New bike route spans 10 Kentucky counties, traces Daniel Boone’s footsteps

Nearly 350 new road signs now dot the landscape throughout Central and Eastern Kentucky navigating cyclists through U.S. Bicycle Route 21.

The new route, also called the Daniel Boone Bike Route, spans 265 miles through 10 counties of the commonwealth, much of it along the historic “Boone Trace” trail blazed by Daniel Boone in the 1770s.

Beginning at the Cumberland Gap in Middlesboro and ending south of the Ohio River in Maysville, the scenic route will take cyclists through state parks and cities including Berea and Richmond. Low-volume country roads, diverse terrain, picturesque vistas and historic sites like Pine Mountain Resort Park, Levi Jackson Park, Fort Boonesborough State Park and Blue Licks Battlefield State Park are highlighted on Bicycle Route 21.

With the route completion, Kentucky is now ranked as one of the top five five states with the most miles on the U.S. Bicycle Route System. Kentucky also has U.S. Bicycle Route 76 stretching east to west for 484 miles and U.S. Bicycle Route 23 for 108 miles.

Developed locally over four years by Friends of Boone Trace, Inc., in partnership with Berea College’s Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program, it will will eventually join a national route stretching from Atlanta to Cleveland.

Digital maps are available for Rout 21 and others in Kentucky through Ride with GPS.