Day 3 General Butler Resort State Park, Carrollton, KY

Carrollton, KY April 7-April 8

Day 3

April 7-April 8

It was a relaxing ride from Geneva, for the most part, until Cincinnati with its traffic and detours, down to Kentucky. As we hit southern Ohio, it was awesome to see the flowers in bloom and the leaves budding on the trees. Temps climbed into the low 80s as we crossed the border into Kentucky. 344 miles and 6 hours later we reached our destination.

We arrived at General Butler Resort State park around 2:30. The campground was nestled at the base of the hilltop Resort park that is home to a convention center, restaurant, hotel and the highest point in the county, Sunset Observation point. We discovered there were several hiking and single track biking trails available as well. So we grabbed our trail map and hopped on our bikes. The park attendant had us head out to the River trail to the scenic view of the Kentucky River and Lock 1. There were 2 circa 1800s abandoned houses that stood on the riverbank that were pretty awesome. We should have ventured in, but didn’t. As we headed back up the River trail to the road, it was time to climb to the top of the resort to pick up the single track, 4.5 mile Fossil trail. For those of you who know, the climb very much reminded us of Darling Hill at Kingdom. It was tough, especially for Rich who didn’t have an e-mtb. Since misery loves company, I rode up in eco-mode. I'm so sweet! We picked up the trail behind the convention center. Right from the start we knew this was going to be a challenge, especially since this was our first ride of the season. The trail was technical, hilly and in some parts treacherous. We navigated our way through the trail to the back of the resort and rode down the hill to find the General Butler-Turpin Greek Revival Home and family cemetery. We explored the grounds and tombstones and thought about the life of this family. Much to Rich’s chagrin, we had to climb back up the road to head down the other side to the campground. Off in the distance, rain was getting ready to roll in, but we decided to take a detour and check out Sunset Observation point at the top of the resort. We were hoping to catch a beautiful sunset, but the weather just didn’t cooperate. We met a nice couple who pointed out the confluence of the Kentucky and Ohio Rivers that gives this area its nickname ‘2 Rivers’. The ride down the hill was definitely a welcomed an enjoyable finish to and exhausting trail ride. By the time we got back, the rain started to head in, so we called it a day and relaxed in the camper to watch the PBS special on Hemmingway. Tomorrow it’s off to the The Grand Ole’ RV Resort just north of Nashville.