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Day trip: State parks, our natural wonders

By Patti Nickell | Contributing Travel Writer

• Basics: A guide to finding necessities in Lexington
• Plan a one-day, three-day or five-day trip
• Great restaurants and Kentucky's signature foods
• The best bars in Central Kentucky
• Scenic drives
• Fun activities for families with children
• Places to hike and enjoy nature
• Sports and fitness
• Distinctive places to shop
• Top historic sites
• Museums and art galleries
• Day trip: Berea, a place of learning and artisans' skill
• Day trip: Louisville
• Day trip: Cincinnati and Newport Aquarium
• Day trip: Mammoth Cave
• Day trip: State parks

Kentucky’s State Park system, established in 1924, is considered a model for preserving a state’s natural resources so they can be enjoyed by all its residents. With 53 state parks (if you count Breaks Interstate, which is shared with Virginia), Kentuckians could visit a different park every week and still have one left over at the end of the year. Seventeen are resort parks (that’s more than any other state), offering Kentuckians recreational opportunities as well as fine lodging and dining.

While it would be hard for just one article to cover all 53 of those parks (and all deserve a visit), here are four — one in each part of the state — that should definitely tempt you, whether it be for a day, a weekend or longer.

Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park in north-central Kentucky (U.S. 68, Mount Olivet; (859) 289-5507 or 1-800-443-7008) is the only state park that owes its name to one of Kentucky’s few remaining Revolutionary War battle sites. The British had already surrendered at Yorktown nearly a year earlier when in August 1782, a group of settlers, including Daniel Boone and his youngest son, Israel, in retaliation for an attack on Bryan’s Station near Lexington, pursued a group of British soldiers and their Indian allies to the Licking River. The battle lasted only 15 minutes, but Israel Boone was among the 70 or so Kentuckians who were killed. This park is at its most beautiful in late summer and early fall, when the goldenrod — the state flower — is in bloom. August is the time to come if you want to see the annual re-enactment of the Battle of Blue Licks. The recently renovated Pioneer Museum is open from April to mid-December, and the park also offers hiking on a variety of trails, including the Buffalo Trace Trail.

Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park in south-central Kentucky (6371 State Park Road, Burkesville; 1-800-325-2282) is on the Tennessee state line, so much of the lake and many of the islands that dot it are actually in the Volunteer State. Don’t let that deter you. The beautiful, contemporary lodge (the dining room has floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides), the 18-hole nationally ranked golf course, nearly 15 miles of ­hiking trails, and Cindy Cave (guided tours available) are all in Kentucky. Although the 60-room lodge is one of the most striking in the park system, many guests prefer a houseboat for their accommodations. Little wonder, with a 61-mile-long lake with more than 650 miles of shoreline. In summer, you’ll be sharing the park with noisy frogs, courting wild turkeys and great blue herons. During the winter months, you might see American bald eagles, which come here for their own winter vacation.

Cumberland Falls State Resort Park in Eastern Kentucky (7351 Ky. 90, Corbin; (606) 528-4121 or 1-800-325-0063) offers an extremely rare sight — a phenomenon known as a moonbow that can be seen at only a few places in the world. (One other is Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.) Several nights a month, when the conditions are just right — the sky is clear during a full moon — a shimmering band of white light in the shape of a rainbow floats above the misty waters of Cumberland Falls. The park’s staff or Web site can give you the nights each month when conditions are most favorable for Cumberland’s moonbow — the only one in the Western Hemisphere. The falls themselves can be seen from a number of vantage points throughout the park; the hiking is especially good. The park’s 20 miles of trails include part of the 260-mile Sheltowee Trace, which wends through the Daniel Boone ­National Forest. (To take this trail, look for the turtle logo — Sheltowee means “big turtle” in Shawnee.)

The park also offers seasonal guided horseback rides and guided canoe trips, and the 51-room Dupont Lodge, atop a cliff overlooking the Cumberland River, is one of the park system’s most popular. ­Another lodging option: the one- and two-bedroom cottages scattered throughout the woods.

John James Audubon State Park in Western Kentucky (3100 U.S. 41 North, Henderson; (270) 826-2247) offers something different. The western portion of the commonwealth is chock full of big-name parks — such as Kenlake State Resort Park, Lake Barkley State Resort Park and Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park. Why not get off the beaten path and discover one that is not quite as well known? This 700-acre park near the Ohio River is named for the famed naturalist and wildlife artist who lived in the area from 1810 to 1819. One suspects that Audubon would be pleased if he could see the great blue herons, finches, warblers, woodpeckers and the 166 other bird species that call the park home. A museum on the grounds houses one of the world’s largest collections of Audubon’s art.

If you are looking for the best time to visit the park, that would be the spring, when wildflowers such as trout lily, trillium and blue-eyed Mary carpet the forest floor. There are so many wildflowers that bloom here that 340 acres of the park have been set aside as a state nature preserve.