Trip 8 · Jessamine & Garrard counties
Ferry, Palisades & the High Bridge
HistoryOddities👻 campfire-mildLittle kids OKGrade-school sweet spot
Ride a free paddlewheel ferry chartered in 1785, stand on a Civil War site that reorders the story, and look 275 feet down from the park beside a world-famous railroad bridge.
The route
KY 169 to the Valley View Ferry → back across → US 27 → Camp Nelson → Wilmore → High Bridge Park → KY 29 → Sally Brown Preserve → home
Stops
Valley View Ferry
Hauling travelers since 1785 under a charter older than the Commonwealth — likely Kentucky's longest-running business. Free, three cars a trip, weekdays 6–6 and weekends 8–8 (verified; high water docks her).
Camp Nelson National Monument
Where thousands of Black Kentuckians enlisted, trained, and freed their families during the Civil War. Free, moving, walkable earthworks.
High Bridge
A rail bridge 275 feet above the Kentucky River, world-famous when it opened in 1877. If a train crosses while you're there, the day is won.
Sally Brown Preserve
Quiet cedar trails along 400-million-year-old limestone palisades. Spring wildflower royalty.
🕯 Herrington Lake — Kentucky's deepest — allegedly hosts an eel-bodied something a University of Kentucky professor reported in 1972. Scan the water. Report findings.
File a field report
Found a new dairy bar? Bridge out? Dog mayor re-elected? Email a field report and the best dispatches get published (first names only) on the Field Notes page.