Whitley City: Waterfalls, Trails and Rock Arches

When planning a trip to Whitley City, different types of outings can help you shape your plans: a waterfall with a loop trail, an accessible heritage trail, horseback riding trails and historic traces at Barren Fork Horse Camp. If you’re looking for hotels in Whitley City, you can take these specific destinations into account and tailor your stay to your interests. The following places and trails offer different highlights rather than forming a single shared route.

Yahoo Falls and the Loop

Yahoo Falls plunges 113 feet into the basin below. From Whitley City, the picnic area and Yahoo Falls trailhead can be reached via U.S. Highway 27 and Kentucky Highway 700. At Yahoo Falls, there are picnic facilities and viewpoints overlooking the Big South Fork river gorge. The waterfall, picnic opportunities and gorge views offer different aspects of a visit.

The Yahoo Falls Loop is one mile long and is considered easy apart from very steep metal stairs. The note about the stairs is part of the trail description and is important when assessing the route. A side trip to Yahoo Arch follows a round-trip route from the loop and adds 1.6 miles to the route. So the additional distance is on top of the loop. Yahoo Arch is about 100 feet long; if you’re considering the side trip, you can plan the loop and the extension separately.

Barren Fork: Accessible Trail and Horseback Riding Trails

The Barren Fork Heritage Trailhead provides access to the accessible Barren Fork Heritage Trail No. 621. The trailhead is on Barren Fork Road, just beyond the Stearns Ranger District Office. This gives you both the road name and the ranger office as reference points for finding your way. This trail is a separate option from the loop at Yahoo Falls.

Barren Fork Horse Camp is on Barren Fork Road No. 684, about one mile beyond U.S. Highway 27 and the Stearns Ranger District Office. The camp has several connected horseback riding trails. It also offers 40 sites for horse trailers and RVs up to 35 feet long. These details describe both the riding opportunities and the camp’s capacity and specified vehicle length.

The area around Barren Fork Horse Camp was the site of a coal-mining town from 1881 to 1935. This historic connection adds a former use of the land to the horseback riding trails available today. The different aspects of the site are distinct: the trails are for horseback riding, the sites accommodate stays with a horse trailer or RV, and the dates reflect its history as a mining town.

Natural Arch

Natural Arch is a natural rock arch with an overhang and a semicircular opening. It is 100 feet wide, 44 feet high and about 25 feet thick. These measurements give a concrete picture of the arch’s shape, with its width, height and thickness describing different dimensions of the natural formation.

Facilities at the Natural Arch Scenic Area

The Natural Arch Scenic Area includes a paved trail network, picnic areas, drinking fountains, a playground, horseshoe pits, grilling areas, picnic shelters and an amphitheater. The recreation area offers more than trails and picnic opportunities. The playground, horseshoe pits and amphitheater are additional facilities, while the grilling areas and shelters are different features of the picnic areas. When choosing destinations for your trip to Whitley City, you can consider this variety alongside the trails and natural attractions.

For the broader travel overview: McCreary County.