While just a few miles from Cumberland Falls, Dogs Laughter Falls is a striking contrast to the popular state park. Dogs Laughter Falls (also known as Dog Slaughter Falls, due either to a transcription error or a disturbing story) is accessible only by winding trails through Kentucky hardwood forests. Rather than interrupting the torrential flow of a river, Dogs Laughter Falls punctuates the flow of a creek, creating a swimming hole in the middle of the forest—which my family’s dog enjoyed on an autumn day.

“Dogs Laughter Falls” (28″x28″, 2022) is a meditation on the way water has shaped the landscape of our state, carving its way into our limestone and sandstone and leaving cliffs and hollers in its wake. The strength of the rain-swollen creek is evidenced by the enormous log it forced over the Falls. Shadowed rock ledges overhang the secluded Falls and keep the water hidden from view until a hiker descends to the shoreline.

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