Big Bone Lick State Park is located at Big Bone in Boone County, Kentucky. The name of the park comes from the Pleistocene megafauna fossils found there. Mammoths are believed to have been drawn to this location by a salt lick deposited around the sulfur springs. Other animals including forms of bison, caribou, deer, elk, horse, mastodon, moose, musk ox, peccary, sloth, and possibly tapir also grazed the vegetation and salty earth around the springs that the animals relied on for their diet. The area near the springs was very soft and marshy causing many animals to become stuck with no way to escape. It bills itself as "the birthplace of American paleontology", a term which dates from the 1807 expedition by William Clark undertaken at the direction of President Thomas Jefferson. In Nicholas Cresswell's journal, dated 1774 to 1777, he records a visit in 1775 to what was then called "Elephant Bone Lick." In this account, Cresswell describes finding several bones of "prodigious size", as well as tusk fragments, and teeth—one weighing approximately 10 pounds. While he assumed the bones were from ancient elephants, the local native traditions claimed the bones to be those of white buffaloes that had been poisoned by the salty water.
Ashland is the name of the plantation of the 19th-century Kentucky statesman Henry Clay, located in Lexington, Kentucky, in the central Bluegrass region of the state. It is a registered National Historic Landmark. The Ashland Stakes, a Thoroughbred horse race at Keeneland Race Course that has run annually since the race course first opened in 1936, was named for the historically important estate.
William Whitley, was an American pioneer in what became Kentucky, in the colonial and early Federal period. Born in Virginia, he was the son of immigrants from northern Ireland. He was important to the early settlement of the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky, where he moved with his family from Virginia. He served with the Kentucky militia during the Northwest Indian War.
Waveland State Historic Site, also known as the Joseph Bryan House, in Lexington, Kentucky is the site of a Greek Revival home and 10 acres now maintained and operated as part of the Kentucky state park system. It was the home of the Joseph Bryan family and their descendants in the nineteenth century. Bryan's father William had befriended Daniel Boone and they migrated west through the Cumberland Gap.
Blackacre State Nature Preserve is a 271-acre (110 ha) nature preserve and historic homestead in Louisville, Kentucky. The preserve features rolling fields, streams, forests, and a homestead dating back to the 18th century. For visitors, the preserve features several farm animals including horses, goats, and cows, hiking trails, and a visitor's center in the 1844-built Presley Tyler home. Since 1981, it has been used by the Jefferson County Public Schools as the site of a continuing environmental education program. About 10,000 students visit the outdoor classroom each year.
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. 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.
John James Audubon State Park is located on U. S. Route 41 in Henderson, Kentucky, just south of the Ohio River. Its inspiration is John James Audubon, the ornithologist, naturalist and painter who resided in Henderson from 1810 to 1819 when Henderson was a frontier village.
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.
General Butler State Resort Park is a state park located near Carrollton, Kentucky in Carroll County. The park is named for General William O. Butler, a soldier in both the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War. The 791-acre (320 ha) park features a lodge, cabins and campground, fishing and canoeing on Butler Lake, trails for hiking and mountain biking.
Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site is a park located six miles southeast of Barbourville in Knox County in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The land was donated by the American Legion and the people of Barbourville, and marks the area where Kentucky pioneer Thomas Walker, a physician, built his cabin in 1750. A representative cabin marks the spot of "the first house in Kentucky". The site was dedicated in 1931. A replica of the cabin can be toured.
Isaac Shelby Cemetery State Historic Site is a park in Lincoln County, Kentucky. It marks the estate and burial ground of Kentucky's first governor, Isaac Shelby. The site became part of the park system in 1951.
Old Mulkey Meetinghouse State Historic Site is a 20-acre (8.1 ha) park in Monroe County, Kentucky. It features the Old Mulkey Meetinghouse, a Baptist church built around the turn of the 19th century, and its adjacent cemetery. The site became part of the park system in 1931.
Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site is a 745-acre (3.01 km2) park near Perryville in Boyle County, Kentucky. The park continues to expand with purchases of parcels by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves' Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund and the American Battlefield Trust. An interpretive museum is located near the site where many Confederate soldiers killed in the Battle of Perryville were buried. Additionally, monuments, interpretive signage, and cannons mark notable events that occurred during the battle. The site became part of the Kentucky State Park System in 1936.
White Hall State Historic Site is a 14-acre (5.7 ha) park in Richmond, Kentucky, southeast of Lexington.
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 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.
The Little Loomhouse is a place on the National Register of Historic Places in the Kenwood Hill neighborhood on the south side of Louisville, Kentucky. It consists of three cabins constructed between 1870 and 1896: Esta Cabin, Tophouse, and Wisteria Cabin. It not only displays weavings, but has active education and resident artist programs. The organization participates in several local festivals, giving demonstrations of spinning, dyeing, and weaving. It is the biggest repository of original and classic textile patterns in the United States.
The William Forst House, also known as the Clark House and the First-Clark House, is a historic house located in the Russellville Historic District of Russellville, Kentucky. Built in 1820, it made history between November 18 and 20, 1861, as the site where the Confederate government of Kentucky was formed. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since July 19, 1973.
The South Union Shaker Village is located at the historic site of the South Union Shaker Village in Auburn, Kentucky, United States. The village was established by the Shakers in 1807 and closed in 1922. The museum is located in the South Union Shaker Center House and Preservatory, an 1824 40-room Centre House, filled with original artifacts exemplifying the Shakers' craftsmanship and unique way of life.
Pine Mountain State Scenic Trail is a 120 mi (193 km) trail under development in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Once completed, the trail will wind along Pine Mountain Ridge from the Breaks Interstate Park to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. The park itself will cover a 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) band along Pine Mountain. The trail will connect Bad Branch State Nature Preserve and many other natural areas owned by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves.
