i have never been to kentucky so can someone point out a few good areas where i might be able to vacation with my family. i have 3 kids ages 5-9. i was looking at possibly doing a tennessee(pigeon forge area) vacation or maybe something in kentucky but i dont even know where to start looking.

What do you sand your family like to do?

we are pretty much up for anything. amusement/water parks, hiking, fishing, exploring, museums, beaches, swimming, and whatever kids like doing.

You will have to look most of this up, as I am trying to do most of it off the top of my head.    My memory is my weakest trait.



Amusement parks :   Hit Louisville and Greater Cincinnati (Kings Island in OH and the Aquarium in Northern KY.)
Boating : Lake Cumberland ; Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area
Horseback riding, Hunting, fishing (while on foot), hiking, climbing, and backpacking :   South Eastern Kentucky, such as around Cumberland Falls   (within 100 miles of there).

Daniel Boone National Forest  and  Daniel Boone National Forest  - US Forest Service Site


There are tons of Kentucky State Parks

Lets not forget the Red River Gorge ,  Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area , nor Cumberland Gap

I also recommend  The Negro Creek Loop .    It is a great little weekend hike.




We also have the largest Elk Heard and largest Elk east of the Mississippi and in the top 10 heard size in the contiguous US.

We don't have large tourist traps areas like in the Smokies (Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area).

We have smaller tourist traps, like the KY horse farms area, Shakertown Village, Augusta, KY

Augusta, (Maysville is close by), is an incredible place to visit throughout the year.    (The owner of KKK lives in Augusta in a restored historic home, including "servant's" passages and quarters.  He is a reflection of the wonderful people in the community.   Whether for a family or couple's get-a-way, it is a wonderful place to visit.)




Around Louisville:

Louisville Mega Cavern

Belle of Louisville tours and dinning

The dinner train

ZOO


4th st live dinning area;   Louisville Clock ,  The Brown Hotel (Home of the KY Hot Brown)

Tourist sites and  Attractions on main include :  Louisville Slugger Field - the Bats minor league stadium, Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory ,  

Within the West Main Historic District  : The KY Center, some boxer's center (Ali maybe)   (OK, the Muhammad Ali Center -  There, I said it)  , Frazier History Museum ,   Rodin's Thinker   ,    Actors Theatre of Louisville , Flame Run Glass Studio and Gallery  (actually on Market St, one St. over from Main) ,   Kentucky Science Center ,  and other places.



Definitely check out and research  THUNDER OVER LOUISVILLE ,   one of the largest  air show and fireworks displays in the US.   Saturday, April 18, 2015

2015-ncaa-division-i-mens-basketball-championship-secondthird-rounds



Close to downtown, check out  : The Big Four Bridge  ,   United States Marine Hospital  (in Portland/West Louisville),   Portland Museum  ,   Kentucky Derby Museum   , Churchill Downs   ,   Frankfort Avenue district, Thomas Edison Butchertown House

For some reason unknown to me, Bourbon tours have become popular.   (Louisville , south east and then back north east to Lexington)

2015-Bourbon-Classic

KY Kingdom Amusement Park

Waverly Hills Sanatorium



Louisville where-go






Not far from Louisville :

WEBN Riverfest Fireworks   in Greater Cincinnati  

KY Speedway is OK.  

Knob Creek Range is a going family trip for the bi-annual machinegun shoot.

The KY HTF shoot is sometimes better in some ways, or has been in the past.

thanks for all the info. if you had to pick an area of kentucky to stay for the week where would it be? i think if we do tennessee it will be the pigeon forge area since it seems like most of the rental cabins have awesome views of the smokey mountains. would the eastern part of the kentucky be similar?

I have hiked the Smokies.   I have enjoyed them several times.    But, as I mentioned, we have nothing like Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.    Outside those tourist trap towns, much of Easter KY is like Eastern TN, but maybe a little more remote.    

If you want Cabins, horse back riding, hiking, some fun with a drive, I would suggest Cumberland Falls.   You can travel to by I-75.   Then, you could drive out to Big South Fork of the Cumberland,  Beaver Creek Wilderness Area  , or north west to Somerset and Cumberland Lake.

This would be considered an easy or mild get away trip into "the mountains".   It is nothing serious or hardcore, unless you go looking for it.

If you want to find a pleasant tourist trap area, I recommend Augusta Kentucky .    I highly recommend the Lamplighter Inn / Parkview Country  Inn
 

As I mentioned above, "Augusta, (Maysville is close by), is an incredible place to visit throughout the year. (The owner of KKK lives in Augusta in a restored historic home, including "servant's" passages and quarters. He is a reflection of the wonderful people in the community. Whether for a family or couple's get-a-way, it is a wonderful place to visit.) "


The long line of Clooneys are from there.    Roseann, Nick , and George   along with Miss America, Mrs Heather French Henry.   (I once slept in the same bed as Heather, and well... you know, with the wife, in the same bed... but without Heather.)

Realize that I am not a paid expert on Kentucky.    

I am an older man who has lived all over KY.     I was born in South Eastern Ky, I was raised in Northern Ky  I have an estate in Greater Cincinnati (Northern Ky), I work in downtown Louisville, Ky and have a house down the street from my office, I own a mountain with cabin on it around Buckhorn Lake in the Red Bird Purchase of the Daniel Boone National Forest is South Eastern Ky, and my in-laws own farms in south western Ky, around the Land between the Lakes.    I also graduated from 2 universities in Eastern Ky.   My son lives in central KY, and works a little south of that at another university.     I have hunted, fished, hiked, and backpacked all over Ky.

Having said all of that, I just do not know about taking 3 kids, ages 5-9 , into places like Cumberland Falls, for a week.      Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are extremely unique.   People go to those tourist traps, shop, visit the side shows, play the game, hike 1 mile into the Smoky Mountains, and then tell great stories of their mountain adventure.      That area is all about entertaining you.     The real Smokies are about you entertaining yourself.    

IF you select to go to some place like Cumberland Falls, which is wonderful, I recommend planning it with an extremely knowledgeable person who can help you stretch your visit out over a larger, more entertaining area.  

On the other hand, if you want to impress and entertain the kids, go to Kings Island in OH, then the Aquarium in Northern Ky,  spend some time in August and pamper the wife, then head to Louisville for KY Kingdom Amusement Park  and some of the sites I have listed in and around Louisville.

Hey, maybe a trip through Berea, and staying overnight in London.   Then, a two days around Cumberland Falls,  a night in the Somerset area, head to Louisville for two day and finish up in Northern KY?

From where in PA are you coming?    

30 - 50  years ago, I would have recommended Cumberland Falls.   But, much is gone from the region, such as the amusement park, Tumbstone Junction.    Today, it is not ideal for little kids for multiple days.

Here is a rather strange history of KY.

we are coming from just outside philly. you have been more than helpful. im not opposed to doing pigeon forge for a few days and then backtracking to ky for a few days on the way home.

From mobile ....

I do one have an interesting alternative to offer.   But, other people on here will have to help with advice.  

You could go to the shooting center in Park City, Ky.   It is called Rockcastle.     But, be very careful.    It is nowhere close to Rockcastle ,Ky.  

It is very close to Mammoth Cave in KY and is a great place to find places to eat.

Visit the shooting center, enjoy the town,  take some tours of the cave sysem, and they probably have cabins around the mammoth cave area.   It is all south of Louisville.   So, you could do something there too for a day or two.

Don't know your budget and don't know your love or hate of water but I would suggest you look into a houseboat rental at Lake Cumberland. Jamestown Dock and State Dock are the big 2 for rentals. They are not cheap and they are very restrictive if you do not have a ski boat/fishing boat/jet skis but they are a ton of fun if you have at least one transport boat and like the water.

KY Lake is great fun if you have a boat and like to fish and ski or your family likes to camp and hike. Otherwise there is not much for you to entertain young kids around there.

If you want something different to do every day and lots of ways to entertain kids, my only suggestion would be N KY since it has all the attractions of Cincy (King's Island, Zoo, etc.).

I own a business in Maysville and live nearby and am very familiar with the maysville / Augusta area.

While there are some lovely places here there is very little to do and you would be hard pressed to keep a group of kids entertained on a trip here.   It is a pretty short drive to the Newport aquarium or kings island though.

As much as I hate to ever recommend Tennessee over Kentucky you would probably have better luck doing the pigeon valley/ Gatlinburg thing with the kids that young.

Ft.Knox used to have a great Armor museum....thought I hear they moved it to Ft.Benning ???

head north and hit HOLIDAY WORLD in SANTA CLAUS Indiana

Louisville Mega Cavern is fun

Louisville Zoo is good, but I think St.Louis is better.

Newport Aquarium is cool, and has other fun stuff like RIDE THE DUCKS ( WWII military DUKWs)

Augusta has events throughout the year, and lots of little shops.    During the events, the streets are lined with vendors of all sorts.    There is often music at the park in the evening during events.    It is one of the most enjoyable towns to visit and tour.

I agree that it is a pleasant town, I like to drive down there just to look around myself.

But even during events you don't have a lot of stuff for kids to do on vacation without driving to Newport or Cincinnati.  That said it is close enough to those places to base out of for vacation.

I would strongly recommend the area for adults looking for a quiet get-away, just not for entertaining kids for a week.

Carter Caves State Park off I-64 just before you get to Morehead Kentucky is a cool place. Has the works for family fun, camping, horseback riding, golf, fishing, cave tours, hiking, cabins to rent and a great lodge with good food and so on and so forth. For you comming out of PA about half the driving distance to the tourist traps in the Smokies and about 1/3 the cost. It's a great little out of the way place.

Thanks.   That is exactly what I was hoping someone else  would point out.




         

 

My daughters love Jellystone.  It's relatively cheap.  Has neat little activities geared towards kids and is really close to Mammoth Caves.

Good info.   Been  referred to in several other threads through links.

I'm a big fan of red river gorge. You can get a cabin for a weekend for about 500 bucks