One of my favorite trips starts at Bandy Creek, where I take the John Litton Farm Trail (lower loop) until it joins the Fall Branch Trail. Then I head out on Fall Branch Trail until I have reached the top of the plateau. I find a stream and follow it back until I am close to the source. Then I move out from the source 200 to 300 yards or more. Remember that the animals will be using the waters too. I pitch camp and make myself comfortable. From camp I take the next day to hike to Angel Falls Overlook. This is a popular place but most of the folks that visit the overlook come from the gorge.

If you started at day break, you could still continue along the Grand Loop until you came back to the Fall Branch Trail and back to your campsite. This would put you over ten miles but the day will be a full one with beautiful sites and scenery. I have also gone to the Grand Loop and found a comfortable site to sit and ponder my thoughts, to write, and enjoy lunch before wandering back to camp.

It is best to stick to the hiking trails and use the horse trails to simply make connections. One time I did hike from Bandy Creek to Jack's Ridge Trail and down into Laurel Fork Creek Trail. This crossed me over to Charit Lodge and down the Station Camp Creek Trail. From Jack's Ridge to the end of Station Camp Creek Trail you are walking on horse trails. Horse back riding is very popular here and the trails are deep sand. It was like carrying forty pounds with hiking boots across a beach! Not the best and you also must dodge piles of horse dung! At the end of Station Camp I joined the John Muir Trail and went back up on the plateau. From then on the next eighteen miles to Bandy Creek was just wonderful hiking.

The topo map from Trails Illustrated does a pretty good job on the available streams in the park that offer a reliable water supply. The West Entrance Bandy Creek Trail has a reliable source as well as the lower John Litton Farm Loop Trail. Fall Branch Trail has several good sources while the Grand Loop Trail has no year round source of water at all. On the John Muir Trail from Station Camp to the Grand Loop there is only one good source and it has no name. There is a foot bridge that crosses it and it is not Duncan Hollow as marked on the map. From Station Camp go past Duncan Hollow and it will be the next river line on the map. Many of the trails cross water supplies but you will want to be careful. Some trails will cross a water supply with a horse trail not far above it. If your water filter is not up to par, the odor and taste will certainly leave you with unpleasant memories. Laurel Fork Creek Trail is one of the more difficult trails for the park rangers to maintain. You should expect to double your time in covering distances to be on the safe side.

A lot of families have difficulty planning a time when all can enjoy their vacation. Bandy Creek offers RV camping and Pickett State Park offers cabins. Most cabins could hold two small families while the "boys && girls" who enjoy the trail are out hiking and doing wilderness camping. The idea would be to drop off the hikers and have them join the rest of the family at a cabin or RV site. If this is the case, your options depend on your condition and the number of days you can comfortably spend on the trail. Anyone in shape for this type of adventure will handle the trails with ease.

It would be a good idea to enjoy your hike and then see some of the sites with the family car and short hikes. See Pickett Park, the Twin Arches, East Rim, and if going to Kentucky the Blue Heron Overlook. Most of the arches and other sites are close to road accesses with only short hikes required to get to them.

Should you be a lone hiker, such as myself, do not dismay. I park at Bandy Creek. Pick up my permit and take off into the wilds. Camp well off the trail close to the headwaters of one of the many streams. Then plan day hikes with minimal equipment. I would plan a four to four and a half mile hike into the area and find a good solid campsite. Then plan ten mile day hikes from that spot.

You will have no problems with the markings on the trails. It is a red arrowhead on a white blaze or a blue silhouetted head figure on a white blaze that will denote the trail direction. The blue blaze marks the John Muir Trail, a national historic trail commemorating the 1867 journey that Muir made through the Cumberlands. This happened before his famous journeys in the California Sierras.

There's always a possibility that a trail may be closed from weather damage. Check with the Visitors' Center to make sure your trip plan is feasible.