The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide - The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide 2025
State Parks
2024-12-14 11:19:37
Explore Our State Parks
You can also see Kentucky’s natural beauty at our 44 state parks, where families have been making memories together for over 100 years. Follow your adventure bliss from A to Z — from archery to zigzagging through the woods on miles of trails and everything in between: boating, camping or resort lodging, fishing, holiday fun, horseback riding, live theater, murder mystery dinners, park ranger-led programming, summer music concerts, wildlife tours and more.
44 The number of official parks in the Kentucky State Parks system (19 recreational parks, 17 resort parks, 8 state historic sites).
400+ Miles of hiking trails.
Must-see STATE PARK ATTRACTIONS
• Skylift or hike to the massive sandstone Natural Bridge neighboring the Red River Gorge. Slade
• Stretch out shoreside at Carr Creek Lake, home of Kentucky State Parks’ longest sand beach. Sassafras
• Witness the beautiful ghost-white moonbow (a lunar rainbow) at thundering Cumberland Falls. Corbin
• Glimpse the ornithologist-painter’s masterwork, “The Birds of America,” at John James Audubon Museum. Henderson
• Wander amidst blockhouses of the oldest permanent settlement in Kentucky at frontier rugged Old Fort Harrod. Harrodsburg
• Watch the scruffy bison herd and tour prehistoric museum exhibits at Big Bone Lick. Union
• Catch a bird’s-eye view of sunset at the Creech Overlook at Kingdom Come. Cumberland
• Follow the soldiers’ footfalls among 19th-century Civil War trenches at Columbus-Belmont. Columbus
• Descend into the subterranean worlds of Cascade and X-Cave at Carter Caves. Olive Hill
• At Dale Hollow, find panoramic views from Eagle Point Overlook. Burkesville
2 State parks with caves/cave tours.
13 State parks with golf courses.
10 State parks with swimming beaches.
19 State parks with swimming pools, including two indoor swimming pools plus one slide.
20 State parks that serve beer, wine and spirits (including malt beverages).
8 FAVORITE PASTIMES
Hiking, boating, camping, fishing, golfing, relaxing, meeting/gathering, dining.
0.5 Issac Shelby Cemetery State Historic Site is the smallest Kentucky state park, measuring a wee 1/2 acre.
6 Larger-than-life “Big Twigs” family characters, all at Lake Malone State Park.
2 The number of linear parks (Dawkins Line Rail Trail and Pine Mountain State Scenic Trail) managed by Kentucky State Parks.
3 Top entrées served at Kentucky State Park lodge restaurants — fried catfish, the Kentucky Hot Brown and banana pudding.
3648 Lake Cumberland State Resort Park is Kentucky’s largest state park in land acres.
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State Parks
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