The Cumberland River

The Cumberland River in Southeast Kentucky

This is the Gatliff Bridge. It crosses the Cumberland River at the border of McCreary County  and Whitley County.  The road is Highway 90. On one side is Cumberland Falls State Resort Park and on the other side are tracts of the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park and the Daniel Boone National Forest. The bridge is located above Cumberland Falls. The bridge was built in 1953.  It is hard to imagine how the local people got around before 1953.  There is a plaque on the bridge that honors Mr. Gatliff.  Mr. Gatliff worked at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

The bridge appearance was chosen to look natural with its forest setting.  A low cost bridge could have been erected but the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet stood firm for a bridge appropriate to the scenic setting. It could have looked like a railroad bridge with steel structure over the bridge deck. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet stood firm. Hence the bridge is made with an outer layer of cut stone.  Masons were brought to the site to lay the stone during the construction.

A 16.1 mile corridor of the river is designated a state wild river.  There are only nine rivers in Kentucky with the wild river protection.  Generally there are not buildings along the wild river protection areas of these special areas.

It is one of the region's most beautiful places.  It stuns with its surprising beauty.
  
Have you seen this scenic Kentucky place? If not, what are you waiting for?