Swift's Camp Creek

Swift's Camp Creek is located in the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky. The trail is seven miles long and travels through the Swift's Camp Creek Wilderness. We hiked out and back making it a long day hike. The Trailhead is located about sixty miles east of Lexington, Kentucky. The area is rugged with deep ravines that resemble canyons. The most intimedating part of the hike was the warning sign at the trailhead that stated, "We can not gaurantee your safety or your return." It then listed the number of deaths and injuries that occured in the forest wilderness area. The Jack Russell Terriers never gave it a second thought, but we were quite struck by that statement. We've hiked in alot of wilderness areas throughout the United State and never read a posted warning sign like that.

We left the trailhead on a warm spring morning. The scenery was outstanding. The Jack Russell Terriers played in the streams as we travelled down to the creek and back up to the ridges. We came to a natural stone bridge and rocky ledges. Nothing looked very threatening. We continued our hike into the wilderness as the temperature continued to rise. We stopped for lunch in a large valley next to a small stream. The temperature was 96 degrees. We continued out in the wilderness, but realized our bodies were feeling fatigued. We had to decide if we were going to be able to reach the end of the trail which was another mile out into the wilderness. The warning sign was heavy on our mind. We soon found a small waterfalls which we stood under for ten minutes trying to recover from the heat and the rough terrain. We decided to turn back after six miles so the entire trip was twelve mile instead of fourteen miles. The unbearable heat and the torturous terrain made continuing too dangerous for us or the dogs. We returned after seven and a half hours of hiking and total exhaustion. We starred at the posted warning sign at the trailhead and all agreed with its accuracy. This was one of our top five toughest hikes. Be prepared, we were!