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

Western Waterlands

2024-12-16 11:10:52

LAKE BARKLEY SHORELINE IN LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES

From paying tribute to long-buried history with a new tour to a monument memorializing the family pets in sandstone and marble to preserving a unique role in the culinary world, the Western Waterlands region paves a pathway to discovery.

KENTUCKY LAKE GLAMPING, NEW CONCORD

COLUMBUS-BELMONT STATE PARK, COLUMBUS

VICEROY BUTTERFLY GARDEN, OAK GROVE

MANTLE ROCK, SMITHLAND

TRAIL OF TEARS POW WOW, HOPKINSVILLE

WOODLANDS NATURE STATION AT LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES, CADIZ

ADSMORE MUSEUM, PRINCETON

HOTEL METROPOLITAN, PADUCAH

Tour the Hotel Metropolitan, listed in “The Green Book” and now a museum on Paducah’s new 26-stop African American Heritage Driving Tour created by the Paducah Historical Preservation Group. Pose with Kentucky’s largest wheat stalk, an enormous pancake stack and a giant Batter Bowl in the Batter Capital of the World in Hopkinsville — then sample foods made from the 3 million bushels of wheat grown here.

WOOLDRIDGE MONUMENTS, MAYFIELD

Sip fine Kentucky bourbon or catch a quarterly show, from live music to murder mystery dinner theater, at Fulton’s Meadows Hotel, a historic 1901 boutique hotel with luxury guestrooms. At Dumplin’s of Murray, sink your teeth into the famous, freshly made Dumplin’s yeast roll dripping with honey butter and sip the bakeshop’s signature fruit tea.

Seek the unique at Paducah’s nationally recognized Frenchtown Station and Slim’s Frenchtown Mercantile. Two historic buildings transformed into curated shopping experiences — one vintage, one contemporary, both unforgettable.

Find the eccentric at the Wooldridge Monuments, aka “the Strange Procession that Never Moves,” a tableau of 18 life-size statues representing members of Colonel Henry G. Wooldridge’s family in Mayfield’s Maplewood Cemetery.

See another rock monument, the natural sandstone bridge, Mantle Rock, rising 30 feet above the Smithland nature preserve that bears the same name and shelters a section of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. A shaded refuge with winding path through trees, flowers and pond, Murray’s Doran Arboretum at Murray State University delights with a Butterfly Garden and the butterfly-themed Play Pocket.

TRAIL OF TEARS NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL, HOPKINSVILLE

Uncover the secrets of master still builder and legendary moonshiner Alfred “Casey” Jones and get a taste of history through original recipes on a behind-the-scenes tour of Hopkinsville’s Casey Jones Distillery.

Do you feel lucky? Watch and wager on live Saddlebred horse racing and spin-to-win gaming machines (over 1,200 of them!) at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel in Oak Grove. Meet Santa Claus during the annual Christmas celebration at Cartwright Grove, an 1880s Wild West town in Mayfield replete with a graveyard, saloon and jail.

THE GREAT RIVER ROAD, KEVIL

4 Musts

Grab a Bite

Freight House, Paducah

Stop and Shop

Marion Amish Country self-guided tour, Crittenden County

Music, Moments, Magic

Alhambra Theatre, Hopkinsville

Local Heritage & Culture

National Quilt Museum/AQS QuiltWeek, Paducah (April)

Regional Road Trips

KENTUCKY DAM VILLAGE STATE RESORT PARK GILBERTSVILLE

ELK & BISON PRAIRIE, GOLDEN POND

1 Come for the breathtaking views of the Mississippi River from the blufftop campsites. Stay for the serenity, beauty and history of Columbus-Belmont State Park in Columbus, with its Civil War Museum, earthworks and massive anchor and chain stretched across the Mississippi to block Union gunboats.

2 When your family vacation comes calling, it’s beckoning you to Lake Barkley or Kentucky Lake, twin jewels set on either side of Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, and each offering swimming, boating, fishing, camping, hiking, biking and the delights of small-town sightseeing and local dining.

3 Inland peninsula — outdoor playground. Safari through the Elk & Bison Prairie. Catch a shooting star at Golden Pond Planetarium and Observatory. Study Vulture Culture and other wildlife topics at Woodlands Nature Station. Picnic at remote Hematite Lake. It all happens at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in Golden Pond.

4 The perfect setting for treasure hunting? Try the Cadiz Downtown Historic District, a charming, shop-filled enclave famous for its antiques and Amish furniture, rare collectibles and vintage finds. Sleuth for other coveted items among the specialty boutiques, thrift stores and even a museum gift shop.

5 Watch nature from a rocking chair in the cozy stone lodge at Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park in Dawson Springs. Build a castle on the soft, sandy swimming beach. Pedal boat or paddle board. Go for the ace on the 18-hole golf course that unfurls in the valley.

6 On the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail in Hopkinsville, the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park shares the story of the 1838 winter camp and the Cherokee leaders, Chief Whitepath and Fly Smith, who died here through a statue garden, the flag memorial, the Heritage Center and Museum and an annual September Pow Wow.