Facilities for picnicking, camping, hiking, horseback riding, and other forms of outdoor recreation are found throughout the state, especially in the various units of the state park system. Many of these units lie on rivers, lakes, or reservoirs and are popular areas for swimming, boating, fishing, and water-skiing. Hunting and fishing are two very popular pastimes. The Kentucky countryside, noted for its scenic diversity, is considered one of the state’s principal tourist attractions. In addition, Kentucky is noted for its numerous places of historical interest.
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National Parks
The four units administered by the National Park Service are among the state’s most popular attractions. The underground passages of Mammoth Cave National Park are still being mapped by explorers. Mammoth Cave itself is a series of limestone chambers and narrow passages on five separate levels. It connects with two other cave systems that together extend 560 km (348 mi), making it the longest explored cave system in the world. In this vast subterranean world are giant vertical shafts, including the towering Mammoth Dome. Some passages and rooms are decorated with sparkling white gypsum crystals, while others are fitted with the sculpted shapes of stalactites, stalagmites, and other cave formations. Underground rivers, with names like Echo River and the River Styx, flow through Mammoth’s deepest chambers.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site, located near Hodgenville, includes a 19th-century log cabin representing the home in which Lincoln might have been born. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park was established in 1940 to preserve the historical Cumberland Gap area, a route through the Appalachian Mountains used by pioneers to enter the Kentucky territory. A portion of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area on the Cumberland River is located in southeastern Kentucky. The free-flowing river passes through scenic gorges and valleys containing a variety of natural features.
National Forests
Daniel Boone National Forest covers 271,000 hectares (670,000 acres) of the Appalachian Plateaus region of Kentucky. The forest, a relatively narrow ribbon of land, extends across the region from the Tennessee state line to within about 30 km (about 20 mi) of the Ohio state line. Within the forest is the Red River Gorge, a protected geological area. Kentucky also contains a small section of Jefferson National Forest, most of which is in Virginia.
State Parks
Kentucky maintains a widespread system of 50 state parks, 17 of which are resort parks. The Pennyrile Forest State Park is located south of Dawson Springs. Grouped around the vast Kentucky Lake, which lies on the Tennessee River behind Kentucky Dam, are Kenlake and Kentucky Dam Village state resort parks. Situated in the western part of the state, both of these state parks provide excellent facilities for fishing and water sports. Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, surrounded by Daniel Boone National Forest, is on the Cumberland River. The Cumberland Falls, the park’s principal attraction, are 38 m (125 ft) wide and have a drop of 21 m (68 ft). They are known for their moonbow, a rainbow that forms at full moon in the mist over the falls. In Natural Bridge State Resort Park, which is also surrounded by the national forest, is a spectacular, natural stone arch. The Kentucky Horse Park at Lexington features a great variety of horses and international competition.
In addition, there are units of the park system that are noted for their historic associations. Jefferson Davis Monument State Historic Site, at Fairview, in southwestern Kentucky, commemorates the birthplace of Jefferson Davis, who served as the only president of the Confederacy. John James Audubon State Park, near Henderson, in northwestern Kentucky, is named for the famous 19th-century naturalist and artist John James Audubon, who lived and worked in Henderson. In the park are a bird sanctuary and a museum that houses some of Audubon’s famous works.
At Bardstown, about 50 km (about 30 mi) southeast of Louisville, is My Old Kentucky Home State Park, one of the state’s most famous landmarks. The park preserves Federal Hill, the mansion where, according to tradition, Stephen Foster was inspired to write the famous song for which the shrine is named. This song is now the state song of Kentucky.
Old Fort Harrod State Park, at Harrodsburg, commemorates the first permanent white settlement in Kentucky. It includes a reconstruction of the original Fort Harrod, which was built in 1775, the year after the first settlers arrived. The site of a settlement organized by Daniel Boone is in Fort Boonesborough State Park. In Levi Jackson State Park, near London, in southeastern Kentucky, are reproductions of pioneer buildings. Two other units, Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site, in central Kentucky, and Blue Licks Battlefield State Park, northeast of Lexington, commemorate the bloodiest battles that occurred in Kentucky during the Civil War and the American Revolution (1775-1783). Other state park units include Columbus-Belmont Battlefield State Park, which marks the site of a Civil War engagement; Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site, which is dedicated to the first white person to discover the Cumberland Gap; and William Whitley House State Historic Site, in which is preserved what is said to be the first brick house built west of the Allegheny Mountains. The house, which has been restored, was completed in 1794.
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State Forests
There are six state forests, which cover a total area of about 16,000 hectares (40,000 acres). The largest is Pennyrile State Forest, which covers 6,260 hectares (15,470 acres). The others are Dewey Lake Forest and Kentenia, Kentucky Ridge, Tygart, and Olympia state forests.
Museums
The Speed Art Museum, in Louisville, is noted for exhibits of European art, Native American artifacts, and Kentucky art. Other noted art museums include the University of Kentucky Art Museum and the Allen R. Hite Art Institute at the University of Louisville. Bardstown is the site of the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History. The Schmidt Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia is in Elizabethtown, and the National Corvette Museum is in Bowling Green. In Louisville is the Kentucky Derby Museum. There is also the International Museum of the Horse in Lexington. The United States Army maintains Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor at Fort Knox.
Other Places to Visit
Among the state’s most interesting places to visit are the houses associated with famous Kentuckians. Ashland, in Lexington, was the home and estate of the noted statesman Henry Clay. Also in Lexington are the childhood home of Mary Todd, who became the wife of Abraham Lincoln, and the home of John Hunt Morgan, a famous Confederate cavalry officer.
About 30 km (about 20 mi) southwest of Lexington is the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, a restored community that was founded in about 1805 by members of a religious society known as Shakers. Also in the Lexington area are the famous horse farms of the Bluegrass region. Many of the farms are open to visitors. In a cemetery at Frankfort, the state capital, are the graves of the famous frontiersman Daniel Boone and his wife, Rebecca. Near Louisville is the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, where Zachary Taylor, 12th president of the United States, and members of his family are buried. Taylor, although born in Virginia, grew up in Kentucky on a farm his father bought after the American Revolution. The Lincoln Heritage Trail, which traces sites associated with Lincoln through Illinois and Indiana, begins near Hodgenville.
