Enjoy Random Facts About Kentucky State Parks trivia below and, as I always preach… visit at least one Kentucky State Park this weekend!
- The Pioneer Museum at Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park (Carlisle) has a lot of fascinating exhibits featuring everything from Mastodon bones to American Indian and Kentucky Pioneer artifacts.
- Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park (Carlisle) is one of the few Revolutionary War battlefields left in the country.
- At Big Bone Lick State Park (Union), you can see life-size replicas of mastodons and bison. There is also a live bison herd at the par (exciting for me, since bison are one of my favorite animals).
- Stephen Foster – The Musical, Kentucky’s longest-running outdoor drama plays at My Old Kentucky Home State Park (Bardstown) each summer from June to August. We’ve been a couple of times and I can assure you, this is something you don’t want to miss. See Stephen Foster – the Musical for more information.
- Jenny Wiley State Resort Park (Prestonsburg) is another place in Kentucky to enjoy great outdoor musicals and shows. A professional theater company stages plays in the 580-seat Jenny Wiley Theater from mid-June to mid-August. Productions have included West Side Story, The Wizard of Oz, A Chorus Line, and Disney’s High School Musical. See Jenny Wiley Theatre for more information.
- The beautiful Breaks Interstate Park (Breaks, Virginia) actually spans across Kentucky and Virginia. This area has been called the Grand Canyon of the South.The Russel Fork of the Big Sandy River has carved a five-mile-long, 1,600-foot-deep gorge, the oxbow of which is located in the park. It is, as you’d expect the largest canyon east of the Mississippi.
- The woods in Breaks Interstate Park (Breaks, Virginia) are home to more than 100 kinds of songbirds and you may very well see golden eagles enjoying the view as much as you are. I’ve heard of many people who have even seen bobcats in the area. Needless to say, take your camera… and, for that matter, never put it down.
- The impressive monument at Jefferson Davis State Historic Site (Fairview) honors Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America. He was born on this site on June 3, 1808. Fascinatingly, Abraham Lincoln was born just over eight months later and less than 100 miles to the northeast. Leaders of both sides of the Civil War were Kentuckians.
- Biographical information about Jefferson Davis, and more, are on display in the visitor center at the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site (Fairview). You’ll find information about the construction of the 351 foot tall monument. The monument was commissioned by a group of Confederate Civil War Veterans and built with a combination of money raised by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and an appropriation from the Kentucky General Assembly. It was completed in 1924, 35 years after Davis’s death. Visitors can ride an elevator to the top of the monument, the world’s tallest concrete obelisk and the United States’ fifth-tallest monument.
Funny, each time I put together one of these Facts About Kentucky State Parks posts, I want to go to each park I’ve written about – all at the same time.
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