Kentucky

10 days & 1,661 miles: Why you should explore these ‘Kool’ Kentucky State Parks

By Ryan C. Hermens

Updated June 6, 2024 12:34 PM

Kentucky State Parks celebrate 100-year anniversary

Kentucky State Parks turn 100, but the beauty and activities will never grow old.

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This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Kentucky State Parks system.

A park system that in its early days took pride in itself telling its citizens to forget going to “Cool Colorado” and instead vacation close to home in “Kool” Kentucky.

A lot has changed in 100 years to 2024, but Lindy Casebier, Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage secretary, said the anniversary is a major milestone in the history of the parks system.

“The state parks are such an amazing asset for us as an economic development tool, bringing people into the state,” he said. “I like to say people might come for horses and bourbon but they discover so much more while they’re here, and one of those things is our state parks system and our resort parks, our lodges and all that they have to offer.”

History of Kentucky State Parks

In February 1924, Senate Bill No. 306 – to create a state park commission – was introduced in the Kentucky General Assembly.

An editorial at the time in the Lexington Leader advocated for its passage.

“In this age of strenuosity, of ever-increasing speed and strain, the importance of relaxation, or recreation, and of the element of play is more adequately appreciated,” the editorial published in 1924 read.

Two years later, four park sites had been identified. Today, there are 45 state parks.

The state park commission’s first secretary, Vance Prather, in a 1927 column published in the Lexington Herald, argued parks would not only draw visitors from outside of the Commonwealth to explore the state’s natural beauty but could also provide recreation opportunities for Kentuckians close to home.

“Why should Kentuckians, with such lavish wealth of scenery at their doorsteps, hike away to Niagara, Yellowstone, or the much-dinned-in-our-ears “Cool Colorado,” when, as a matter of fact “cool” Colorado is no cooler than “Kool” Kentucky, and when they have not first beheld the glories and the rare scenic beauty and splendor of their own state?” Prather asked in the column.

A century later, Casebier lauded the diversity of Kentucky’s state park sites.

“Kentucky is so geographically diverse, and each park is diverse,” Casebier said. ”In every region of the state, it offers something different. People ask me which is my favorite state park, and I say well that’d be like picking your favorite child. Each one is a unique experience unto itself, whether it’s Jenny Wiley in the east or Pennyrile in the west or Lake Barkley or (Kentucky Dam Village) or Natural Bridge or Pine Mountain, there’s all something just so amazingly beautiful about each one of them.”

The sun sets over Kingdom Come State Park near Cumberland. Ryan C. Hermens rhermens@herald-leader.com

Things to do, location guide: Kentucky State Parks

In honor of the park system’s milestone anniversary this year, the Herald-Leader set out on a 10-day, 1,661 mile road trip across the state to explore Kentucky through the lens of its state park locations. Traveling from Yatesville Lake State Park near the Kentucky and West Virginia Border to Columbus-Belmont State Park on the Kentucky and Missouri border, these pictures, videos and guide not only highlight the beauty and things to do, but their significance to the Commonwealth.

“There’s something special about each park and what they offer,” Casebier said.