Moonshine Cave at Red River Gorge - Updated for 2021 with new pictures*
This 140 acre property is within the Red River Gorge National Forest. Unlike its neighbors, this property was not acquired for the National Forest from the original owners during the Great Depression in the 1930's because the owners were the original settlers on the property and they refused to sell. Even though it was during the depression, the owners had a profitable rural "business." The remnants of this business can still be found in one of the rockhouses. Other features on this property include:
The property is accessed via a gravel National Forest road and gated. Anyone entering the property with a vehicle and without a key to the gate will be ticketed by the National Park Service. For this reason and the bat issue, we are being very careful about sharing this property location and access.
So there is a lot going on here at Moonshine Cave. Cave system, lookout bald access, large waterfalls and rock houses, trout stream, rock formations, fields, an old moonshine still in a rock house with a spring--all within the National Forest/Red River Gorge area--and lots more that we have yet to see.
*Since we acquired this land in 2012, the Red River gorge area and the area surrounding this land has undergone several changes. Around 2015 the National Forestry Service improved the Indian Creek watershed below this property with additional visitor amenities. In 2018, the land on top of the cliffs surrounding this property began to be developed into "Indian Creek Resort". Currently, this consists of over a dozen high-end vacation rentals from two to ten bedrooms with many more currently being constructed. One acre lots start at $20,000 up to over $80,000 for lots with the best views.
So this property now lies between a popular destination within the Red River Gorge recreational area of the Daniel Boone National Forest and a growing resort - and we have no idea what to do with it or what it is worth. Our friends at the Daniel Boone National Forest has expressed interest in acquiring it to add to their recreational area, otherwise though, we would consider offers.
There is nothing more fun than exploring your own property with the kids. The mom's couldn't come so we filmed this adventure.
- A creek that runs the length of the property with intermittent waterfalls
- One property boundary is a creek stocked with trout
- Large rockhouses
- A couple of rockhouse/caves large enough to build a house within
- An old trail that leads up a crevasse to a point overlooking the National Forest. There is also supposed to be a Native American petroglyph at this point, but I have not found it.
- Some older overgrown fields
- An old spring that was developed earlier to provide a continuous flow of water to an old cabin site
The property is accessed via a gravel National Forest road and gated. Anyone entering the property with a vehicle and without a key to the gate will be ticketed by the National Park Service. For this reason and the bat issue, we are being very careful about sharing this property location and access.
So there is a lot going on here at Moonshine Cave. Cave system, lookout bald access, large waterfalls and rock houses, trout stream, rock formations, fields, an old moonshine still in a rock house with a spring--all within the National Forest/Red River Gorge area--and lots more that we have yet to see.
*Since we acquired this land in 2012, the Red River gorge area and the area surrounding this land has undergone several changes. Around 2015 the National Forestry Service improved the Indian Creek watershed below this property with additional visitor amenities. In 2018, the land on top of the cliffs surrounding this property began to be developed into "Indian Creek Resort". Currently, this consists of over a dozen high-end vacation rentals from two to ten bedrooms with many more currently being constructed. One acre lots start at $20,000 up to over $80,000 for lots with the best views.
So this property now lies between a popular destination within the Red River Gorge recreational area of the Daniel Boone National Forest and a growing resort - and we have no idea what to do with it or what it is worth. Our friends at the Daniel Boone National Forest has expressed interest in acquiring it to add to their recreational area, otherwise though, we would consider offers.
There is nothing more fun than exploring your own property with the kids. The mom's couldn't come so we filmed this adventure.
Looking up at the entrance from the bottom of the pit. And, it looks like Johnathon Swift's silver is just out of reach through there.
 This is not a particularly good picture but it is the remnants of the thriving "business." We are not marketing it as a commercial property, however. *The "moonshine works" remain in their original location.
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Below is a picture looking up of me at a small waterfall deep inside the cave. There are all of the things that you would expect to find in a cave. We observed cave crickets, bats, and salamanders with no eyes.
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Below, Ray stands in a large rock house. Further below is Ray climbing the crevasse to the bald lookout.
Notice some family members to the left of the center of the picture below for scale.
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Above left is a cascading water fall on the property and to the right is the trout stream that borders the property. There is a natural and man-made swimming hole within a 1/4 mile on this creek within the national forest.
Above: A couple of dirty clothes cave pictures
In a huge rock shelter for a snack (and Raymond pretending to be a bear is not scaring anyone)