Kentucky's system of 44 state parks has been referred to as "the nation's finest" and experiences more repeat business annually than those of any other U.S. state. [1] The state's diverse geography provides a variety of environments to experience. From mountain lakes to expansive caves to forests teeming with wildlife, park-goers have their choice of attractions, and they are all within a day's drive of each other.
Unless otherwise specified, data in the following lists are taken from Kentucky State Parks by Bill Bailey. [1]
Although the Kentucky Horse Park is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, it is administered separately from the Department of Parks and is not a state park. Breaks Interstate Park is also separate, administered under an interstate compact with the state of Virginia, in partnership with the parks departments of both states.
Kentucky's 24 "rec parks" span the state from Columbus to Pikeville. Each features outdoor camping areas with a variety of outdoor activities. [2]
Kentucky offers more state resort parks than any other state. Each features a lodge complete with dining room and Wi-Fi wireless Internet access. [6]
Photo | Park | Location | Area |
---|---|---|---|
Barren River Lake State Resort Park | Barren County [3] | Park:2,187 acres (8.9 km2) Lake:10,000 acres (40 km2) | |
Blue Licks Battlefield State Park | Robertson County [3] | 148 acres (0.60 km2) | |
Breaks Interstate Park | Pike County, Kentucky; Dickenson and Buchanan County, Virginia [7] | Park:4,600 acres (19 km2) [7] Lake:12 acres (0.05 km2) [8] | |
Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park | Perry County [3] | Park:856 acres (3.5 km2) Lake:1,200 acres (4.9 km2) | |
Carter Caves State Resort Park | Carter County [3] | Park:1,600 acres (6.5 km2) Lake:45 acres (0.18 km2) | |
Cumberland Falls State Resort Park | Whitley County [3] | 1,657 acres (6.7 km2) | |
Dale Hollow Lake State Park | Cumberland County | Park:3,398 acres (14 km2) Lake:27,700 acres (112 km2) [6] | |
General Butler State Resort Park | Carroll County [3] | Park:809 acres (3.3 km2) Lake:30 acres (0.12 km2) | |
Greenbo Lake State Resort Park | Greenup County | Park:3,300 acres (13 km2) Lake:192 acres (0.78 km2) | |
Jenny Wiley State Resort Park | Floyd County | Park:1,771 acres (7.2 km2) Lake:1,100 acres (4.5 km2) | |
Kenlake State Resort Park | Calloway and Marshall Counties [3] | Park:1,795 acres (7.3 km2) Lake:160,300 acres (649 km2) | |
Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park | Marshall County [3] | 1,351 acres (5.5 km2) | |
Lake Barkley State Resort Park | Trigg County [3] | Park:3,600 acres (15 km2) Lake:57,920 acres (234 km2) | |
Lake Cumberland State Resort Park | Russell County [3] | Park:3,117 acres (13 km2) Lake:50,000 acres (202 km2) | |
Natural Bridge State Resort Park | Powell County [3] | Park:2,300 acres (9.3 km2) Lake:54 acres (0.22 km2) | |
Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park | Hopkins County | Park:863 acres (3.5 km2) Lake:56 acres (0.23 km2) | |
Pine Mountain State Resort Park | Bell County [3] | 1,520 acres (6.2 km2) | |
Rough River Dam State Resort Park | Breckinridge, Hardin, & Grayson counties [3] | Park:637 acres (2.6 km2) Lake:5,000 acres (20 km2) |
Ten of Kentucky's recreational parks and two of its resort parks are simultaneously designated as state historic sites. An additional eleven state historic sites are also maintained by the Kentucky Department of Parks. [9]
Photo | Park | Location | Area |
---|---|---|---|
Big Bone Lick State Historic Site | Boone County [3] | Park:712 acres (2.9 km2) Lake:7.5 acres (0.03 km2) | |
Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site | Barbourville | 12 acres (0.05 km2) | |
Isaac Shelby Cemetery State Historic Site | Stanford [9] | ||
Jefferson Davis State Historic Site | Fairview | 19 acres (0.08 km2) | |
Old Mulkey Meetinghouse State Historic Site | Tompkinsville | 60 acres (0.24 km2) | |
Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site | Perryville | 669 acres (2.7 km2) | |
Waveland State Historic Site | Lexington | 10 acres (0.04 km2) | |
Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site | Wickliffe [9] | 21 acres (0.08 km2) |
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state, some of the Mexican states, and in Brazil. The term is also used in the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, and Belgium, is provincial park. Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies.
Kentucky Horse Park is a working horse farm, international equestrian competition venue, and an educational theme park opened in 1978 in Lexington, Kentucky. It is located off Kentucky State Highway 1973 and Interstate 75, at Exit 120, in northern Fayette County in the United States. The equestrian facility is a 1,224-acre (4.95 km2) park dedicated to "man's relationship with the horse." Open to the public, the park has a twice daily Horses of the World Show, showcasing both common and rare horses from around the globe. The horses are ridden in authentic costume. Each year the park is host to a number of special events and horse shows.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is a state agency within the New York State Executive Department charged with the operation of state parks and historic sites within the U.S. state of New York. As of 2014, the NYS OPRHP manages nearly 335,000 acres of public lands and facilities, including 180 state parks and 35 historic sites, that are visited by over 78 million visitors each year.
Bailey is an unincorporated community and U.S. Post Office in northeastern Park County, Colorado, United States. Bailey's Post Office ZIP Code is 80421.
The Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC) was formed in 1900 by Governors Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Foster Voorhees of New Jersey in response to the quarrying operations along the Palisades Cliffs of New Jersey. The Palisades, a National Natural Landmark that are also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades, are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Northeastern New Jersey and Southeastern New York in the United States. After its formation, the PIPC quickly moved to acquire the lands at the base of the Palisades to stop quarrying operations in both New York and New Jersey. The commission consists of ten commissioners, five appointed by each governor, and was ratified by an Act of Congress in 1937 when its interstate compact was approved. Today, the Commission owns and operates more than 125,000 acres of public parkland in New York and New Jersey including 21 state parks, 8 historic sites, and the Palisades Interstate Parkway. These parks are visited by more than 7 million people annually.
The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail is a route across the United States commemorating the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804 to 1806. It is part of the National Trails System of the United States. It extends for some 4,900 miles (7,900 km) from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon.
Sterling Forest State Park is a 21,938-acre (88.78 km2) state park located in the Ramapo Mountains in Orange County, New York. Established in 1998, it is among the larger additions to the New York state park system in the last 50 years.
Interstate Park comprises two adjacent state parks on the Minnesota–Wisconsin border, both named Interstate State Park. They straddle the Dalles of the St. Croix River, a deep basalt gorge with glacial potholes and other rock formations. The Wisconsin park is 1,330 acres (538 ha) and the Minnesota park is 298 acres (121 ha). The towns of Taylors Falls, Minnesota and St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin are adjacent to the park. Interstate Park is within the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway and the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve. The western terminus of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail is on the Wisconsin side. On the Minnesota side, two areas contain National Park Service rustic style buildings and structures that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Roan Mountain State Park is a Tennessee state park in Carter County, in Northeast Tennessee. It is close to the Tennessee-North Carolina border and near the community of Roan Mountain, Tennessee. Situated in the Blue Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, the park preserves 2,006 acres (8.12 km2) of mostly hardwood forest. The park is in close proximity to 6,285-foot (1,916 m) Roan Mountain and the Appalachian Trail, both of which are owned and managed by the US Forest Service. On exceptionally clear days, the Charlotte skyline can be photographed from the peak.
Natural Bridge State Resort Park is a Kentucky state park located in Powell and Wolfe Counties along the Middle Fork of the Red River, adjacent to the Red River Gorge Geologic Area and surrounded by the Daniel Boone National Forest. Its namesake natural bridge is the centerpiece of the park. The natural sandstone arch spans 78 ft (24 m) and is 65 ft (20 m) high. The natural process of weathering formed the arch over millions of years. The park is approximately 2,300 acres (9 km2) of which approximately 1,200 acres (5 km2) is dedicated by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves as a nature preserve. In 1981 this land was dedicated into the nature preserves system to protect the ecological communities and rare species habitat. The first federally endangered Virginia big eared bats, Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus, recorded in Kentucky were found at Natural Bridge State Resort Park in the 1950s.
Breaks Interstate Park is a bi-state state park located partly in southeastern Kentucky and mostly in southwestern Virginia, in the Jefferson National Forest, at the northeastern terminus of Pine Mountain. Rather than their respective state park systems, it is instead administered by an interstate compact between the states of Virginia and Kentucky. It is one of several interstate parks in the United States, but only one of two operated jointly under a compact rather than as two separate state park units. The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Kentucky Department of Parks are still major partner organizations.
The Eastern Kentucky Coalfield is part of the Central Appalachian bituminous coalfield, including all or parts of 30 Kentucky counties and adjoining areas in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee. It covers an area from the Allegheny Mountains in the east across the Cumberland Plateau to the Pottsville Escarpment in the west. The region is known for its coal mining; most family farms in the region have disappeared since the introduction of surface mining in the 1940s and 1950s.
Barren River Lake State Resort Park is a 1,053-acre (426 ha) park located in Barren County, Kentucky and extending into parts of Allen County and Monroe County. Barren River Lake, its major feature, is an artificial lake created with the building of a 146-foot-high (45 m) dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers begun in 1960. It covers approximately 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) and has 141 miles (227 km) of shoreline. The park was dedicated in 1965.
Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park is a park located near Mount Olivet, Kentucky in Robertson and Nicholas counties. The park encompasses 148 acres (60 ha) and features a monument commemorating the August 19, 1782 Battle of Blue Licks. The battle was regarded as the final battle of the American Revolutionary War.
Cumberland Falls State Resort Park is a park located just southwest of Corbin, Kentucky and is contained entirely within the Daniel Boone National Forest. The park encompasses 1,657 acres (671 ha) and is named for its major feature, 68-foot-tall (21 m) Cumberland Falls. The falls are one of the few places in the western hemisphere where a moonbow can frequently be seen on nights with a full moon. The park is also the home of 44-foot (13 m) Eagle Falls. The section of the Cumberland River that includes the falls was designated a Kentucky Wild River by the Kentucky General Assembly through the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves' Wild Rivers System. The forest in the park is also a dedicated State Nature Preserve.
Kenlake State Resort Park is a park located on the western shore of Kentucky Lake. The park's main entrance and most of its facilities are located in Marshall County; the park also extends into Calloway County. The mailing address of the park is Hardin, Kentucky; however, it is located much closer to the unincorporated community of Aurora, Kentucky. The nearest town of substantial size is Murray. The park encompasses 1,795 acres (726 ha) of land, 160,300 acres (64,900 ha) of water, and features climate-controlled indoor tennis courts. It was Kentucky's first state resort park. Along with Lake Barkley State Resort Park and Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park, Kenlake State Resort Park is part of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, originally organized by the Great Depression–era Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
Pine Mountain State Resort Park is a Kentucky state park located in Bell County, southeastern Kentucky, United States. Located on part of the Pine Mountain ridge in the Appalachians, the park opened in 1924 as Kentucky's first state park.
Pine Mountain is a ridge in the Appalachian Mountains running through Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. It extends about 125 miles from near Pioneer, Tennessee, to a location near Elkhorn City, Kentucky. Birch Knob, the highest point, is 3,273 feet (998 m) above sea level and is located on the Kentucky-Virginia border. It has long been a barrier to transportation, as the Cumberland River at Pineville, Kentucky is one of only two waterways that pass through the entire ridge. The other is the Clear Fork near Jellico, Tennessee.
Tourism in Omaha, Nebraska, United States offers visitors history, sports, nature and cultural experiences. Its principal tourist attractions are the Henry Doorly Zoo and the College World Series (CWS). A 2003 study by a Creighton University economist estimated that the CWS added $33.8 million to the city's economy that year. With 1.1 million visitors annually, the Henry Doorly Zoo is Nebraska's most popular tourist attraction. In 2007 Omaha hosted the USA Roller Sports National Championships, along with 10,000 people who auditioned for the American Idol television show at Qwest Center Omaha.