Kentucky River Palisades

Kentucky River Palisades. . The Kentucky River flows almost 225 miles from its origin near Pine Mountain in eastern Kentucky to Carrolton, where it joins the Ohio. In the Bluegrass, between Frankfort and Boonesborough, the meandering river is framed by palisades – imposing cliffs that rise more than 250 feet above the river's surface. The palisades were formed over several million years, as the river cut slowly downward into the hard limestone and dolomite. The rocks you see are about 460 million years old – the oldest exposed rocks at the surface in Kentucky., The wooded corridors of the Kentucky River Palisades ecosystem serve as a migration route for birds and a travel corridor for wildlife. They are home to several endangered plants, including cleft phlox and mountain lover. Salamanders found nowhere else in central Kentucky live high above the river and four species of endangered bats, including Gray bats, Indiana bats and the rare Keen's bat, inhabit the cliff caves. The only natural vegetation remaining in the Inner Bluegrass Region is found in this ecosystem., Of the artists inspired by the Kentucky River, Paul Sawyier is the best known. Sawyier, born in 1865, grew up in Frankfort. He studied art in Cincinnati and New York for several years, returning to Kentucky in 1891. He began concentrating on landscape painting, primarily in watercolor, his favorite medium. Between 1908 and 1913 Sawyier spent a good deal of time on the Kentucky River, living and working aboard a houseboat docked at the foot of High Bridge. The paintings he created during those years include some of his most popular work., [Captions] , Top: Paul Sawyier and Mary Thomas Bull ©University of Kentucky; all rights reserved, Paul Sawyier Photographic Collection, Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries , Middle: Cleft phlox (Phlox bifida) Courtesy Tom Barnes, University of Kentucky , Bottom: Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) Courtesy Tom Barnes, University of Kentucky , Left: High Bridge 1910 by Paul Sawyier (detail) ©Paul Sawyier Galleries, Inc., Frankfort, Kentucky