Day trip to Morehead? Here are things to do, places to see and restaurants to eat at

Thinking about taking a day trip to Morehead, Ky.?

You need not worry, there’s plenty to do, see and restaurants to eat at in the seat of Rowan County, even if you’re not in town for the popular annual Cave Run Storytelling Festival at Daniel Boone National Forest.

Use this guide and list to help find the best options during your visit as soon as you get off I-64. Year-round visitors have options whether they are driving an hour and 20 minutes from the west in Lexington or nearly two hours from the east in Charleston, WVa.

Sheltowee Trace

Hikers sometimes visit Rowan County to begin their journey on the Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail. It spans 343 miles, stretching from downtown Morehead to the Big South Fork in northern Tennessee. If you’re not looking for a hike quite that long, there are more than 100 miles of trails accessible through the nearby Daniel Boone National Forest.

Cave Run Lake

If you’re looking for a good fishing spot, you might have found one at Cave Run Lake, the largest lake in Northeastern Kentucky. Known as the Musky Capital of the South, located and in the northern part of the Daniel Boone National Forest, the lake has more than 8,000 acres of open water and 200 miles of shoreline to explore. Besides fishing, there’s plenty of recreational activities from kayaking, sailing, house rentals and more.

Morehead State University Star Theater

The state-of-the-art digital planetarium located on the campus of Morehead State University has public shows on the second and fourth Saturdays between September and June. In addition to regular night sky and laser light shows, upcoming special shows include Observe the Moon Night, “Valentines under the Stars” and Solar Eclipse Celebration.

Kentucky Folk Art Center

This free museum is managed by Morehead State and features close to 1,400 works by self-taught artists. From the center’s webpage, “…in many instances, the art you see on the walls at KFAC was born out of hard times. The works displayed here stand as a document of and testament to the common man’s concerns, courage, and convictions.”

The center also organizes a number of cultural events, including the Appalachian Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair in December.

Roll Over Rolled Ice Cream and Boba Tea

This shop on Main Street serves rolled ice cream (sometimes called Thai rolled ice cream), as well as tea, soups and sandwiches, but its most distinct feature is its mission. Co-owner Angel Pope also runs the animal rescue nonprofit Back Roads Rescue in neighboring Carter County. Part of the ice cream shop’s purpose is to help fund the animal rescue operation. Many of Roll Over’s menu items (Oscar, Festus, Frankie) are named for dogs that came through Back Roads Rescue.

Sawstone Brewing Company taproom

Three friends started with homebrew kits that later turned into neighborhood “Brew Days.” Eventually they opened Sawstone Brewing Co. in downtown Morehead, the city’s first and only brewery, which had to close for a week during its opening month because it ran out of beer.

Root-A-Bakers Bakery & Cafe

A staple for desserts in Morehead, Root-A-Bakers has built a regional following and in 2019 was named the Sweetest Bakery in Kentucky through a social media contest hosted by Dawn Food Products. The bakery is known for its sugar cookies and each one is topped with a signature buttercream icing and always made with real butter. They offer everything from sweet and savory scones, cupcakes and full-size cakes and a lunch menu containing a variety of sandwiches and salads.

For more possible things to do in Morehead, go to visitmorehead.com.