Photo above by Laurel Gorge Cultural Heritage Center/Facebook.
Last Friday, September 15, 2023, I visited and hiked at Laurel Gorge Cultural Heritage Center just outside Sandy Hook, Kentucky, in Elliott County and not far from Grayson Lake. I had been there with my wife, Candice because we both had appointments in town that morning. I have gone to the entrance gate many times when I have been in Sandy Hook but had never found it open before because I was either there after regular business hours or on the weekends. The road to the center is closed on the weekends when most people hike and after the Cultural Center closes each day during the week. The times when the gate is closed are also nearly identical to the times when many, if not most, people hike. The entrance is just off Old Rt 7 and 32 Old Laurel Curves Road and in a fairly isolated location out of sight of any other buildings and on a lightly traveled road so I had never chosen to park near the gate and walk around it since my wife Candice is usually with me and in a wheelchair which requires us to choose for me to hike in locations where we can park and she can park, read and feel safe while I hike during the hour or more I am usually gone. In defense of the Cultural Center, the director who was present when I was there advised me that there is a process ongoing at this time to hire a part time person to keep the facility open on weekends. That would be a great improvement. In the past when I have been in Sandy Hook, I have usually walked at Elliott County Memory Gardens, a cemetery just outside town on Kentucky Route 32 which is an excellent cemetery in which to walk with extensive uphill climbs, good paved roads, and sizeable acreage in order to keep an active walker's attention for an hour or so. But it is a bit steep in places and some walkers might consider it too much work. I had hoped for quite some time to find the gate at the Cultural and Heritage Center open so Candice could wait for me in the parking lot while I hiked the trails at the center.
The trails at the center contain several, perhaps eight or nine miles of interconnected trails which are marked as mild to moderate. I would agree with the designations in general but the first half mile or so of the main trail is perhaps a bit too mild with some elevated wooden walkways and several pit stops built into the walkways with board seats in opposite corners for people to rest. But beyond the spot where the walkways end, the trails are truly moderate and some people might consider them to be at the top end of that designation and tending toward tough which is fine with me. I like that kind of hike. Those trails wind past several rock outcroppings and rock shelters with frequent tree roots, rocks, mild to moderate uphills, and enough difficulty for the average hiker to break a sweat. Sadly, I didn't have a camera with me and took no photographs of the trails. I will try to correct that the next time I go there. Also, the state operated page to which I provided the link above has no pictures either. The Cultural Heritage Center does operate a Facebook page which has a limited collection of photographs but they are inadequate to fully describe the nature of the trails. But like many thousands of other such Facebook pages, it is inadequate to fully describe the options available with too little text and too few photographs. The location would be better served with a professionally maintained website which may well be too expensive for what might be a limited budget.
While I was at the center, the cultural heritage building was open and the director was present working to set up for a Craft and Vendor Fair the following day. The center is also the location of the Elliott County Historical Society which has a designated space for their meetings and library of materials. There is a good collection of historical and craft objects in the building including one of the finest copper stills I have ever seen and two excellent large benches made from what appears to have been the same log by the same maker. The facility is well worth visiting on the days when the building is open and hopefully they will hire that person to keep it open some limited number of weekend hours. I assume you can feel free to park near the gate, walk around it and hike the trails in the daylight hours if you feel safe to leave your car in the somewhat isolated spot. It is a great place for the moderately experienced hiker to visit. Despite the quite rocky nature of the area, I don't have much fear of poisonous snakes there because it has been my experience that they tend to move away from areas which have extensive foot traffic as this one does. You should go there sometime soon and enjoy the hike.
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