Plan Your Visit

Living Archaeology Weekend is held the third weekend of September each year. The Saturday program is open to the public from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm EST. Registration is not required for the free event.

The Friday program is reserved for pre-registered school groups. Click here for more information about school registration.

DIRECTIONS

Address: Gladie Visitor Center, 3451 Sky Bridge Road Hwy 715, Stanton, KY 40380

From Louisville/Lexington/Winchester: Take I-64 E to Exit 98, Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway. Take Exit 33 for KY-11 towards Slade/Beattyville. Turn left at the end of the ramp for KY-11 N. Go one-tenth of a mile to KY-15 JCT. From here, there are two ways to proceed:

Via Nada Tunnel*: Turn left at KY-15. Go 1.5 miles west and turn right onto KY-77. Follow KY-77 east about 4 miles to KY-715 and turn right. Follow KY-715 about 2 miles to Gladie. *This route takes vehicles through the historic Nada Tunnel, which is school bus accessible.

Avoid Nada Tunnel: Turn right at KY-15. Go about 5 miles east and turn left onto KY-715 toward Sky Bridge arch. Follow KY-715 about 9 miles to Gladie.

From Richmond, KY: Take KY-52 E towards KY-499. Turn left onto KY-499, followed by another left onto KY-89 N. Turn right onto KY-82 and go 7 miles to Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway E. Take Exit 33 and at the end of the ramp follow KY-11 N. At the KY-15 JCT follow directions above for Nada Tunnel, or to avoid that Nada Tunnel

From Salyersville: Take Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway W to KY-15 N. Take Exit 40 for KY-15 toward KY-715/Beattyville. Turn left onto KY-15N, then turn right onto KY-715 N and follow about 9 miles to Gladie.

Natural Bridge State Resort Park is located along the Middle Fork of Red River and is surrounded by the Daniel Boone National Forest. The park is on Natural Bridge Road/KY-11, which is easily accessed from the Mountain Parkway at Exit 33. The LAW event is held on and around Hoedown Island. A paved walkway serves as LAW's "Trace to the Past," along which demonstration tents are located.

There are several ways to get to Hoedown Island. The main parking areas for LAW are accessed from the outer road loop shown to the east on the map. From the upper parking lot, visitors take a short lakeside footpath and cross the swinging bridge. From the lower parking lot, visitors use a short set of stairs or ramp to access the venue. Visitors also can access the venue from Hemlock Lodge using the stairs.

map of LAW venue at Natural Bridge State Resort Park

Visitors are welcome to stay after our event on Saturday for the Park's weekly "Natural Bridge Hoedown Dance."

Address: 2135 Natural Bridge Road, Slade, KY, 40376

Phone: (606) 663-2214

*Cell phone service can be spotty in the Red River Gorge area and visitors may not have service in some places.

Living Archaeology Weekend will happen rain or shine!

Unless there is major flooding or lightning, the event will held. Visitors are encouraged to bring rain gear, because unpredicted spotty showers are known to blow through the Middle Fork valley in the park. There is limited cover in the Gift Shop building, which is a designated tornado shelter, and at the Pool building at the north end of LAW's "Trace to the Past" (see map above). Hemlock Lodge is another designated tornado shelter.

In case of severe weather, for cancellation information visitors should check the Living Archaeology Weekend Facebook page or call Natural Bridge State Resort Park at (606) 663-2214.

WEATHER

FOOD

On Friday, registered school groups bring their own lunches and drinks to eat at the event. The bleachers surrounding the dance floor on Hoedown Island provide a great spot for students, educators, and chaperones to gather for their lunch break.

Water dispensers are available to refill water bottles at Hoedown Island and at several other locations at the venue. Bottled water is available for sale at the Information Booth during the event.

dance floor and bleachers on Hoedown Island

On Friday and Saturday Sandstone Arches Restaurant at Hemlock Lodge in Natural Bridge State Resort Park (see map above) offers lunch from 11am-3pm and dinner from 4-8pm in the cozy dining room overlooking Hoedown Island. The restaurant is a supporter of the Kentucky Proud program, using local meats and produce when available and now serving Kentucky wine and spirits in the restaurant and Trails End Tavern in the lodge.

On Saturday the Clay City VFW Ladies Auxiliary offers on-site lunch concessions at their food truck across from the lower parking lot (see map above).

dining room at Sandstone Arches Restaurant

Picnic areas are available throughout Natural Bridge State Resort Park and visitors are welcome to bring coolers of food and non-alcoholic drinks to the LAW event. Please be mindful that picnic pavilions in the park may be reserved for special events and unavailable to LAW visitors.

Outside the park, several campgrounds nearby have open picnic facilities, some with outdoor grills. Restaurants nearby in Slade, Campton, and Pine Ridge include:

Miguel's Pizza - Italian, pizza, pasta, breakfast, vegetarian-friendly
Sky Bridge Station - American, pub food, bar
Red River Rockhouse Cafe - American, bar, vegetarian-friendly
Daniel Boone Trading Post / Red River Gorge Coffee Shoppe & Grocery - American, deli, cafe, breakfast
Thatcher Barbeque Company - American, fresh barbeque, bar
La Cabana Mexican Restaurant - Mexican, bar, patio dining

There are a number of lodging options in the Red River Gorge area. Natural Bridge State Resort Park has rooms at Hemlock Lodge, as well as cottages and campsites (1-800-255-7275 then dial 6288 when prompted). Lil Abner Motel (606-663-5386), Red River Inn (606-663-5586), and Black Bear Lodge Motel (606-663-0000) are among the hotels in Slade. There are privately owned campgrounds in Slade and across the Gorge area. In Daniel Boone National Park, camping for a fee is available at Koomer Ridge; this is a first-come, first-serve camping facility with bathroom and shower facilities.

LODGING

Local Area Information

For more information about the local area, we suggest that visitors consult the following web sites.

Powell County Tourism * www.gopoco.org LAW 2025 event sponsor!

Stanton Tourism * www.explorestanton.com LAW 2025 event sponsor!

Menifee County Tourism * www.menifeetourism.com

Wolfe County Tourism * www.visitwolfecounty.com

Daniel Boone National Forest * www.fs.usda.gov/dbnf