Kentucky Travel Guide, Road Trip Plan

This Kentucky Road Trip Itinerary and Guide takes the traveler to visit three National Park Service Sites, three museums of American creativity, the world’s bourbon capital, and the only site in the Western Hemisphere where a moonbow can regularly be seen. If you only want to hear about a specific destination, the chapters with times are listed in the description.

We start this Road Trip in Corbin, Kentucky to visit the Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum before moving onto Cumberland Falls, the National Corvette Museum, Mammoth Cave National Park, Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace and boyhood home, Bardstown, and then finish in Owensboro at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Map of Route using Google Maps

Kentucky is one of four states that calls themselves a commonwealth and is the only commonwealth that wasn’t an original colony. The most prominent early indigenous tribes in Kentucky were the Cherokee, Chickasaws, and Shawnee. In 1775, Daniel Boone, one of the founders of the state, created the Wildness Road, which at the time, would initiate Westward Expansion through the interior of Kentucky.  The trail went through the Cumberland Gap onto the Ohio River and would be used by colonial and early national era settlers traveling by foot or horseback. Kentucky was admitted as the 15th state of the union in 1792 and was the first state West of the Appalachian Mountains.

Ironically, both President Abraham Lincoln and his Confederate counterpart, Jefferson Davis, were born in Kentucky. Although Kentucky was a slave state, it was intensely divided throughout the Civil War, with 30,000 fighting for the Confederacy and 64,000 for the Union.

Kentucky is known as the Bluegrass state, due to the popularity of the grass species that grows throughout the state. Bluegrass is green; however, in the spring, the grass will create the bluish-purple buds that give a bluish hue to the grass when seen in large fields. Lexington, Kentucky is known as “the Horse Capital of the World.” The equine industry is a multimillion-dollar agribusiness for Kentucky which includes horse breeding and rearing; buying and selling; racing; and tourism.  Kentucky horse country provides scenic drives to view beautiful grassy horse farms on its rolling limestone hills.

Kentucky produces 95% of the world’s bourbon thanks to its climate, fertile ground, and immense deposits of blue limestone, which filters out hard iron and imparts sweet-tasting calcium and magnesium. Kentucky bourbon is a corn-based whisky that originated in their Bourbon County.  Some of the most popular brands include Woodford Reserve, Bulleit, Maker’s Mark, Jim Beam, Evan Williams, Four Roses, Old Forester, and Wild Turkey.

Thanks to its limestone geology, Kentucky is home to 130 caves to include the world’s longest cave system, Mammoth Cave National Park.

The National Park Service has several sites in Kentucky to include the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Place, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Camp Nelson National Monument, Cumberland Gap National Historic Park, Fort Donelson National Battlefield, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, Mammoth Cave National Park, Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument, and Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.

Sanders Cafe and Museum, Corbin

Colonel Sanders' Kitchen, Sanders Cafe, Corbin

We start this road trip in Corbin, Kentucky and visit the Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum.  Colonel Harland Sanders is the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken which now operates all over the world in over 145 countries with more than 24,000 outlets.

Across the street from the Sanders Café, Harland Sanders operated a gas station that served meals to travelers in the back.  At the time, Highway 25 was a main route that traveled North to South. In 1935, Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon gave Harland Sanders the honorary title of Colonel in recognition for his contributions to the state’s cuisine. In 1937, the Colonel built the Sanders Café which seated 142 people but tragically, the restaurant was destroyed by a fire 2 years later.

In 1939, construction began on the present-day Sanders Café that had previously included an adjoining motel that he called Sanders’ Court. The Colonel managed the facility from 1940 to 1956. The restored Sanders Cafe is on the National Register of Historic Places and is where the Colonel developed his secret recipe and began frying chicken in a pressure cooker to reduce cook time.

Today, the Sanders Cafe operates dually as a museum and operating KFC restaurant.  The museum includes the kitchen where the secret recipe was developed, the Colonel’s office, a replica of a Sanders’ Court Motel Room, in addition to KFC memorabilia.

Twenty-one minutes from the Sanders Café is the city of London where the annual World Chicken Festival is held.  Since 1990, the celebration has been held during the last full weekend of September.  The festival honors the life of Colonel Harland Sanders and features many events that center around chicken and KFC.  The annual event also includes the World’s Largest Stainless-Steel Skillet and a Colonel Sanders look-a-like contest. In April 2021, the city of Corbin began an annual Colonel Fest that features their own Colonel Sanders look-a-like contest, a fried chicken competition, 5k run, and several kids' events.

Thirty minutes from the Harland Sanders Cafe is Cumberland Falls State Park.

Cumberland Falls State Resort Park

Moonbow at Night Over Cumberland Falls, Cumberland Falls State Park

Along the Cumberland River is a waterfall sometimes referred to as “the Niagara of the South.” Cumberland Falls is a 125-foot-wide curtain of water that falls 60 feet and is the only place in the Western Hemisphere where a moonbow can be viewed regularly.  A moonbow can be seen during or near a full moon on clear nights.  It is formed by a combination of the waterfall’s mist and the moon’s light that are assisted by the gorge walls that reduce dissipation of the mist by the wind and allows increased levels of moon light.

To view Cumberland Falls, you only need to walk a few minutes on a paved path from the parking lot to reach the overlooks.  You can also walk 15 minutes down to the river via dirt hiking trail. If you are up for a hike, the best views of the falls are on the moderate 1.8-mile Eagle Falls Trail along the Cumberland Riverfront.  This lollipop loop trail can be difficult in wet conditions as well as on the way to the gorgeous Eagle Falls. The moderate 5-mile Blue Bend Trail follows the river’s southern bank and it's recommended to begin the loop counter-clockwise to complete the inclines at the beginning. This trail begins across the street from the Eagle Falls Trail parking lot.

Cumberland Falls State Park has an array of outdoor activities to include nine easy to moderate hiking trails; fishing for bass, catfish, panfish, and carp; bird watching for Wood Warblers and Chipping Sparrows; horseback riding for all levels to include the park’s guided trail rides; along with many other activities like: swimming, rafting, picnicking, and gem mining.

The Cumberland Falls State Resort Park is a great place to stay overnight.  The park features cabins in the woods, campsites, and the beautiful DuPont Lodge. 

Other amazing hiking destinations near Cumberland Falls are Daniel Boone National Forest and the 40 foot Van Hook Falls which you can walk behind.  It is a 36 minutes’ drive. Big South Fork to hike the Yahoo Falls Overlook and Yahoo Falls Loop to see the state’s tallest waterfall at 113 feet.  It is a 37 minutes’ drive. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park for amazing views of the Cumberland Gap which was once used by pioneers headed West.  It is an hour and 20 minutes’ drive.

From the Cumberland Falls State Park, we travel to Bowling Green to visit the National Corvette Museum.

National Corvette Museum, Bowling Green

The National Corvette Museum, Bowling Green

The Chevrolet Corvette known informally as the Vette or Chevy Corvette is a two-door, two-passenger sports car manufactured by Chevrolet.  The Corvette was introduced in 1953 as a “dream car” and then ten years later, a second generation was released.

Originally, the corvette was manufactured in Flint, Michigan and St. Louis, Missouri before transferring to Bowling Green in 1981. Bowling Green is the only place in the world where Corvettes are built, and its Assembly Plant normally conducts tours but hasn’t started them again since the pandemic.

The National Corvette Museum features over 70 Corvettes in several temporary and permanent exhibits in addition to a Corvette Racing Simulator, a Kidzone, and views of the infamous 2014 sinkhole that opened under the floor of the museum’s skydome. Allow yourself at least two hours for the visit.

One mile from the museum at the National Corvette Museum’s Motorpark, you can drive Go-Karts or a corvette on their road course.  For $317, you can drive a C8 Corvette Stingray Z51 for four laps or you could drive your own car on the 3.2-mile road course above highway speeds for $133.

Bowling Green has many other attractions worth your time.  You can enjoy a walk in the city center to enjoy Civil War-era buildings; eat lunch and ice cream at Chaney’s Dairy Barn; experience an underground boat tour and ziplining at the Lost River Cave; or learn more about the evolution of transportation at the Historic RailPark and Train Museum coupled with the Aviation Heritage Park.

From Bowling Green, we travel 30 minutes to Mammoth Cave National Park.

Mammoth Cave National Park

Stalactites and Stalagmites inside Mammoth Cave National Park

Mammoth Cave is the largest known cave system in the world with more than 400 miles of surveyed passageways on 5 levels. The second-longest cave system, Mexico’s Sac Actun underwater cave, is only half as long. Each year additional miles are discovered in Mammoth Cave as exploration continues. The park was established as a national park in 1941, a World Heritage Site in 1981, and an International Biosphere Reserve in 1990.

Around 5,000-2,000 BCE, Native Americans discovered Mammoth cave and explored it to mine minerals such as gypsum, mirabilite, and epsomite. John Houchin became the first European settler to find the cave in 1790. In 1792, Kentucky settlers manufactured gunpowder from the nitre found in the cave dirt and then by the War of 1812, slaves mined saltpeter, the main ingredient in the production of black gunpowder. Mammoth cave is one of the oldest tourist attractions in North American and the first known formal tour was in 1816.

In 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps, created from President Roosevelt's New Deal, worked to improve the National Park by planting more than 1 million trees, building employee housing and administration buildings, creating 24 miles of trail through the cave passageways, and constructing the Frozen Niagara entrance and the rock landscape surrounding it.

Visitors can descend into the caves’ subterranean depths with the National Park Services’ Ranger-led tours that vary from one to six hours with two of the tours lit only by visitor-carried paraffin lamps. The Park’s most popular tours are “the Historic,” “the Frozen Niagara,” and “the Mammoth Cave Discovery.” Some of Mammoth Cave’s most prominent features include the Grand Avenue, Frozen Niagara, and Fat Man's Misery. It is highly recommended to reserve your Cave tours in advance since time slots often sell out.

Besides caves, Mammoth Cave National Park features tall-treed forests, rivers, and wildlife.  There are many outdoor activities to include hiking, horseback riding, biking, picnicking, camping, backcountry camping, canoeing, and fishing.

If your schedule allows, there are two towns nearby with worthy attractions to include Cave City for “Dinosaur World” and Horse Cave for the “Kentucky Down Under Adventure Zoo” and the “Hidden River Cave and American Cave Museum.

From the Cave Region, we travel to Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park.

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park

Lincoln Symbolic Birth Cabin, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park

Abraham Lincoln was a statesman and lawyer who was mostly self-educated and became the first Republican president. The leader’s accomplishments include an impactful Gettysburg Address, abolishing slavery, and preserving the Union.

President Lincoln was assassinated by a shot to the head in his theatre box at the Ford’s Theater in Washington DC and then died the next morning at the Petersen House across the street. The assassinate was John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor of the time, and Confederate sympathizer.

The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park memorializes the life of the beloved President who came from humble beginnings and lived from 1809-1865.  Lincoln was born in a one room log cabin near Hodgenville Kentucky at Sinking Springs Farm and the memorial enshrines Lincoln’s Symbolic Birth Cabin. In 1808, Lincoln’s father Thomas purchased the 300-acre Sinking Spring Farm but then in 1811, had issues with the property’s title, which forced the family to move to the Knob Creek Farm, nine miles away.

In 1894, the property was purchased and turned into a park known as "Lincoln Spring Farm" and "Lincoln Birthplace” by New York businessman, Alfred W. Dennett.  A year later, Dennett purchased a nearby, aging log cabin that was said to had contained some of the original logs from the Lincoln cabin.  The cabin was dismantled and moved to the park as well as several other places before Dennett sold the property at an auction in 1905. Robert Collier, publisher of Colliers Weekly, bought the farm and with associates formed the Abraham Lincoln Farm Association to create a suitable memorial.

In 1906, over 100,000 Americans donated nearly $350,000 to the Association to protect the single room log cabin with a 1911 neoclassical memorial building. The granite memorial for the 16th President includes 16 windows and 56 steps leading up to the enclosed shrine for the hero who had lived 56 years. The memorial also provides an accessible boardwalk named the “Pathway of a President.”

The Historic Park includes 116 acres of Thomas Lincoln’s farm and features trails created along Lincoln’s childhood pathways that lead to the site of the famous Sinking Spring which was the family’s water source and the white oak Boundary Oak tree which had been a survey point for the property.  The visitor’s center houses exhibits on the Lincoln family, the Lincoln family Bible, and insight into frontier cabin life.

From Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace, we travel nine miles to his Boyhood Home at Knob Creek.

Lincoln Boyhood Home at Knob Creek

Reconstructed Cabin, Lincoln Boyhood Home at the Knob Creek Farm

President Lincoln said that his earliest recollection is of the Knob Creek Place.  The Lincoln family lived in a small wood cabin on the Knob Creek Farm from 1811 until 1816 before moving 2 hours away to Southern Indiana where there is now the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. Lincoln’s Boyhood home at Knob Creek is located on U.S. Route 31 East which was a main road from Louisville to Nashville while the family was living there.

The cabin that’s viewed today at the Knob Creek Farm is a reconstruction of what the Lincoln family had lived in. In 2001, the property became a non-contiguous part of the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site after years of private ownership.  This year, the park opened the Knob Creek Tavern Visitor Center, adjacent to the structure, which provides exhibits describing Lincoln’s life on the farm. The visitor center is open on Saturday and Sunday from April 1st until Memorial Day, daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day and on weekends again in September and October.

Our next destination, Bardstown, is considered one of the most beautiful small towns in America and is the Bourbon Capital of the World.

Bardstown

The Old Talbott Tavern, Built in 1779, Bardstown

Bardstown is along the Lincoln Heritage Trail and 25 minutes from Lincoln’s boyhood home. The town of only 13,000 provides incredible sights, tours, restaurants, and shops. Over 400 of Bardstown’s buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places to include two of Kentucky’s most famous sites, Wickland which was home to three Governors and Federal Hill, more commonly known as My Old Kentucky Home, the inspiration for what would become Kentucky’s State song, My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night.

The lovely “My Old Kentucky Home State Park” provides tours of the late 18th Century Farmhouse led by costumed guides.  The mansion is filled with 200-year-old artifacts and over 75% of the pieces are originals to the property.  The state park also has campsites with utility hookups and a golf course.

The Old Talbott Tavern is one of the oldest western stagecoach stops and claims to be the world’s first bourbon bar. It has been welcoming guests like Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Boone, John Fitch, and Jesse James since 1779. The Old Talbott Tavern is a restaurant and inn.

Bardstown and its’ surrounding area have 11 distilleries that can be toured. Some of the best-selling bourbons are in the area to include Makers Mark, Four Roses, and James B. Beam, otherwise known for Jim Beam. Bardstown’s Heaven Hill Trolley takes visitors around downtown for $5 and then heads up to the distillery for their bourbon experience tour. For more information on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and to check out the trails’ distillery map, go to KY Bourbon Trail .com.  In addition, Bardstown is home to the Annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival which is held in Mid-September.

The town’s Oscar Getz Museum of Whisky History recounts the story of American whisky from colonial days through the 1960s and includes a broad collection of whisky memorabilia.  Admission for the museum and tour are free and you don’t have to be a Bourbon fan to appreciate the excellent exhibits.

Some other Bardstown attractions include The Hurst Drug Store Soda Fountain, a popular diner for milkshakes; St. Joseph Cathedral, a National Landmark that is the first cathedral built west of the Allegheny mountains; The Bardstown’s Civil War Museum, the fourth-largest Civil War Museum in the Country and includes admission to the Civil War Museum of the Western Theater, Pioneer Village, Women's Civil War Museum, and Hal Moore Military Museum.

Our next destination is the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Owensboro.

Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Owensboro

Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Owensboro

Bluegrass music originated in the 1930s and 40s from musicians who created songs that reflected their life on the farm or in the Appalachian hills. The style derives from traditional English, Scottish and Irish ballads, and dance tunes, as well as fast tempo African songs and traditional blues and jazz music. The Bluegrass genre got its name from the band, “Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys” after previously being referred to as Old Time Music, Mountain Music, or Country music.

The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum is an excellent venue that educates visitors on the evolution of Bluegrass Music and will energize you to enjoy the genre.  The museum was recently renovated and includes an auditorium for live Bluegrass Music Concerts. The self-guided museum features interactive exhibits, historic memorabilia, relics and artifacts, and story boards on the early Blue Grass pioneers and its current performers. The fun “Pickin Parlor” room allows visitors to grab a string instrument off the wall to play.

Every June, the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum hosts the ROMP which is a Bluegrass festival that celebrates the Roots and Branches of Bluegrass Music.

The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum is located on the downtown riverfront. And a five-minute walk from the museum is Smothers Park on the Beautiful Ohio River.  In 2015, Landscape Architect’s Network named “Smothers’ Park’s Lazy Dayz Playground” the top playground in the world.

If you are interested in staying in Owensboro overnight, there are a couple reasonably priced hotels on the riverfront.

Additional Kentucky Attractions

Kentucky has many other music history attractions and if you are interested, some of the destinations include:

Other interesting Kentucky destinations not already mentioned in this video and worth looking into are:

The beautiful bluegrass state has rich history and culture that makes a road trip through it enjoyable and educational. This travel guide only highlighted some of the wonderful attractions in Kentucky. If you have tips on any of these destinations or places nearby, please share them in the comments of the YouTube Video for other travelers. Please consider supporting this work by subscribing to the “Travel Guides from Kris” YouTube Channel. Happy Trip Planning!