By Jeremy Patton
No Business Trail is located in Daniel Boone National Forest in Laurel County, Kentucky.
No Business Falls was marvelous. A rickety ladder and frayed rope aided my descent to its base, but it was still quite a struggle.
No Business Arch and its accompanying waterfall are located about 150 meters downstream. It is the second obscure arch that I have found in Laurel County that is perched atop a high bluff with a waterfall plummeting beneath it. The trail passes nearby, so it is easy to locate.
I back-tracked, climbed the bluff and bushwhacked to the top of the arch. This off-trail excursion was time-consuming, difficult and dangerous, especially with snow and ice on the ground.
No Business Double Falls lives about 300 meters further downstream. The thin, two-tier waterfall leaps from the soaring bluff.
The trail soon disappears.
There are more sights worthy of this article and several unexplored segments of waterway. I hope to make an update soon.
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4/29/18 – About a month ago, I tried to relocate No Business Falls and failed because I must have made a wrong turn; I tried again yesterday and succeeded. I discovered a new waterfall, very close the aforementioned and I wondered how I had missed it the first time.
It was a beautiful day, but bittersweet. The trailhead gate was open. I am not sure if the Forest Service opened it or a bunch of ATV rednecks I encountered helped themselves. I am pretty sure that riding ATVs there is illegal, and for good reason. Off-road vehicles destroy the landscape. For those who think that I am over-reacting, I refer you to Cromer Ridge and Hazel Patch Creek.
I arrived at No Business Falls and found vandalism. Ropes, ladders, boards and steel stakes marred the area. Large swaths of rhododendron had been cut down, especially near the new waterfall that I will describe next. I am no fan of rhododendron, but clearing it is illegal; it is an important part of the ecosystem and should be left undisturbed. Every inch of our national forest should be left alone, for that matter. The majority of Kentucky’s landscape has been converted to neighborhoods, farmland and shopping malls. “Improvements” you make to our remaining wilderness are not improvements at all.
No Business Tributary Falls #2 is about 15 feet high with a moderate flow. I think I missed it back in 2016 because the roar of the nearby No Business Falls drowned it out. It is also hidden in a woody recess away from the creek. I was surprised and elated when I spotted it.
Added 8/8/16 – Updated 5/7/18