Center Furnace Trail (LBL)If you’ve ever visited the Land Between the Lakes, you’re familiar with the wonderful main attractions and the fun things to do and see at each…

• Woodlands Nature Station
• The Homeplace
• Elk & Bison Prairie
• Golden Pond Planetarium

Personally, I can never get enough of any of these four places. In fact, it’s usually closing time that finally drives me and my camera away. That and the promise of fried catfish at Catfish Kitchen or blackened catfish at Willow Pond.  My husband, Michael, knows the sure fire way to get my feet moving is to say one word: Catfish.

We love the “main attractions” but we’re also fascinated with exploring “off the beaten path” in the Land Between the Lakes. There are always a million and one photo opportunities waiting around the corner. Next time you spend a day or weekend in the Land Between the Lakes, venture out (onto roads and trails open to the public, that is!) and you’ll discover what we discovered a long time ago – there’s even more to the LBL than you realize.

The Landscape Tells So Much HistoryRecently, we met one of our friends at the Nature Station on a Saturday. An afternoon event was taking place, so the parking lot was pretty full. We decided to kill a little time while the crowd thinned out and happened to notice a nearby trail, the Center Furnace Trail.  Even though we’ve been to the Nature Station 1,000,000,002 times, we’d never ventured on this trail.

I’m not entirely sure I’d even noticed it before – in spite of a pretty large sign. I guess this animal-lover’s mind is always fixated on the “critters.”

We walked around the trail and found it all to be both interesting and beautiful. Again, countless opportunities for photography. All three of us are really into photography, so we were each very much in our element.

When we came to the “Charcoal Hearth,” (above) I noticed that we were being watched (below)…. a beautiful black vulture found us to be the highlight of her day.

Given the fact that I’m nothing if not OBSESSED with birds and animals, my first impulse was to hurry along. I didn’t want to disturb her, after all we were in her home – not the other way around! However, just as I was walking forward, I noticed that she was on the verge of taking flight, so I kept my eyes on her. As big as she was, I knew when she took flight, it’d be something worth experiencing.

She did. It was. There was so much power in her wings! I tried to snap a few pics, but I admit – I was mainly just staring, wide-eyed and wide-mouthed.

 

There’s a reason I spend as much time looking above me as I do around and below me when I’m in nature.

About Center Furnace Trail and Hematite

This wooded area was once a community – Hematite, Kentucky. Hematite grew around Center Furnace, which was first built in 1852.  The community continued to exist into the early part of the 20th century.

Center Furnace was one of 8 iron furnaces that operated “Between the Rivers.”

Center Furnace operated off and on for 65 years.

Beautiful White Oak Tree

Click through the gallery below for more pictures of the Center Furnace Trail  – better still, grab your camera and experience the beautiful area for yourself.

Just be sure to look UP!