crossed this little side creek and then followed the trail alongside Lick Creek, heading west generally. Not far down is another side creek, on the right, or north side. Soon after that, there is a trail sign. The sign indicates a distance of 2.5 miles back to the trailhead, and .5 mile up a side trail to Lick Creek Falls, and around a mile or so to the Sheltowee Trace near the end of the creek. The Forest Service guide indicates a distance of 3.45 miles for the whole trail, with 2.25 down to the creek. It shows .57 mile from the main trail to Lick Creek Falls.

 

At left is a creek scene along the way. On the right is one of two huge rocks sitting in the creek bed. This is facing upstream. Not a lot of water running that time. It varies, but runs all year I guess. This rock is against the other one , and there is a space underneath, with a large pine log hanging down into it. Water flows along this rock and plunges down into the space under it. You can walk the log down there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's me sitting by the big rock, same rock as in the picture above. This one shows the water flow better. You have to be careful where you step. Wet places can be slippery. One time there, I was carrying Barb's Sony video camera and stepped on some wet moss or something and slid. I jerked my arms up in the reaction, and the camera flew out of my hands, made an arc and landed in a stream of water. I recovered myself, and then dashed for the camera. Water was flowing around it. I grabbed the camera pretty soon after it landed, but it got wet somewhat. The battery had popped off on impact and I couldn't find it. Cost $58 plus tax for another one. I taped that one on. The original battery had fallen off on the trail before that incident, but I found it. A little bump of the release button set it loose. Later on, the camera dried out and then worked ok with a new battery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lick Creek Falls

The trail to Lick Creek Falls leaves the main trail from a point near the trail sign, and sort of angles up to the falls.There is another trail from the main trail that goes straight up alongside the tributary that eminates from the falls. It joins the other falls trail half way up or thereabouts. There is another sign by Lick Creek trail that points to this second trail. The sign is on the opposite side of Lick Creek, near where the falls stream joins the main creek. Also, this stream from the falls has a drop of several feet at one place, not far down from the high falls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are scenes along the side trail up to Lick Creek Falls. We found more high cliffs up there too. It's pretty neat out there. The falls is in somewhat of a horseshoe cove, with a high wall all the way around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Falls

Barb and I enjoyed the creek and falls and it is really a wonderful area. So far, there are no 4-wheeler trails in the upper area, and I hope there won't be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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From the bridge
From the parking area on the right side of the bridge, a trail goes back along the side of the ridge and then heads down. Along the way, we came to a little run-off coming from this drop. It's just a short distance from the trail. Below is a picture of the road by the river. It is rough in some places--4x4 road. This is facing back towards the parking area.

The road goes back near the mouth of Lick Creek.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My wife made this picture of me behind the camera, by that little run-off stream. There are a lot of evergreens in this region. That makes it nice even in winter.

She also made this picture of this flowering plant. For a bigger image, click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We followed the road out to the lower end of the creek, and then got on a trail that goes to a footbridge over the creek. Barb made this shot looking downstream. She made all the digital pictures. I used a conventional SLR. On the upstream side of the bridge, we saw a lot of boulders in and along the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This scene is between the bridge and Princess Falls, which is a short distance upstream from here. As in much of this region, there is a lot of rhododendron.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This section here has a lot of rock, and the falls is in the background, a little above center. For a bigger view, click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This view is a little closer to the falls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a good shot my wife made. If the water isn't too high, it is possible to step across on rocks to the left side. The main trail comes to the falls on the right, and goes around it and on up the creek. There is a lot of bedrock showing at the top of the falls, and we walked out on some of that. A little side path goes down to where this picture was made. For a bigger view, click here.

On the right side, there is an overhang, and we walked back and under that, to get closer to the falls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barb made this picture, which shows the place very well. We have a digital camera, 2 megapixel, with 6x optical zoom. It's a good camera. Two megapixels are plenty for on-screen use. A full size picture will just about fill the screen, and the camera isn't set on maximum resolution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the overhang, we could get fairly close to the falls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below left, is a picture of the far end of the falls, which can be reached by crossing the creek below the falls, and then going up and around some boulders. The picture at right was made from the trail,which continues on up the creek on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barb and I at the top of Princess Falls.

 

 

Our dog Neeki , posing for her picture. She seems to be in her own little world.
She loves to get out and roam. We do too.

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Jesus Said:
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him
shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
John 4:14

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