My Minor Waterfall Obsession

If you look at my Instagram feed, Facebook Page, or anywhere else where I tend to post my photos, you’ll know that here lately I’ve had a small obsession with waterfalls. There’s just something about a cascade of water that is awe-inspiring and that leaves me no choice but to photograph it. Oh, and my home state of Kentucky just so happens to be full of wonderful waterfalls! I figured I’d take some time to show off some of my more recent waterfall shots, and maybe tell some of the stories behind them.

Princess Falls

Princess Falls, Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky

Princess Falls is a lovely little waterfall located along the Sheltowee Trace Trail in southern Kentucky. I had hiked to this waterfall, along with some others in the area, with a friend of mine from Instagram. I had visited these falls before, but this was the first time I’ve actually gotten a shot of them that I was happy with. Oh, and spoiler alert, I may have another one that I haven’t shared yet 😉

Lick Creek Falls

Lick Creek Falls, Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky

There really isn’t much of a story to be told with this one. I hiked to it during the same trip I photographed Princess Falls. It did still have a surprising amount of ice on it though!

Bolton Branch Falls

Bolton Branch Falls, Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky

I had messaged my buddy @MCochis on Instagram to ask him how much rain his area of Kentucky had received. My plan was to hit up Dog Slaughter Falls and maybe a few arches. He then informed me that he had “a better idea”. He stated that he was pretty sure he’d identified a new waterfall on LIDAR. Who was I to pass up that opportunity?

We hiked to the area we had marked on GPS and, sure enough, there was indeed a waterfall there!

Unnamed Waterfall

Private Property Waterfall, Kentucky

I really had every intention of spending the day at home the Sunday I went out and shot this little, unnamed waterfall in southern Kentucky. I told myself over and over that I was not going to make yet another trip down south. That was before I received a message from Bill Fultz asking if I’d be interested in accompanying him on a photography trip.

Being that I’ve followed Bill’s work for some time now and have long found his photography an inspiration for myself, I could not say no! Not to mention, the area had received an absurd amount of rain! It was well worth the extra miles on my car!


The Waterfalls of Kentucky

Did you know that I have an ongoing photography project to photograph the many waterfalls of Kentucky? If you’re enjoying this post then you’ll likely enjoy it!


Name Withheld

Ok, so let me start by saying that this waterfall does have a name. It’s even documented online. With that being said, however, this waterfall is located on private property. Out of respect for the landowners, I’m going to keep the name withheld to make it harder to find.

I shot this as part of an adventure to the Red River Gorge region with Chris Morris. It required scrambling up and down steep slopes and fighting through walls of rhododendron, but it was all totally worth it!

Copperas Falls

Copperas Falls, Red River Gorge, Kentucky

This off-trail waterfall in the Red River Gorge has been traveled so many times that the forest service might as well just slap a sign on it and call it a trail at this point. It’s seriously more worn in than some of the official trails in the area! It’s for this reason that I don’t go here too often. With all the rain the area has received lately, however, I could not resist.

I knew from the moment I saw how high the water on Copperas Creek was that there was going to be an epic flow on the falls. This is the most water I’ve ever seen moving over these falls! It made the soaking wet trek out to it all worth it!

Pooch’s Turtle Falls

Pooch's Turtle Falls, Red River Gorge, Kentucky

As of my writing this, I’ve just returned from this trip a few hours ago! I ventured down to Red River Gorge with my buddy @Brian2774 on Instagram. It had poured down rain for the entire hike out to the falls. We were both absolutely drenched! By the end of the day, we had hiked about 17 miles. It was a very long, wet day, but totally worth it!

Hopefully, you enjoyed this brief excerpt of my latest waterfall adventures. I promise to get back to photographing other landscapes as soon as these epic rain events slow down!

Adam Thompson

Overly caffeinated, fine art landscape photographer located in Colorado.

https://adamthompsonphoto.com
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Hiking To A Completely Frozen Copperas Falls In Red River Gorge