Another Kentucky canyon and rim - a photo on Flickriver

            I think I'm the only one here in yet another big Kentucky canyon. I like having the place to myself. 

If you are not into horses or fishing, there is no reason to come to Kentucky. It has nothing more to offer. 

I think I am going to nickname this part of the Daniel Boone National Forest, Canyonlands, because it seems like every river around here has a big long canyon. There is a less-traveled west rim and a more-traveled east rim in this large canyon– er, gorge. Kentuckians do not call such places canyons, which is a Spanish-Mexican word rooted in the Southwest, but rather call them gorges–even when a gorge is big and deep. Still, canyon is such a cool word. 

All these limestone and sandstone deposits from the eastern shore of an ancient inland sea have left arches bridges, rims bluffs, canyons gorges, and hoodoos tops under a dense carpet of forest. There's another place like this, far to the west on the Colorado Plateau. Its dry landscape resembles Mars. Utah and Kentucky made up opposite sandy shores of an ancient North American inland sea. This ancient shore on the Cumberland Plateau, part of the Appalachian Plateau that had its mountains emerge in the Paleozoic Era before even the first trees evolved, is primal. Don't get me wrong. The alien landscape of Utah is arid, crisp, and highly photogenic, while these crags of Kentucky are hazy. These rock formations are covered with old hardwood trees, fauna, wildlife, streams, and waterfalls. The air is obstructed by water droplets from the moist, life-giving breath of Mother Nature. Life has had a long time to evolve here and has developed into one of the most diverse biomes on the planet. So if photographing the grand, think also of the macro–what is around your feet. There are yet-to-be-discovered species in these woods.

When you think of Mother Nature, you should think of Utah, not Kentucky. If you want this kind of backwoods scenery then Eastern Tennessee, Western North Carolina, and Northern Georgia are better known with more amenities, although Kentucky has more of these vertical sandstone/limestone formations than any state east of the Mississippi. It should be noted that Utah is twice Kentucky's size so there's more space to visit. If you do come here, watch out for hungry bears and strange-acting hillbillies.

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Taken in: United States / Kentucky / Blue Heron (show map)

Taken on: October 31, 2023

Tags:

autumn

fall foliage

Eastern Kentucky

Big South Fork NRRA

national river and recreation area

Kentucky

Daniel Boone National Forest

McCreary County

Stearns

United States « less

Sets appears in: • Oh Beautiful • Big South Fork

Groups appears in: • Lonely Planet • Kentucky The Bluegrass State more » • Landscapes of the World • America's Best Landscapes • Wildlife and Landscape Photography • The Traveler's Bucket List • Amazing Landscape beauty « less

Camera: Nikon Z 8, f/8.0, 1/60 sec, 65mm, ISO 110 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon Z 8
Lens:	NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.017 sec (1/60)
Focal Length:	65mm
ISO:	110
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Saturation:	High
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 13.2 (Macintosh)
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