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Many arches in the Red River Gorge Geological Area can be found or viewed from the trails. One the best known and most accessible
arches is Sky Bridge. From here, visitors are treated to a magnificent view of Clifty Wilderness. This portion of the Gorge has been set aside for the preservation of wilderness values and experiences. Clifty, named for its
towering clifflines, was added to the National Wilderness Preservation System by Congress in 1985. The section of the Red River that runs through Clifty Wilderness is a Kentucky Wild River, and is now a National Wild and Scenic
River, the first and only one in Kentucky.
The Red River Gorge supports an unusual array of plant and animal life. The diversity may be attributed to geographic location,
topography, and glacial history. A significant number of endangered, threatened, sensitive or rare species of plants and animals exist in the area. The U.S Forest Service, along with other interested agencies and individuals,
is working to protect these species and their habitat. A rare opportunity also exists here for the protection and scientific study of cultural resources. Archaeological studies are providing insight into the lives of the
prehistoric people who lived in the Gorge. In later times, the Shawnee and other tribes and frontiersmen like Simon Kenton, Daniel Boone preceded settlement by colonial Europeans moving west.
In more recent times, the Red River Gorge area was a mining area for iron ore, saltpeter for gunpowder (mined in the area for all
of the wars through the Civil War) and then timber area. Nearly all of the trees within the Gorge were harvested providing the area, that has never known great economic wealth, a prosperous time. The introduction of the
railroads in the mid to late 1800s help push these growth and also provide the area with the first permanent industry, tourism. Excursion trains from Lexington, Cincinnati and Louisville that brought tourists to what is now
Natural Bridge State Resort Park started in 1900 and lasted until 1939.
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