The Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway is a 100+ mile offroad route through the Red River Gorge area in Kentucky. The DBBB is for licensed vehicle use only, following improved and unimproved County and Forest Service Roads, but requires moderate 4wd experience.
More information can be found at the following:
Ride The Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway Official Website:
Southern Four Wheel Drive Association DBBB Page:
Blog
Although the Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway official information says the route is moderately difficult for High Clearance Vehicles, locals will warn against attempting some sections of the DBBB without an experienced wheeler and a well equipped rig. Warning aside, there is plenty of fun that can be had on the DBBB in a rig with a decent offroad tire and a bit of confidence.
I have only driven a couple small sections of the DBBB. Both of these were in my daily driver F150s and were plenty enough to add a bit more adventure to a trip to the Gorge area.
Fixer-Leeco Road is a solid place to start if you’re in the area for a hike, climb, or to grab a pizza at the famous Miguel’s Pizza at #thegorge. I actually stubbled on the DBBB at Fixer-Leeco about four years ago when in the area scouting some mountain bike trails after work. This short section was handled easily in my trusty 06 F150 with barely a front-end lift and not even a 33” tire, but was still plenty interesting enough to be enjoyable. This section meanders down to the creek bottom from the gravel road above. The trail dips in and out of the creek a few times, which can have the occasional hitch dragging drop-off, but is otherwise a pretty nice entry level trail.
Fast forward about three years and I’m back in another F150, this time on 35s and no lift. Fixer-Leeco Rd was again tackled, but was preceded by Pumpkin Hollow from Menifee County into Powell County while doing my first section of the Kentucky Adventure Tour. Punkin Holler (Punkin was actually on the street sign on the Powell Co side, though I got chastised for calling in this in the KAT Facebook Group) was required a bit more attention than Fixer-Leeco. Traveling from the Menifee County side meant we were greeted with a quite rutted logging trail uphill, but a quick engage of the rear locker meant Punkin was tackled fully in 2wd. However, since my trip in late 2019, a few posts have mentioned this route was a bit trickier.
Here’s a gallery from my February 2017 trip on Fixer-Leeco:
Here’s a small gallery from my November 2019 trip through Punkin Holler, a turnaround attempt of Hard I on the KAT, and again through Fixer-Leeco:
