Marvelous Monuments: Exploring the Natural Arches at Red River Gorge

Staring through the narrow hole, I thought of my childhood hamster.

If that little critter could squeeze through unexpected crevices—like the joints in the frame of our family’s couch—then surely I could fit through the rock passageway before me. Others in our group were doing so. Then again, they were flexible children.

The exit of the "hamster hole." (The entrance at the other end is significantly smaller!)

Here goes, I thought, and ducked into the passage, elbow-crawling toward the light a short distance beyond. What was I doing here, adventuring in the wilderness when I’d normally be typing on a laptop? I was relishing the chance to participate in an Explore Day at the Creation Museum, that’s what.

Made it!

According to the Creation Museum’s website, Explore Days (and related programs1) “offer a full day of hands-on science activities with a biblical worldview for students. Every workshop is designed to enhance a student’s understanding of the topic through hands-on application, visual presentations, and critical thinking.”2

In other words, Explore Days are like epic fieldtrips which I would have absolutely adored as a homeschool kid.3 Different days cover different topics including dinosaurs, fossils, forensics, biology, zoology, chemistry, astronomy, and (in this case) arches . Entitled “Explore Arch Encounters with Dr. Danny Faulkner,” the program I’d joined involved a full day of, well, exploring geological formations in Red River Gorge, Kentucky.

A vista of Red River Gorge, as seen from Chimney Top Rock

A section of Rock Bridge Arch, as seen from wading underneath

And a gorgeous gorge it is. Its verdant foothills harbor not only a zigzagging river, but also scores of natural stone arches. We visited four of the larger arches, walking, awestruck, underneath (and occasionally overtop) their swooping forms, trying futilely to capture their fullness on our cameras.

A section of Sky Bridge Arch

Standing under the edge of Star Gap Arch

Along the way, Dr. Faulkner described unique features of the scenery around us, while Dale Spada, curator of the Creation Museum’s Botanical Gardens, pointed out plants I’d never seen in Canada—like cucumbertree magnolias with their voluminous leaves, or sassafras, which puts the “root” in “root beer.”

Several of the regions we explored also featured bonus activities we could opt into—such as exploring miniature arches which formed passageways beckoning to kids (and to bloggers). The joy of following in the noble footsteps of a hamster far outweighed any mud I gained or elbow skin I lost along the way.

Monuments to the Creator

In between hamstering (a wonderful new word that my spellchecker wants to change to hamstring), I thought about how the arches around me reflected the difference between observational and historical science. Observational science involves measuring and describing things in the present—like the arches we can clamber around in Red River Gorge today. But historical science involves drawing conclusions about the past—like asking, “How did these arches come to look the way they do?”

According to an evolutionary4 interpretation, the arches formed slowly over millions of years.5 But what’s an alternative, biblical explanation for the arches? According to this blog post by Dr. Falkner, creationists would likely interpret the formations in Red River Gorge as resulting from rapid erosion in the final stages or aftermath of the Flood. (While biblically based research is still needed for the arches in Red River Gorge, you can read about how arches in Utah are consistent with Noah’s flood here.)

In the end, a biblical worldview provides a foundation for not only thinking about the Gorge’s formation but also for understanding its natural beauty—and the existence of the living things it contains. These features point to the ultimate Source of beauty and Author of life, our logical Creator who imbued us with logical minds capable of reasoning about, understanding, and appreciating his creation. From the tallest arch to the tiniest hamster hole, the rock formations we observe today stand as monuments to his majesty—monuments I can’t wait to keep exploring.