Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve is located in Powell County, [1] Kentucky, USA. It is a 1,257.93 acre nature preserve in Eastern Kentucky. [2]
A 730-foot (220 m) outcrop, [1] known as Pilot Knob, is believed to be the place where Daniel Boone and his companion John Finley first looked out over the area in 1769. [3] [2] [4]
It is owned and managed by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. [2]
Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve initially consisted of 308-acres that were dedicated on September 26, 1985, while an additional 949.93 acres were later added by the Kentucky Land Heritage Conservation Fund, bringing the total to 1,257.93 acres. [2] The highest point of the preserve, Pilot Knob, sits at an elevation of 730 feet (220 m). Pilot knob is also sometimes referred to as "Boone's Overlook". [2] The Cumberland Plateau, the Knobs region and the Bluegrass region can be seen from this vantage point. Pilot Knob itself is made of Pennsylvanian conglomerate sandstone estimated to be around 280 million years old. Many different types of sediments are embedded into the rock as a result of an ancient stream that used to flow there. Parts of this conglomerate rock were quarried and used for millstones. [4]
The preserve has an oak-hickory secondary forest and consists of many different forest communities that vary due to elevation, soil inconsistencies and variances in sunlight and moisture levels. The Blackjack oak and Virginia pine trees towards the top of the summit are stunted in growth after adapting to being exposed to harsher conditions such as elevated sunlight and winds. [4]
The Kentucky Ornithological Society recognizes Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve as an Eastern Kentucky birding location. [5]
It is believed that on June 7, 1769, Daniel Boone and John Finley first looked out across what is now the Bluegrass region from the summit of Pilot Knob before setting up camp and preparing to explore the surrounding area. John Finley referred to the view from the outcrop as "the beautiful level of Kentucky". [6] John Filson later became Daniel Boone's ghostwriter for his autobiography. He writes that Daniel Boone says about his experience at Pilot Knob, "I had gained the summit of a commanding ridge...beheld the ample plains, the beauteous tracts below." [7]
The Kentucky Historical Society recognizes June 7 as "Boone Day" in honor of this historic moment. [8]
Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve is considered a recreation area for hiking, studying nature, geology and birding. [2] There are two main hiking trails located on the preserve. There is a strenuous ascent to the summit along the 2.4-mile Oscar Geralds, Jr. Trail. There is also 2.0-mile trail that loops around the base of the area, known as Sage Point Trail, that is also considered strenuous. [4] The main dangers of this recreation area are cliffs and venomous snakes that reside there. [2] Camping, rock climbing, mountain biking and bringing pets are not permitted so as to not disturb the nature preserve. The preserve is open for recreation from sunrise to sundown. [5]
The Red River Gorge is a canyon system on the Red River in east-central Kentucky. Geologically it is part of the Pottsville Escarpment.
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. In 1775, Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky, in the face of resistance from American Indians, for whom the area was a traditional hunting ground. He founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. By the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people had entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.
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The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves is an agency of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the United States dedicated to the protection of Kentucky's natural heritage. The agency's primary focus is protecting rare and endangered species habitat. It oversees a statewide program of nature preserves, the Kentucky Wild Rivers Program, and the "Nature's Finest" license plate program of the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund Board. The program was formerly known as the "Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission", from 1976 until a reorganization in 2018.
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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.
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The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke and an Essay towards the Topography, and Natural History of that important Country is a 1784 book by John Filson. It describes the discovery, purchase and settlement of Kentucky. Inaccuracies in the text have influenced public perception of the discovery of Kentucky.
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