The Red River Gorge

📍 The Red River Gorge, Kentucky

When I was in college, I spent a week camping and trail building in the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. The whole trip was a great experience but in the evenings, when things got dark and quiet, the woods were eerie. I remember hearing stories from around Appalachia about voices in the woods, so I looked into The Red River Gorge.

The story is usually told like this:

On the final night of winter, something walks the ridges above the hollows. If you hear it calling your name from the darkness, you must not answer.

Appalachian folklore warns that something walks the ridges of the Red River Gorge on the final night of winter.

Some say it’s a wild man of the mountains.
Others say it’s an ancient spirit roaming the forests before spring arrives.

Whatever it is, the old warning remains the same:

If the woods call your name after midnight, keep walking. Don’t look back.