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

Kentucky Appalachians

2024-12-14 08:29:08

LORETTA LYNN’S HOMEPLACE, BUTCHER HOLLER, VAN LEAR

There’s everything from mild to wild in this region, with outdoor adventures like muddin’ and tree huggin’ on mountain terrain, laidback camping trips and communing with nature, plus indoor exploration of the arts and engaging interactives.

CAVE RUN LAKE, MOREHEAD

GREENBO LAKE STATE RESORT PARK, GREENUP

U.S. 23 COUNTRY MUSIC HIGHWAY MUSEUM, STAFFORDSVILLE

JENNY WILEY STATE RESORT PARK, PRESTONSBURG

FLATWOODS AT DORTON IN PIKE COUNTY

HATFIELD-MCCOY HOG TRIAL CABIN, MCCARR

THE HIGHLANDS MUSEUM & DISCOVERY CENTER, ASHLAND

Bigfoot sightings are a sure bet... in Boyd County’s Armco Park, where a 14-foot-tall wood-carved Sasquatch lurks among the trees of this 200-acre park with disc golf, a playground and more. Drop a token in the Blue Ribbon Bus — one of 15 kid-pleasing interactive exhibit areas at the new Clark Family Discovery Center at Ashland’s Highlands Museum & Discovery Center.

PAINTSVILLE LAKE STATE PARK, STAFFORDSVILLE

Follow the fight on Pikeville’s Hatfields and McCoys Historic Feud Driving Tour: Visit the infamous Hog Trial Cabin, where the feud is said to have begun; dine at Chirico’s Restaurant (former home of Randolph McCoy); drink from the McCoy Well. The newly blazed Flatwoods Trail, phase one of Pike County’s Hillbilly Trails Motorized Trail System, brings rock crawling, wheelin’ and mud bogging in the Appalachian Mountains with views of the Pine Mountain range.

RUTH HUNT CANDY, MT. STERLING

Hidden away in Lawrence County, Wilderness Park on Yatesville Lake has all the ingredients for a quiet getaway: wooded camping and cabin sites, a swimming beach, fishing, boating, mini golf and a general store. Tucked away in the hills surrounding Morehead, Cave Run Lake pairs water recreation with scenic views. Nearby is one of the country’s largest warm-water fish hatcheries, the Minor E. Clark Fish Hatchery.

RUDY FEST, POPPY MOUNTAIN, MOREHEAD

Mt. Sterling’s Gateway Regional Arts Center brings the arts to all, from free-admission permanent and traveling exhibits to Shakespeare in the Park to classes in pottery making and Appalachian cooking. In Greenup, the Jesse Stuart State Nature Preserve pays tribute to this Kentucky author through its landscape of hills and hollows featured in Stuart classics like Head o’W-Hollow.

CARTER CAVES STATE RESORT PARK, OLIVE HILL

4 musts

Grab a Bite

Billy Ray’s Restaurant, Prestonsburg

Stop and Shop

Ruth Hunt Candies, Mt. Sterling

Music, Moments, Magic

Rudy Fest Bluegrass Festival, Morehead (June)

Local Heritage & Culture

Mountain Home Place, Staffordsville

Regional Road Trips

1 The rockstar of outdoor adventure? Drumroll, please. It’s Daniel Boone National Forest, with hiking, biking, climbing, camping, kayaking, boating, canoeing, swimming, scuba diving, tubing, water skiing, communing with nature — all this, plus splashy waterfalls, diverse wildlife and views that will stop you in your tracks.

GATEWAY REGIONAL ARTS CENTER, MT. STERLING

2 The backbone of the trail system within Daniel Boone National Forest, Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail begins as a stroll on Morehead’s Main Street and then turns rugged along 300-plus miles to the Cumberland Plateau. Explorers can channel Daniel Boone, the Big Turtle the trail was named for.

3 Carter Caves State Resort Park in Olive Hill: Lessons in geology above ground on trails leading to natural bridges, sinkholes and a boxed canyon; below ground with the Great Chandelier, Giant Turkey, Dragon’s Lair and other speleothem. Miles of discovery for hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders, too.

4 At Jenny Wiley State Resort Park, R and R at May Lodge overlooking Dewey Lake, a wooded cottage or equipped campsite (including boat-in sites). This Prestonsburg haven offers elk viewing tours, mountain biking trails, boat rentals and Kentucky bourbons on the menu at the Music Highway Grill.

5 The Judds, Chris Stapleton, Dwight Yoakam, Billy Ray Cyrus, Tom T. Hall, Ricky Skaggs, Patty Loveless, Keith Whitley. U.S. 23 Country Music Highway honors this homegrown talent, from Greenup County to Pikeville, and attractions including the U.S. 23 Country Music Highway Museum, Van Lear’s Loretta Lynn Homeplace and Prestonsburg’s Mountain Arts Center and Kentucky Opry.

6 As one of the deepest gorges east of the Mississippi River, Breaks Interstate Park earns its nickname of the Grand Canyon of the South. In Breaks, on Kentucky’s eastern border in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, this natural wonderland offers all the recreational opportunities under the sun.

ELKHORN CITY TRAIL TOWN