Natural Bridge State Resort

Natural Bridge State Park, Hemlock Lodge is one of our favorites. We enjoy going in the spring before the summer vacation crowd gets going. The last time we went our room was very clean and the private wooded balcony with a babbling stream was so peaceful. We had ate our meals in the dining room and the food was hot, fresh, delicious and reasonable. The staff was helpful and very friendly. It’s a short walk over to the trails you can take to explore all the wonders that this place has to offer. Can’t wait to go again.

Took family here for a day trip today and we had a great experience! The location is very pretty; the trails are great & give excellent views. Afterward, we went to the lodge for lunch & had a terrific buffet lunch at a very reasonable price. Friendly staff, homemade dishes including soups, salad dressings, and desserts. We are hooked! Daughter has already made reservations for a return weekend! A very nice outing here close to home!

I love hiking at Natural Bridge State Resort Park. The bridge is the coolest thing. The trails leading up to it are great for all levels of hiking. It’s perfect for kids and for more experienced hikers. Definitely a great place to take the family or out of town guests. My favorite part of the experience is taking the Sky Lift up to the bridge. Beware if you are afraid of heights, though. The lift is currently 13 dollars per person for a round-​trip ticket and open April thru October. I’ve also come to Hemlock Lodge in the park for their seafood buffet on select Friday nights. It’s not the best, though.

What an extraordinary and breathtaking view from the Natural Bridge! I and a group of friends had a wonderful experience there. After rock climbing for about 4 hours at the Torrent Falls Climbing Adventure, we went to explore the Natural Bridge. While on the trails I was captivated by the biodiversity in that ecosystem. The diversity of plants and trees fascinated me. When on Natural Bridge I was astonished by the gorgeous view. It was so peaceful and relaxing to sit there and enjoy the magnificent sight.
At the Natural Bridge State Resort Park, the staff members were exceptionally welcoming and friendly. The brochures and the maps were helpful in identifying the trials, the difficulty and the length of the trials.
What a great adventure!

Only a couple of hours away, but it is a world away.
Hubby and I took an impromptu trip to Natural Bridge this past weekend. It took less than 2 hours to drive there from Louisville. But it felt like it was a world away from Louisville.
The park is nestled in the middle of cliffs and forests of Daniel Boone. The park is good for people of all ages and fitness levels. There are long, short, easy and difficult trails. If you want, you can drive down the road to Red River Gorge and do the rock climbing thing; or you can be the drive-​by tourist: drive to the parking lot: catch the Skylift to within few hundred yards of the natural bridge. You also have the choice of using the Skylift to go up only and then hike your way down.
To best enjoy all that the park has to offer, it is best to stay overnight in the lodge or one of their fully equipped cabins (glamping!!). We stayed in the lodge this time. Every room has a wonderful view of the valley, pond and pool below from the private balcony. The room is not glamorous but it is clean and has all the basics you’d expect from a hotel room. Their rates are very reasonable. They also offer discounts to AAA members and military. Hubby and I had dinner in the attached restaurant. It was Easter so they had the Easter Buffet that night. Fancy? No. But it was homey and filling food, just what hubby was craving.
However you do it, you’ll love the scenery. Take a deep breath, take in the breeze and fresh mountain smells, it’ll feel like you are a world away from it all.

Very nice location and nice balconies off the rooms! You are in the middle of no where, but .75 miles away from the Natural Bridge on two different trials. The lodge has a large pool, lake (think pond) with paddle boats, and several short hiking options. There are two long hikes available too. Better hikes are about 10 miles away in Red River Gorge National Recreational Area, surrounded by KY77, KY715, and KY15.
The lodge was built about 40 years ago and is recently updated. The rooms are decent size, but bring your cooler. There are no microwaves or mini-​fridges. The bathrooms are average size but good shape. The beds are comfortable. All you need to sleep here is good. Do not expect much else. But again this is the edge of nowhere and the mountain highway! The staff is very friendly. The other thing avoid the buffet!!! It was aweful, and at $ 14 each you should be able to enjoy more than fried shrimp and fried corn nuggets (fried cream corn). The srtuffed steak was more grisle than meat and horribly dried out. No even the broccoli could flavor the chicken alfredo! And the catfish tasted like breading because there was very little catfish. But they had a german chocolate brown thing made with walnuts instead of pecans, that was good. The sky lift was $ 11 for round trip to the top but the hours did not run past 5:19pm before Memorial Day.

I am just going to review one of the feature here in the resort: The Sky lift.
It’s fun! The ticket is $ 10 round trip for adults and $ 7 round trip for kids under 12. You can do one way which is $ 6.
The ticket booth opens at 10.00 am sharp, we were a lil bit leary going on the skylift as we had our 6 year old with us, but the operator helped us boarding and gave us more time to do so since we have our little on.
The view is not as scenic but it’s still nice. It took about 20 minutes so to get to the top of the hill and from there you can walk to the top of the Natural Bridge in 15 minutes or to the overlook area.
If you like hiking, then you may want to hike instead, but if you like to try on every features offered in this resort, then I think it’s fun.