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

Daniel Boone Country

2024-12-14 08:50:54

NATURAL BRIDGE, SLADE

Rugged, meandering trails; scenic sandstone cliffs and natural arches; plunging waterfalls; and so much outdoor adventure — hiking, fishing, camping, climbing — in the Appalachian foothills of eastern Kentucky. Welcome to Daniel Boone Country.

THE GORGE UNDERGROUND, ROGERS

LONDON TRAIL TOWN

BLACK MOUNTAIN OFF-ROAD ADVENTURE AREA, EVARTS

KENTUCKY MIST MOONSHINE, WHITESBURG

EAGLE FALLS, CORBIN

KENTUCKY MUSIC HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM, MOUNT VERNON

WILDCAT MOUNTAIN CHEESE, EAST BERNSTADT

Within the Daniel Boone National Forest, hike your way to breathtaking waterfalls, including Dog Slaughter Falls, Cumberland Falls and Eagle Falls. Dog Slaughter Falls, considered one of Kentucky’s most scenic waterfalls (in spite of its name), is sheltered near the mouth of a creek and the sandstone Schoolhouse Arch. Roomier than the average classroom, it rises seven feet tall and spans a full 80 feet.

APPALACHIAN HORSE PROJECT, HINDMAN

Take to the water in Estill County, kayaking the Kentucky River in this Twin City Trail Town that combines small-town charm and the beauty of the surrounding Appalachian Mountains. Raft the waters near Cumberland Falls and the rapids of the Cumberland River with Corbin’s Sheltowee Trace Adventure Outfitters, or board the Cumberland Star riverboat for a gentler excursion paired with lunch.

ROCKCASTLE OUTDOOR COMPANY, LIVINGSTON

Dirt trails, rocky ledges, water crossings, paved surfaces twisting along a 900-mile loop around the hills and mountains of Appalachia Country. Ready to rumble? Trek London’s self-guided, Kentucky Adventure Tour. Mother Nature in all her rugged splendor unfurls on the Tanglewood Trail near Whitesburg River Park, formerly an abandoned railway along the Kentucky River and connecting to Pine Mountain State Scenic Trail.

Irvine’s Snug Hollow Farm Bed and Breakfast: This is where creeks babble, wildflowers color and soften the landscape, the Appalachian Mountains provide the views and cozy, wooded cabins welcome. Get a glimpse of what life looked like for early settlers through seven cabins and their artifacts at London’s Mountain Life Museum. Browse Kentucky handcrafts at the gift shop.

PINE MOUNTAIN STATE RESORT PARK, PINEVILLE

Slade’s Kentucky Reptile Zoo has one of the world’s largest collections of venomous snakes. Lots of coiling constrictors, too, and daily reptile talks and venom extractions. (Yes, you read that right.) Frights of an otherworldly variety are on tap in downtown Harlan with Bloody Harlan Tours: paranormal experiences, true crime and ghost walks and cryptid tours in search of the elusive Bigfoot.

HARLAN TRAIL TOWN

4 musts

Grab a Bite

KFC/Sanders Cafe & Museum, Corbin

Stop and Shop

Appalachian Artisan Center, Hindman

Music, Moments, Magic

Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum, Mount Vernon

Local Heritage & Culture

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Middlesboro

Regional Road Trips

BUCKHORN LAKE STATE RESORT PARK, BUCKHORN

1 Hidden in the heart of Daniel Boone National Forest: Kentucky’s Brigadoon — Laurel River Lake, a pristine beauty with clean, clear, deep water sheltered by 200 miles of treed shoreline and a soft, sandy beach. Swim, boat, fish, paddle or rent a pontoon at Corbin’s Grove Marina.

2 Feel the spray of the “Niagara of the South.” Thundering 68 feet down into Cumberland River, Cumberland Falls is the only place in the western hemisphere that regularly produces a moonbow (lunar rainbow). Experience it — along with hiking, fishing and boating — at Corbin’s Cumberland Falls State Resort Park.

3 Seven thousand pieces of golden-crisp fried chicken. A 700-pound stainless steel skillet (the world’s largest). Nearly two dozen live music acts on three stages. A cadre of white-suited Colonel Sanders. Arts, crafts — chicken invasion. You guessed it: It’s the World Chicken Festival, held in September in London.

4 Natural arches, jagged cliffs, tumbling waterfalls — Red River Gorge Geological Area is a rock climber’s paradise and a magnet for all outdoor lovers with opportunities to hike, camp, canoe, fish, kayak through an underground cave and photograph the natural splendor of this wildland within Daniel Boone National Forest.

5 Hike the Honeymoon Falls and Hemlock Garden trails. Golf miniature or the links-style course in its mountain setting. Tuck into Kentucky’s signature dish, the oh-so cheesy Hot Brown. Cozy up in a lodge or cabin for a good night’s sleep. Pineville’s Pine Mountain State Resort Park brings the ahhs.

6 Play atop Kentucky’s highest mountain at Evarts’ Black Mountain Off-Road Adventure Area. Skim the treetops on a zip lining adventure, hurtling along at up to 60 miles an hour. Churn dirt on miles of rugged logging trails, facing down rocky roads, water crossings, mud, ruts and other challenges.

RED RIVER GORGE GEOLOGICAL AREA, WOLFE COUNTY