Cumberland Falls, Kentucky at Night - Information and pictures

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Home About the Moonbow Cumberland Falls, KY Photographing the Moonbow 2010 & 2011 Cumberland Falls Moonbow Schedule Kentucky Moonbow Waterfalls in Kentucky The First Photo Attempt Cumberland Falls State Resort Park DuPont Lodge Moonbow and Lunar Rainbow Links Current Moonbow Pictures Cumberland Falls pictures by Mike .....History.... about the Falls CUMBERLAND FALLS, originated miles downstream near Burnside from its present location flowing over resistant Pine Creek and Rockcastle Conglomerate Sandstones. Every waterfall is destined to disappear. Like other waterfalls, it is slowly but not visibly moving upstream due to weathering and erosion. The process is a gradual one. Ancient Appalachian Mountains River System Geologic Map and Prehistoric History of Kentucky Prehistoric Trails in the Upper Cumberland River Basin    Local History of Cumberland Falls Climate at the Falls & KY_Temperate Weather at Cumberland Falls       Scroll/Click DuPont Lodge 7351 Highway 90 Corbin, KY 40701-8857 800-325-0063 Cumberland Falls@ky.gov     moon phase   The Falls area has been featured in 3 movies. 'The Kentuckian' - Burt Lancaster & Amos Miller 'Raintree County'-Montgomery Clift & Elizabeth Taylor and a flyover in 'The Fire Down Below' {#2}  Corbin KY water fall Correct Me If I'm Wrong or If There's More   Fishing at Cumberland Falls with a map of the area      Cumberland Falls Moonbow If you have a popup blocker and missed the moonbow panorama on the previous page   Pictures of Kentucky    ... Cumberland Falls is located: Travel Distances from Cumberland Falls Ky Corbin 18 miles Birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken Whitley City 28 miles Williamsburg 18 miles Gateway to the Cumberlands Stearns 28 miles London 25 miles Levi Jackson State Park DuPont Lodge 1/2 mile Yahoo Falls Trailhead 19 miles Natural Arch Trailhead 15 miles The Grove Marina 15 miles Blue Heron 35 miles Barbourville 32 miles Dr. Thomas Walker State Park Somerset 40 miles Cumberland Gap 64 miles National Historical Park Middlesboro 60 miles The only city in the US built inside a meteor crater Three Forks of Beaver Creek ..25 miles Dog Slaughter Trailhead 7.5 miles Pineville 50 miles Pine Mountain State Park Lake Cumberland 40 miles Lake Cumberland State Park 82 miles Renfro Valley 48 miles Ky Music Hall of Fame and Museum Lexington, KY 107 miles Knoxville, TN 80 miles Mammoth Cave National Park 142 miles World's Longest Cave System Great Smoky Mountains National Park 131 miles   Info / Information from Ky State Parks Brochure..             ...    Photos by Mike

Cumberland Falls State Resort Park Lisa Davis,..Park Superintendent near Corbin, Kentucky    INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT CUMBERLAND FALLS Located in the Daniel Boone National Forest in Southeastern Kentucky, Cumberland Falls State Park is on the Cumberland River, 18 miles southwest of Corbin, with the waterfall bordering Whitley and McCreary Counties. The outstanding natural feature is Cumberland Falls, famous for its moonbow. The 125 foot wide waterfall has a 68 foot drop that showers onto the boulders that lie in the rocky gorge below. The mist rising from the largest waterfall in Kentucky, creates a unique natural phenomenon that is not visible anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere on a predictable schedule during a time period around the Full Moon. Cumberland Falls has an easily accessible area where everything lines up at the correct angle. The Falls are situated in such an odd way facing north and flowing north, as to reflect the light of the Moon to make a rainbow like arch, an optical phenomenon called a "moonbow". The Moonbow can be seen here on clear, strongly moonlit nights. It is sometimes called the "Niagara of the South", "Little Niagara", and even Moonbow Falls . This waterfall is one of a few locations in the world where you can find a moonbow or as other's have called it, night rainbow, a moon rainbow or lunar rainbow. The average yearly park attendance is 750,000+ visitors.  Location:  Latitude 36 50 20N Longitude 84 20 43W About Cumberland Falls Facts Height of falls at normal pool = 68 ft. Width of falls at normal pool = 125 ft. Height of the waterfalls at flood stage = 45 ft. Width of the waterfalls at flood stage = 300 ft. Elevation of the falls = 825 ft. above sea level Elevation of the Lodge = 1,090 ft. above sea level The Cumberland River The Cumberland River is created when three small streams, Poor Fork, Clover Fork Creek and Martins Fork flow together near Harlan in Harlan County, Ky. along with other tributaries, nearly 120 miles upstream from the Falls on the Cumberland Ridge region of the Appalachian Mountains. From the headwaters, the river meanders its way through the mountains of Kentucky. From the falls, the river hooks up with Laurel River Lake and Lake Cumberland. The south fork of the river then winds it way southward into Tennessee. From Wolf Creek Dam at the Upper Lake Cumberland, the river flows southward into Tennessee flowing westward, then back up into Kentucky in the western region creating Lake Barkley, part of the Land Between the Lakes and then empties into the Ohio River near Smithland. Minimum flow = 4 cubic ft. per second Maximum flow = 59,600 cubic ft. per second Average flow = 3,217 cubic ft. per second Cumberland River Length above falls = 119 miles Cumberland River Length below falls = 558 miles Cumberland River Length = 677 miles Cumberland River Watershed covers 18,000 square miles Kentucky's first commercial oil well was drilled on the Cumberland River in 1819 Cumberland Information, History and Facts from the KY State Park Visitors Guide All of the above Cumberland Falls photos are 5 minute exposures{used for night moon light photo comparison} taken at Lover's Leap Overlook near the Thomas Coleman DuPont Plaque . .More History about Cumberland Falls... This interesting place is a favorite vacation destination for many, including Thomas Coleman DuPont , a Kentucky native and U.S. Senator from Delaware. Unhappy with plans to build a hydroelectric dam at the site on the river in Southeast Kentucky, in 1930 DuPont purchased and donated 600 acres surrounding the Falls to Kentucky, urging the Commonwealth to set aside the property as a state park. Despite DuPont's passing later that year, additional land was bought, and in 1931 the state legislature designated the scenic property as Kentucky's third state park . Since 1983, the Park has been a part of the State's Nature Preserve Program . Click Here to see Kentucky's First State Park   Click on the Image Above for a Map Driving Directions HOW TO GET TO CUMBERLAND FALLS  from Corbin, Ky From I-75 exit 25 (Corbin) take US-25W south to KY-90. Continue on KY-90 to the Park Entrance. It's 15 miles from Interstate-75 exit 25. From Williamsburg, KY If traveling north on I-75, take exit 15 at Williamsburg and turn left and continue to the park entrance. Be careful at the stop sign. The road forks. It's a short hiking distance from the parking lot to the viewing areas. Commonwealth of Kentucky Map Click Here for a Cumberland Falls Park Area Map WATCH OUT FOR DEER !     ...........................................Cumberland Falls Moonbow Fall and Winter is the best time to visually see colors in the moon bow because of the cold air and clear atmosphere. Any time around the Full Moon is a good time to see the moonbow, weather permitting. Admission is free and the park is open year round. The gates are always open. The Park Rangers are really good. and knowledgable. They know when the moonbow is occurring and go out of their way to accommodate visitors.  Besides moonbows, rainbows may be seen almost any sunny day. Full Moon Dates Schedule While observing the moonbow is the park's best-known activity, there are plenty of other fun things to do. and other activities           Did You Know?... Kentucky has the greatest number of miles of running water in the contiguous United States     A PRIDE Enviromental Education Center   The Cumberland Falls Beautification Day and river cleanup is scheduled for June 6 .       18 Minute Exposure from the Bank of the Cumberland River At 1 AM......    Photo of the moonbow at Cumberland Falls  There is no moonbow in Tennessee, but this area of the U.S. is beautiful.  ^TOP^          Cumberland Falls is the waterfall in Kentucky in the United States that creates a moonbow when the moon is full or nearly full and is one of the few places on the planet earth where you can see a moonbow.   The Kentucky State Park System is composed of 52 state parks plus an interstate park shared with Virginia. The Department of Parks operates 17 resort parks with lodges -- more than any other state!   Hidden treasure in KY Special thanks to Dr. Truman Perry, Corbin, Ky Dr. Paula Hollingsworth, Lexington, Ky Dr. Robert Salley, Lexington, Ky Without them, this site and these moonbow pictures would not exist! And of course, my Grandmother.

 

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