The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide - The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide 2025

Southern Kentucky Vacations

2024-12-16 11:07:37

LAKE CUMBERLAND

Water recreation on the Green River. Following Civil War soldiers across the battlefield. Hiking the Daniel Boone National Forest. Pursuing Bigfoot. Leave it to Southern Kentucky Vacations to tease out the theme of a memorable getaway.

CREELSBORO NATURAL ARCH, CREELSBORO

ROCK CREEK, DANIEL BOONE NATIONAL FOREST

CAVE HILL VINEYARD AND WINERY, EUBANKS

GREEN RIVER LAKE, ADAIR/TAYLOR/CASEY COUNTIES

BIG SOUTH FORK SCENIC RAILWAY, STEARNS

DALE HOLLOW LAKE STATE PARK GOLF COURSE, BURKESVILLE

BIG SOUTH FORK NATIONAL RIVER AND RECREATION AREA, ONEIDA

From big fragrance to Bigfoot..

CONLEY BOTTOM RESORT, MONTICELLO

Somerset’s enchanting 300-acre Woodstock Lavender Farm is a sensory feast with fields abloom in purple and a heavenly fragrance in the air. Visit during lavender season (May/June). Racing season takes place April through October at Burnside’s Lake Cumberland Speedway, with Saturday night dirt slingin’ — including super stocks and kids’ power wheel races — on a 3/8-mile red clay oval track.

MILL SPRINGS BATTLEFIELD NATIONAL MONUMENT, NANCY

Tour key Civil War landmarks on driving tours at Nancy’s Mills Springs Battlefield National Monument and Campbellsville’s Tebbs Bend Battlefield. The former features Zollicoffer Park, a Confederate Field Hospital and Last Stand Hill; the latter, a Federal stockade site and the Atkinson-Griffin House Museum with battle diorama and uniforms — and where soldiers’ bloodstains remain visible on an upstairs bedroom floor.

Something spectral this way comes at Somerset’s International Paranormal Museum and Research Center. See artifacts collected on travels relating to all aspects of the metaphysical world — aliens, ghosts, psychics, even Bigfoot.

OFFICIAL KENTUCKY APPLE FESTIVAL, LIBERTY

So much fun; so many adventures: Daniel Boone National Forest. In Russell County, snap a photo of Greasy Creek Falls from under the bridge as it plunges into Greasy Creek, then grab a milkshake at Reel Java & Creamery. Hike Natural Arch Scenic Area and stand in the shadow of this spectacular sandstone arch stretching across 100 feet.

Another scenic beauty is the Green River, home to more than 150 fish species — not to mention plenty of adventure.

Kayak the loops and bends of the river. Visit outdoor classroom, Homeplace on the Green River in Campbellsville. Sing around the campfire at Liberty’s family-owned Soggy Bottoms Campground, a wooded retreat with RV and primitive sites, a bathhouse and camp store, and take a shaded hike on the multiuse out-and-back Shut-In Road Trail, flourishing with wildflowers.

DALE HOLLOW LAKE STATE RESORT PARK, BURKESVILLE

4 musts

Grab a Bite

Druther’s Restaurant, Campbellsville

Stop and Shop

South Fork Creek Amish and Mennonite Community, Liberty

Music, Moments, Magic

The Center for Rural Development, Somerset

Local Heritage & Culture

Campbell’s Creelsboro Country Store, Jamestown

THE STAR THEATER, RUSSELL SPRINGS

MARINA ROWENA, ALBANY

Regional Road Trips

1 Boaters, fishers and scuba divers all head to Dale Hollow Lake, a 28,000-acre lake marked by inlets and islands and premier, year-round fishing spot for crappie, bream, muskie, walleye, trout, catfish and several species of bass. Need gear? Borrow fishing equipment for free at the lodge at Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park.

2 An equestrian’s happy place: Quiet Woods Green River Stables. Saddle up your horse at this Campbellsville campground with a Western-style camper lounge and explore more than 30 miles of wooded wonderland within Green River Lake State Park and to serene and scenic Green River Lake.

3 Catch a Kentucky sunset from your resort balcony or houseboat on Lake Cumberland, the Houseboat Capital of the World, at Lake Cumberland State Resort Park in Jamestown. Hike, fish, swim, play disc golf or explore nearby Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery Visitor and Environmental Education Center.

4 The sign for Somerset’s Rattlesnake 192 says it all: “A remote, twisty road in the foothills of southern Kentucky.” And one beloved by motorcyclists and sports car drivers for its 150 turns in 12 miles and its Souvenir Shack, located at the Brake on the Snake.

5 Kentucky’s island golf course is surrounded by the waters of Lake Cumberland. Spectacularly beautiful, the Brian Ault-designed General Burnside Island Golf Course is a highlight of visiting this Burnside state park that bears the same name. Enjoy camping, fishing, boating and picnicking, too.

6 Pitch your tent and go play: The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area brings the great outdoors with camping, fishing, hiking, paddling, horseback riding, mountain biking and rock climbing. Explore a starry night on a ranger-led program or take an easy hike to photogenic Princess Falls.