Natural Bridge State Resort Park | |
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Location | Powell County & Wolfe County, Kentucky, United States |
Nearest city | Stanton, Kentucky |
Coordinates | 37°46′39″N 83°41′37″W / 37.77750°N 83.69361°W |
Area | 2,250 acres (910 ha) |
Established | 1926 |
Governing body | Kentucky Department of Parks |
parks |
Natural Bridge State Resort Park is a Kentucky state park located in Powell and Wolfe Counties along the Middle Fork of the Red River, adjacent to the Red River Gorge Geologic Area and surrounded by the Daniel Boone National Forest. Its namesake natural bridge is the centerpiece of the park. The natural sandstone arch spans 78 ft (24 m) and is 65 ft (20 m) high. The natural process of weathering formed the arch over millions of years.
The park is approximately 2,300 acres (9 km2), of which around 1,200 acres (5 km2) is dedicated by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves as a nature preserve. In 1981, this land was dedicated into the nature preserves system to protect the ecological communities and rare species habitat. The first federally endangered Virginia big-eared bats, Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus, recorded in Kentucky were found at Natural Bridge State Resort Park in the 1950s.