Bullitt County High Point Trip Report

Date: May 27, 2002
Author: Ken Oeser

At Fort Knox, we were told that Memorial Day is the only day of the year that they allow civilians on some areas of the post, near where Dawson Knob lies. We drove around that morning and found the nearest gate, near Beech Grove, unmanned, but posted with the same signs I had seen before about lasers and unexploded ordinance. We then drove south to the next gate near Belmont and found it manned, with many horseback riders saddling up. We asked about the road, and they said only horses and 4WD vehicles were allowed in, so we decided to go. I decided we should ask about hiking in from the other gate, and another soldier went into his map room to compare it with ours. He seemed to know exactly what he was talking about, unlike the Range Control guy or the first gate guy. He said nobody is allowed in the area of Dawson Knob because of the danger of unexploded ordinance. The cemetery just north of Dawson Knob, on the bank of Salt River, was flooded out in 1996 and no headstones remain, so no one is allowed in that area any longer either. The three areas here are all off the road, from about 100 feet to about 1/4 mile, so it seems they won't give permission to anyone due to liability concerns.

Now that this has been said, they weren't really asking where people were headed from the gate, just checking bags and IDs. Some people even seemed to be going in a pickup, with a truck bed full of kids. So it is possible that someone could take a 4WD in to the road cutoff to Dawson Knob, then be dropped off and hike the 2.5 - 3 miles one-way road miles to the points and back, or be dropped off at the closer Beech Grove gate and picked up at an arranged time, but I wouldn't chance it. It wouldn't be worth getting caught, although I doubt anyone ever uses the road, and it really would be a bummer to get blown up by an errant step. There is a residence at the dead end just past this gate. I'm leaving this one for about 20 years to see if conditions change. Maybe some retired cohper with grown kids and nothing to lose would want to give it a try?