This past Saturday night, my wife Candice and I went to Jenny Wiley State Park Lodge for Elk Night in the lodge dining room. We got there about an hour or so early so I could take a hike on one of the trails I had never been on, the Moss Ridge Trail which starts up the hill above the lodge and just below one of the rental cottages. It runs for about 1.3 miles total. It begins in the general direction of the amphitheater and then doubles back along the ridge to the lodge. It is labeled as "Strenuous" in their little flyer about the trails. I agree that it is a bit tough and should not be attempted by anyone who is not used to hiking some in the mountains but I think it falls a bit short of "Strenuous". The staff description states that it has steep uphills and steep down hills and that is accurate. It begins with a short hundred yards of pretty level hiking and then has some treated wooden baffles across the trail to prevent erosion which are not remotely steps but purely water baffles which are too far apart to be considered steps on the first uphill. It is in timber all the way and well shaded. But for me the worst part of the entire deal is that it and the linked Steve Brackett Memorial Trail were both primarily bushwhacked out of the woods with a small bulldozer and it will show for many more years that it was accomplished in that way. The trail itself is level in large sections but does have some steep uphills and, on the return loop, some steep downhills which are over some sections of exposed rock and gravel which tends to make it a bit risky about falls due to small, rolling rocks. The other drawback to the trail is that it has several large down trees
which have not been dealt with and a few are in full blown widow maker
mode. But they are nice trails with the two or three objections stated
above and they appear to be somewhat better maintained than the Jenny Wiley Trail which I hiked part of about a month ago and wrote about on this blog. The area of the Moss Ridge Trail that runs along the ridge is nice and flat and was not damaged so much with the bulldozer. It apparently runs along the property line of the park on the ridge because there are several three foot tall steel markers in the ground which are painted bright red and labeled "Boundary Line". The land on the opposite side of the markers is also timber land and brings up another idea I have about the need for the state park system to be funded to increase the acreage and uses of nearly all the state parks. I also realize that this idea is not one that would get very far at this point in Kentucky politics. I spent an hour on the trails which included probably a half mile of the Steve Brackett Memorial Trail until I reached a point where it starts to drop off rapidly toward the level of the lake. Candice was waiting on me near the lodge reading a book in a shaded parking spot so I turned around and doubled back.
We attended the Elk Night Dinner a the lodge after my hike and have also eaten there on other occasions. I have never been shy to say that the kitchen staff and food are much better at Natural Bridge State Park Lodge where we also eat fairly frequently and usually attend their Elk or Wild Game Night Dinners. The food at Natural Bridge is always better prepared and the staff do an overall better job of presenting and servicing the entire affair of a well-attended special dinner. But on this occasion at Jenny Wiley they did have one food which I had never had and found somewhat pleasing. They served smoked elk in reasonably sized slices which were well prepared and pleasing although, for my personal taste, the smoked elk was a bit too lightly smoked. I love a good, somewhat strong smoky taste similar to what you find in good smoked pork chops. The elk roast on this night was overcooked and served in a somewhat stingy manner by the person serving it on the buffet line. The deserts which Jenny Wiley describes as "Appalachian deserts" are not remotely regional or Appalachian. There was peach and blackberry cobbler. The peach was somewhat odd tasting as if it had been too heavily laden with margarine but the blackberry was better and well received by our group. The other deserts were nothing that could not have been expected on a normal menu in any sit down restaurant in the eastern half of the country. Our waitress whose job only involved serving drinks and paying attention was hard working, funny, attentive, and a welcome sight in the place. But we did notice that a waitress who had served us competently and well only a month ago was not present on a night when such a restaurant would have called all hands on deck which leads me to suspect high turnover in the kitchen staff.
We attended the Elk Night Dinner a the lodge after my hike and have also eaten there on other occasions. I have never been shy to say that the kitchen staff and food are much better at Natural Bridge State Park Lodge where we also eat fairly frequently and usually attend their Elk or Wild Game Night Dinners. The food at Natural Bridge is always better prepared and the staff do an overall better job of presenting and servicing the entire affair of a well-attended special dinner. But on this occasion at Jenny Wiley they did have one food which I had never had and found somewhat pleasing. They served smoked elk in reasonably sized slices which were well prepared and pleasing although, for my personal taste, the smoked elk was a bit too lightly smoked. I love a good, somewhat strong smoky taste similar to what you find in good smoked pork chops. The elk roast on this night was overcooked and served in a somewhat stingy manner by the person serving it on the buffet line. The deserts which Jenny Wiley describes as "Appalachian deserts" are not remotely regional or Appalachian. There was peach and blackberry cobbler. The peach was somewhat odd tasting as if it had been too heavily laden with margarine but the blackberry was better and well received by our group. The other deserts were nothing that could not have been expected on a normal menu in any sit down restaurant in the eastern half of the country. Our waitress whose job only involved serving drinks and paying attention was hard working, funny, attentive, and a welcome sight in the place. But we did notice that a waitress who had served us competently and well only a month ago was not present on a night when such a restaurant would have called all hands on deck which leads me to suspect high turnover in the kitchen staff.
My primary reason for returning to the Jenny Wiley Lodge for an Elk Night Dinner was primarily to eat out with my cousins and their spouses because they live in the area and like the lodge. But I much prefer Natural Bridge. But you should try them both and make up your own mind.
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