Your Guide to Ticks in Kentucky: Prevention, Removal, and Safety Tips
Nicole Meyer • June 2, 2025
If you’ve been to the Red River Gorge or are a lover of the outdoors, you’ve probably experienced the violating feeling of spotting a tick on you after a day of climbing or hiking. During the warmer months, ticks are very common in the Red River Gorge and surrounding areas. Ticks are blood feeding parasites usually found in areas with tall grass, trees, and an abundance of wildlife (particularly deer). Ticks do not fly or jump, but they can drop from trees onto you. They often try to find their way to higher points on your body and can attach to humans and their pets.
Common Ticks Found In The Red River Gorge:
- Dog Tick (Dermacentor variabilis) -usually have a dark brown body and are easy to spot, can carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
- Deer Tick (Ixodes scapularis)- reddish orange body with a black shield-very common and can carry Lyme Disease.
- Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum) - Aggressive ticks, easily identified by a single white dot on their shield, carry a disease that causes allergic reaction to red meats.
Tick Prevention
- Whether you’re hiking or on trails to climbing areas in the Red River Gorge, try to stay in the center of the trails provided as ticks can attach to you if you rub against trees and weeds
- Avoid sitting directly on the ground as disturbing the leaf litter on the ground may attract ticks
- Wear long-sleeve shirts, long pants, and clothes that cover as much of your skin as possible (it is easier to spot ticks on light colored clothing)
- Apply bug spray that contains DEET
- Be diligent about checking yourselves and your pets often and thoroughly for ticks
- Shower immediately after spending time outside in the Red River Gorge
- If you bring your dog hiking or climbing in the Red with you, consider getting your dog vaccinated against Lyme disease and putting them on a flea/tick preventative
- Consider using permethrin on clothing. It is remarkably effective at incapacitating or killing ticks when they crawl on your clothing.
What To Do If You Find A Tick On You
- Remove the tick using tweezers or a tick removal tool. Pull straight out getting as close to the skin as possible. Do not remove a tick with your bare hands.
- The best way to dispose of a tick after removing it from yourself or your pet is to flush it down the toilet
- Wash the area of the tick bite thoroughly and apply antiseptic
- If you begin to develop any illness, fever, or unexplained inflammation contact your doctor and inform them you have been in contact with a tick
If you do find a tick on you while in the Red River Gorge, and are curious if it carries a disease, a professor at the University of Kentucky is now offering testing to see if the tick does in fact carry a disease.
Click here for instructions on how to mail your removed tick to the University of Kentucky’s Department of Entomology.
Don’t let ticks stop you from enjoying all of the
wonderful outdoor activities the Red River Gorge has to offer, however, do be diligent about using the tools above to help prevent tick bites when planning your visit to the Red! Happy climbing!
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