Red River Gorge
canyon system in Kentucky, National Natural Landmark
The Red River Gorge is a canyon system on the Red River in east-central Kentucky, United States. Geologically it is part of the Pottsville Escarpment.
The gorge lies within the Daniel Boone National Forest and was subsequently designated the Red River Gorge Geological Area, an area of around 29,000 acres (12,000 ha; 120 km2; 45 sq mi). It was designated a National Natural Landmark and National Archaeological District in 1976, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 13,379-acre (5,414 ha; 54.14 km2; 20.905 sq mi) Clifty Wilderness Area lies entirely within the geological area in the Red River Gorge.
This intricate canyon system features an abundance of high sandstone cliffs, rock shelters, waterfalls, and natural bridges. There are more than 100 natural sandstone arches in the Red River Gorge Geological Area. The multitude of sandstone and cliff-lines helped this area become one of the world's top rock climbing destinations and is home to the Red River Gorge Climbers' Coalition. The area is nicknamed the Red or the Gorge by climbers.
Kentucky's Natural Bridge State Park is immediately adjacent to this area, featuring one of the largest natural bridges in the Red River Gorge.
“Red River Gorge” enters the record as canyon system in Kentucky, National Natural Landmark. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what River, Gorge and canyon can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2136041. VIAF identifies the subject as 246323883. Authority coordinates are 37.834, -83.608. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1976.
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This entry incorporates text from “Red River Gorge” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.