If you’re looking for a beautiful place to camp this Fall while the weather is still nice and the trees are in full gorgeous color, head to Kentucky! We met up with my husband’s parents from New Jersey, who were on their way to Florida. It was about a 6 hour drive for us, from Michigan and made a great meeting spot! The weather was beautiful, and with the temperatures getting cooler at night, there were very few bugs. We kept cozy in our vintage trailer using a small space heater. The campfire is extra cozy in the Fall and the color on the trees is warm and bright!
We camped at the Natural Bridge State Park campground – it was beautiful, clean, and family friendly. We parked at the Lakeside Trail parking lot and took the Original trail up to the natural bridge. This is a beautiful mile long hike. It was doable for our 4, 7 and 8 year old kids, with very nice paths, but parts of the trail are pretty steep. They provide lots of rest spots with benches and trash cans, which we utilized.
We chose to hike up to the bridge because it’s more fun, but also wanted to ride the lift back down. This posed an issue as our car was parked in a totally different spot. My husband ended up hitching a ride with some people we met on the the trail, to get our car and bring it back.
Of course, being out in the beauty of nature is a wonderful thing and all, but wifi and cell signals are scarce. We found the best reception on top of the natural bridge! For the record, the State Park campground did offer wifi for a small daily fee, but the signal was not amazing.
Riding the ski lift style tramway down to the bottom looked slightly terrifying…
But I can assure you, it was very enjoyable and not one kid was scared once they got on.
We also took some time to drive along the scenic byway. You can find maps for this at most gas stations and little stores. The highlight was driving through the Nada Tunnel on the outskirts of Daniel Boone National Forest and the Red River Gorge. There are very few stores or restaurants in this area. The town itself has a population of 300, yet hosts thousands of vacationers, climbers and hikers, every year. We ate Miguels for lunch one day and the pizza was really good!
Our Favorite Spots in Northern Michigan
