Kentucky Travel Guide
\Kentucky Travel Guide is a complete guide to Kentucky attractions, special events, lodging, restaurants, shopping, campgrounds, marinas, golf courses and other facilities. Kentucky stretches 425 miles east to west and 182 miles north to south. Its 120 counties fill 40,395 square miles. There are 53 state parks and historic sites and six national areas which can be enjoyed by Kentucky travelers.
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\Kentucky, a state with a uniquely diverse geography, is divided into four color-coded sections in this guide, North Central, Western, Eastern and South Central. Within the four sections are 9 regions divided into 36 travel areas with listings for the major cities in each area. Attractions are listed under the nearest city. Each of the four sections is introduced with a map showing the regions and travel areas in that section as well as the counties included in each travel area. Maps of each of the 36 travel areas illustrate the locations of the cities in the area.
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\The Table of Contents identifies the regions and travel areas in Kentucky Travel Guide. An Index is also provided for locating particular cities, parks, attractions and events. "Information" listings are included for each city as a source of additional information about the city and the surrounding area.
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\Listings in bold type are advertisers who have paid for an expanded listing in the guide. When you visit these advertisers, please mention their ad. Their support makes Kentucky Travel Guide possible.
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\North Central Kentucky
\Kentucky\'s Derby Region Areas 1-4
\Louisville, Kentucky\'s largest city and the 16th largest U. S. city, offers riverboat cruises, an amusement park, historic homes and thoroughbred horse racing. For arts and entertainment the Kentucky Center and Louisville\'s theatres, museums and galleries are among the finest in the country. My Old Kentucky Home and the historic inns and cathedrals in Bardstown are filled with the flavor of Kentucky\'s earliest years. Hodgenville and Elizabethtown boast the birthplace and heritage of Abraham Lincoln, our nation\'s 16th president. There are five state parks in the region.
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\Kentucky\'s Bluegrass Region Areas 5-10
\The Kentucky Horse Park and neatly fenced bluegrass horse farms are unmatched by any other sight in the world. The region is rich in history, from the first permanent Kentucky settlement, Fort Harrod in Harrodsburg, to Danville, the first state capital, to Frankfort, the present capital. The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea showcases the area\'s crafts. The region also boasts ten state parks and historic sites.
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\Northern Kentucky River Region Areas 11-13
\The Ohio River culture is preserved in the Northern Kentucky metropolitan area, just across the river from Cincinnati. The top attractions include riverboats, quaint river towns, an entertainment complex with a state-of-the-art aquarium and IMAX 3-D theatre, and a NASCAR track. Several lakes and four state parks also provide recreation.
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Western Kentucky
\Bluegrass, Blues & Barbecue Areas 14-16
\The Green River winds its way through this region which features bluegrass music and its own style of great barbecue. Owensboro\'s RiverPark Center is home to the International Bluegrass Music Museum. There are four state parks, including John James Audubon State Park with a museum housing some of the artist\'s original prints.
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\Kentucky\'s Western Waterland Areas 17-22
\The Great Lakes region is bounded on the north by the Ohio River and on the west by the Mississippi River. Kentucky\'s two largest lakes, Kentucky Lake, 160,000 acres and Lake Barkley, 58,000 acres, provide 600 square miles of waterways and parks with 2,390 miles of shoreline. There are fishing, boating and camping opportunities to satisfy the most avid outdoorsman. There are seven state parks in this region as well as Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.
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Eastern Kentucky
\Kentucky\'s Appalachians Areas 23-26
\Kentucky\'s mountains offer scenery and an Appalachian cultural heritage which give this region a character all its own. Daniel Boone National Forest carves a path through 21 Kentucky counties and includes the Red River Gorge National Geological Area and many lakes and recreation areas. Eight state parks provide additional recreational opportunities.
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\Kentucky\'s Daniel Boone Country Areas 27-31
\Cumberland Gap National Historic Park, just south of Middlesboro, and Breaks Interstate Park, shared by Kentucky and Virginia, are found in this region. There are also nine state parks, including Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, home of the only "Moonbow" in the western hemisphere.
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\South Central Kentucky
\Southern Kentucky Vacations Areas 32-34
\Lake Cumberland, a spectacular lake with 50,250 acres and 1,200 miles of shoreline, Dale Hollow Lake and Green River Lake provide unlimited fishing and boating opportunities for outdoor sportsmen. Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area includes 105,000 acres of natural wilderness, rivers and back country. Four state parks are located in this region.
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\Kentucky\'s Cave Country Areas 35-36
\Mammoth Cave National Park, the longest cave system ever discovered on earth, is the largest of the many caves found in this region. 10,000 acre Barren River Lake is the centerpiece of one of the region\'s three state parks.
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