Join our fireside chat with Seth Wheat, Director of Interpretation & Engagement for Kentucky State Parks. We discussed Kentucky’s State Park system and the many reasons they make fun roadtrip destinations, especially in the winter. Seth shared several unique events happening at the Parks. Two examples included, 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥 at Carter Caves State Resort Park and 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 at Barren River Lake State Resort Park. Many of the Parks are also hosting New Year’s Eve celebrations and First Day Hikes.

Transcript:

Tony (00:00):

Hey, there we are at Barren River Lake State Resort Park

Rachelle (00:04):

And we’ve been talking to Seth Wheat about all things Kentucky State Parks for the winter and the holidays. We hope you’ll enjoy listening along. Seth, great to be with you here today at Barren River Lake State Resort Park. Seth, great to be here with you today at Barren River Lake State Resort Park. Give us your title.

Seth (00:30):

My title is the Director of Interpretation and Engagement for the Kentucky Department of Parks. That’s a division they used to call the recreation Division several years ago, but when we say interpretation, of course we mean the work that our state park naturalists do, interpreting our park and engaging with some of our partners, different state agencies, friends groups, all the fun stuff that happens at parks. We get to deal with all that. That’s what our division does.

Rachelle (00:51):

All the fun stuff.

Seth (00:52):

All the fun stuff.

Rachelle (00:52):

It’s all fun stuff, right?

Seth (00:54):

Mostly fun stuff. It’s mostly fun stuff.

Rachelle (00:57):

Hardly any administration.

Seth (00:58):

I don’t want to start out lying to you all. So it’s all fun. The vast majority of it’s fun. It’s a great place to work and the parks are obviously amazing.

Rachelle (01:05):

Yeah, and you all make it look effortless. For those of us who are avid Park users, it looks like there’s hardly any administration that goes on. Right? Y’all just make it look all fun on the outside. So y’all are celebrating a big year?

Seth (01:21):

Yeah, we are. It’s our hundredth anniversary. In 1924, the process began to found Kentucky State Parks and so we started celebrating calendar year, January 24 with some different events and things we had going on, really kicked off in the summertime. We had a grand birthday celebration on the steps of the old state capitol in Frankfort to really kick off the 100th year anniversary celebration. So we’ve done a lot in the last few months. Got a few more things to celebrate, a few more things that’ll be coming out over the next few months. And I think one of the main things we’ve tried to do is just try to get people to fall in love with their state parks again, right? We’ve had special events, we’ve got special items in the gift shop, go out and buy stuff. They make great Christmas gifts. I can put that plug in here, shamelessly. But really just there are reason these parks were created in the first place and they each have their own story. And that’s really what we’ve been trying to do is get people to get back out to the parks if they’ve not been for a while and find out what makes ’em so great.

Tony (02:18):

How many state parks are there?

Seth (02:19):

We have 44 state parks all across the state. We have, Tony, we’ve got two state trails we manage. One’s the Pine Mountain State Scenic Trail. When it’s completed, it will be 120 miles from the Breaks Interstate Park in far eastern Kentucky. One of my absolute favorite places. It’ll stretch down the ridge of Pine Mountain all the way to Pine Mountain State Park and then cut over to Cumberland Gap at the corner of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. The other trail we manage is the Dawkins Line Rail Trail, which that project got started in the 2000 teens and it’s been open, it was recently paved. It’s the state’s longest rail trail. When it’s done, there’s still some work on the back end of that trail that needs to be done, but it’ll total 36 miles of a rail trail project in the longest one in Kentucky. It’s an awesome trail.

Rachelle (03:07):

And that runs from?

Seth (03:09):

So it starts in Johnson County not far outside of Paintsville, Rachelle, and it runs through Johnson County, Magoffin County, and we’ve hit a tunnel right around the Magoffin-Breathitt County line, I think if I’ve got my geography right, we’ve had some issues with, that’s why the last end of the trail is not done. Not completed yet. The framework is there, it’s just not fully open yet. It stretches on into Breathitt County. So Johnson, Magoffin, and Breathitt County, I forget how many trestles and bridges around that trail. One tunnel is open, the Gun Creek tunnel. It’s a pretty awesome experience to see a lot of pictures there. People on their bikes or horses or hikers will get out and take a picture in front of that tunnel.

Rachelle (03:42):

So it is a multi-use trail?

Seth (03:43):

It is multi-use, yes ma’am.

Rachelle (03:45):

Alright.

Seth (03:45):

Yeah, it was kind of dense grade, gravel aggregate, but we paved the portion that’s open. Was it this summer or summer before last? I should know that. But either way, it’s recently been paved and we’ve gotten really good feedback from that, particularly from our cyclists that like to come out there and use that trail.

Rachelle (04:03):

We have not used either one of those trails, so we would love to. We need to put that on our to-do list for sure. Well, we love trails and we actually love trails in the winter, which we think makes a great time to visit at State Park to get on your hiking trails, your biking trails. Some state parks have horseback riding trails.

Seth (04:27):

Yes, ma’am.

Rachelle (04:28):

So there’s so much to do out there, even though I guess campgrounds may be closed, mainly?

Seth (04:33):

We have some campgrounds that are open year round. I can pull up my cheat sheet here a minute and let you know which ones the majority of them have closed down for the season. They’re seasonal, but we have some that do stay open year round. And to your point though, I could not agree more. Wintertime is probably one of I one my – falls tough to beat, especially with the colors. I mean fall is just an amazing time to be outside in Kentucky, but to me winter may run a close second.

Rachelle (04:56):

We think so too.

Seth (04:58):

Generally speaking, the crowds are less, there’s fewer people out, bugs, snakes, mosquito, whatever that is, poison, all that stuff you don’t deal with, you might deal with in the summertime, but also with the leaves being off the trees, especially some of, not even just the eastern parks, we’ve got good geography and topography at most of our parks. You can see stuff you cannot see in either time. Right?

Tony (05:16):

Yeah.

Seth (05:17):

Going to Natural Bridge and the Gorge is a totally different experience in the wintertime than it is in summertime with all that you can see. So

Rachelle (05:24):

Really highlights all those rock formations that make some spectacular trail visuals while you’re out.

Seth (05:33):

Some of our seasonal waterfalls too, you all, and beyond state parks, we have a few of those, but just even all throughout the Daniel Boone National Forest over in eastern Kentucky, there may be some waterfalls that are more seasonal and so if we get snowfall and rainfall into the fall and winter, there’ll be water coming over and where in the summertime they very well may be dry. So you see all kinds of good stuff in the wintertime.

Rachelle (05:54):

That’s a great point. I really hadn’t thought about that. And there’s so many, we haven’t seen these, but there’s so many beautiful photos that come out every winter of ice falls basically. So I guess we’ve seen one or two, but we haven’t seen enough. It just seems like that those are such a fleeting opportunity that only exists in the winter. So you all have many hundred year anniversary things that you all have done and last week you had another big announcement.

Seth (06:28):

Oh, we did. That’s right. This is a really cool project that I’m just tickled. We were able to get across the finish line. I didn’t really have much to do with it, but a lot of our team did and a ton of credit to them. We announced our first ever state park branded beer.

Rachelle (06:42):

Love that.

Seth (06:42):

So we put a proposal out to see if we’d get any interest and Against the Grain Brewery from Louisville, they make some phenomenal beers, they took us up on the proposal, they worked together with our team back at parks and we announced it just a couple weeks ago up at Natural Bridge State Park, a press announcement with the governor. Several of the folks I work with were there, and that’s going to be available in all of our lodges. All the lodges serve alcohol. I think all of our lodges do that. There may be one or two that are still in dry counties that don’t, but I believe it’s also going to be available in retail stores also beer and liquor stores in states. So yeah, they’re working that through their own distribution network, which is a world I do not understand, but we’ve got it here. We’ve announced it. I have sampled it. It is good. And I just think it’s an awesome project that we’re able to do because of course always enjoy these things responsibly, but after a long day on the trails or you’re out camping at the park or whatever the case may be, if you want to come back and enjoy nice cold beer to have one that is branded for state parks, it’s got a ton of cool imagery on it. They do a phenomenal job. Their graphic team and their branding, they’ve got their own niche that they’re in. They’ve really done a great job with this product and I’m just so excited it actually became real.

Rachelle (07:52):

Well, beers and trails often,

Seth (07:54):

They often go together. Right.

Rachelle (07:55):

Often go together.

Seth (07:56):

Yes.

Rachelle (07:56):

Agreed. So it’s a great fit. It just makes sense. And those are available, you said at almost every state park?

Seth (08:03):

Yes ma’am.

Rachelle (08:04):

Yeah,

Seth (08:04):

They’re working on the distribution plane right now to get that out, but here in the next few weeks people will start seeing it

Rachelle (08:10):

And that would make a great Christmas gift as well.

Seth (08:11):

It would make a great Christmas gift. Yeah. They’re 16 ounce cans, they’re pint cans and they sell ’em in four packs, I believe. And so yeah, that’d be a heck of a nice stocking stuffer.

Tony (08:19):

It would nice.

Rachelle (08:21):

We’re getting excited about things. Yeah. Okay, I got you. We could get for ourselves, right?

Seth (08:25):

Yeah. Gives you a matching 100th anniversary Tumblr to go with it package.

Rachelle (08:29):

Don’t forget to hit up the gift shops. And I don’t know if you’ve seen, but we recently sat down with the Balance Distilling that has also resurrected the Mammoth Cave bourbon brand.

Seth (08:43):

I’ve got a bottle of that at the house that was gifted to me from my father-in-law, but we’ve not tried it yet.

Rachelle (08:48):

Yes. Okay. So both of those things together made me pair those up. That would make a very Kentucky gift for any,

Seth (08:59):

And that’s brand new. Am I wrong? So did they just open you all?

Rachelle (09:03):

They started, they opened their distilling location to the public a year ago,

Tony (09:09):

I think a year ago.

Rachelle (09:11):

Alright. And then they just released the bourbon within the last couple of months

Seth (09:17):

Maybe that’s what I’m thinking of. Okay, very cool.

Rachelle (09:19):

It was cool that it coincided with the reopening of the Mammoth Cave Lodge. They serve that there and you can purchase that there as well.

Seth (09:27):

The same kind of thing we’re talking about.

Rachelle (09:28):

Yes.

Seth (09:29):

It’s funny. And to put a larger tourism plugin for my old friends over the Department of tourism, I mean the run that bourbon has been on over the last several years is just amazing. And you kind of wonder how long can this keep going? But I don’t think it showed any signs of slowing down. And to me, I mean we have our anchor brands, the brands that have been around forever and that everyone across the country knows. But to see some of these older labels like Mammoth Cave like you’re talking about, get kind of brought back to life. They all have such a unique story. It plays and it’s not just about the bourbon and the drinking. It’s that culture and the history. And we’re touching new places in Kentucky that haven’t historically been within that central Kentucky bourbon centric footprint. That’s the way I take it. So it is just been amazing to see all that stuff come online and I hope it continues and I don’t see any signs of it slowing down.

Rachelle (10:20):

And it is so integral to our park systems. I mean, it’s something that we as a culture here in Kentucky, we have distilled things for a long time. We’ve enjoyed nature for a long time. It’s very ingrained in our culture in so many ways.

Seth (10:36):

I agree. Yeah,

Rachelle (10:37):

That’s exciting. So what else do we need to know that you all have coming up in the wintertime for the holidays?

Seth (10:45):

Yeah, there’s still a few Christmas focused events coming up right here. I know we’re getting close to Christmas now. The best thing to do, I’ll start with this and try to remind people before we quit. Go to our website parks.ky.gov. You’ll see an event tab there and you’ll see all the events going on throughout the state. We’ve got so like I said, a couple different Christmas themed vents that are still happening before the holidays. Another thing that I like to do, our parks, you can see some of the decorations here around the fireplace. Most of them do a phenomenal job to decorate around the holidays. So if you all are just looking to get out and see some pretty Christmas lights and Christmas decorations, go do that. I’ll put a plugin for one of my favorites is Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park, a very remote park, a little west of here. And this is true for a lot of parks. Our friends groups at some of our parks do a lot of help to get us decorated or provide with decorations. They do a great job with the team over there at Pennyrile to get that lodge. It’s a very classic looking state park Lodge, like I said, very remote out in the middle of a larger state forest and it just looks phenomenal at Christmas time. So tons of good Christmas things to see still before the holiday gets here. Several parks are doing New Year’s Eve celebrations. Not every resort park, but a handful of them will. So get on the calendar, be sure to check those out. And if you don’t party too hard on New Year’s Eve, even if you do, maybe especially if you do, if you do, especially if you get out and get moving on January one, because most of our parks will do first day hikes. It’ll be a park naturalist led hike somewhere on their park. The vast majority of our parks participate in that. And that’s a national kind of event. First day hikes are. So check out a park close to home if you want to stay close to home, if you’ve got family coming in for the holidays that they’ve ever been, go see what’s just down the road. Or if you’re feeling adventurous, take off and go visit a park on the opposite end of the state. That’s one of my favorite things is that the variety of parks we have from east to west, go somewhere you’ve never been before and check that out and see how it’s similar but also different from the park closest to home.

Rachelle (12:43):

The parks really do for us. They’ve always made just an excellent road trip. If you just want to get out into places more remote in Kentucky, a lot more, then they make a beautiful drive. Not even talking about your stay there, but just driving to so many of them, like Buckhorn Lake. I guess I’ve told you this before, but we’ve actually been to every Kentucky State Park.

Seth (13:13):

Have you been to every one of ’em?

Rachelle (13:14):

Every one of them? Every single one of ’em.

Seth (13:14):

Do y’all believe you’ve got any beat? There’s still like two of ’em. Never been to, that’s terrible. I have not had a chance to get up there yet. But anyway,

Rachelle (13:21):

It’s been a goal of ours for decades.

Seth (13:23):

I think a lot of folks. Yeah,

Rachelle (13:26):

But driving into Buckhorn Lake State Park, that road is so long or Carter Caves going in Carter Caves. So some of them feel so remote and you really get the feeling of being away even though you’re still in Kentucky and not that far. So I think that that’s one thing that

Tony (13:47):

Yeah, and even though there’s some similarities at every state park, every state park is different.

Seth (13:53):

Absolutely.

Tony (13:54):

They’re unique and it is like an adventure. Every one of ’em is going on a little adventure.

Seth (14:00):

Yep.

Rachelle (14:00):

Speaking of Carter Caves, you said that you all have some, there’s a really neat winter event there.

Seth (14:06):

Yes, there is. It is one of my favorite events of the year. I’ve not been out there for this in a long, long time, but they’ve been doing it for several years. The Winter Adventure Weekend, and it happens the last weekend of January every year. And you can do all sorts of fun adventures, activities that some of ’em you can’t even do throughout the other times of the year. You have to register for the different activities you want to, there’s hiking, there’s kayaking, canoeing, excuse me, rock climbing, repelling, more cave tours, which they do cave tours throughout the year, but they do some extra cave tours during this weekend. All kinds of fun stuff going on. Winter Adventure weekend registration should be up now by the time this comes out. So again, you can go to that same website, parks.ky.gov, the information for Winter Adventure weekends already up there. And it is one of our more popular events, probably of any park throughout the year. I forget what year they’re in. It’s been over 10 years though. And the team out there does such a great job all throughout the year. It’s one of our busiest parks. One of the ones with the most recreational activity going on. The team out there is just top notch and winter adventure week. It is kind of like the capstone for all that they do throughout the year.

Rachelle (15:14):

I remember when we were there, they were talking about some of the kayaking that they do there and one of the rangers was explaining to us how they get down to the spot and just getting down to the spot, if I remember right, sounded adventurous enough. But they have some of the most beautiful trails, as do many of the state parks. You all have a great trail system. I think now there’s also in January here at Barren River, Sand Hill Crane.

Seth (15:45):

Yeah, we’re bringing that back. It was an event that happened for several years. It went away probably during the pandemic. That preceded me a little bit. I’m sure that had something to do with it because we will be putting folks in vans to take them on wildlife viewing tours. So where we’re at is one of the major migratory stops for Sand Hill cranes coming through this part of the country. And there’ll be thousands upon thousands that will stop here at the lake as they draw the lake down in winter pool. Those mudflats are exposed and that’s where they’ll go to roofs to spend the night and they’ll get up and fly out to neighboring farm fields feed during the day. And like I said, they’ll congregate here by the thousands and they’re totally remarkable bird. They’ve been around for eons. They have the most unique distinctive call of probably any bird that I can think of. They’re enormous. They stand, I think four plus feet tall.

Rachelle (16:33):

That is significantly. Yeah, that is very tall.

Seth (16:37):

So anyway, this is another thing you need to pre-register for. You can find information to get on the website, call down here at the park and you need to register early in order to guarantee your shirt size. We’re going to have special t-shirts printed up. We’ll have some educational sessions that’ll happen on Friday night. And then you’ll get your choice of van tour options Saturday morning, Saturday evening or Sunday morning and while some other activities going on throughout the day, Saturday, maybe Sunday. Also for people to spend time and do things. The restaurant will be open if you need to get a room for the night, we’ll have discounted room rates for people coming for the sand hill weekend also. But I’m a big bird lover. There’ll be opportunities to see other kind of, I think water fowl and birds too, obviously in the winters when they’re migrating. I’m just so glad to bring this event back. We’ve got a new park naturalist here who comes to us from North Carolina State Parks and she’s super enthusiastic about it. And this is kind of a signature type event. Something that’s very, again, culturally relevant that’s historically relevant and really specific to this part because they get so many sand hills here. And so I think it’s going to be awesome to start offering this again for folks.

Rachelle (17:44):

And before it was stopped for a minute, however many years that was, it always sold out.

Seth (17:52):

I believe it did.

Rachelle (17:52):

It was always super popular. I remember people talking about it. That is something we haven’t ever done.

Tony (17:57):

Yeah. What is the cap on?

Seth (18:00):

That’s a good question, Tony. We’re going to have I think three vans and we can fit nine people in each band. I think we’re doing three vans. I need to double check. Do y’all mind if I pull the website so I can not lie to everybody?

Rachelle (18:10):

That’s always, I mean, you can only take so many people out there safely in the preserving the environment type thought process and mentality.

Seth (18:24):

So the weekend is February 7th through the ninth. I don’t see that we’ve included the cap number of people here, but yeah, we’ll have passenger vans. We’ll bring down and have drivers. There’ll be a naturalist on each van to talk about the different things that you’re seeing when we go out. But call and reserve early, I think the points you’re making

Tony (18:43):

Right.

Seth (18:43):

Go and get your spot booked and you’ll get a guaranteed T-shirt if you can reserve early enough. And if you need a lodge room or cabin cottage for the evening, just let them know that. And they’ve got a special group code that’s on the website that you can get a reduced rate for those things too.

Rachelle (18:59):

That’s neat. And so that’s actually in February and I love it that the Carter Caves weekend and the Sandhill Crane weekend don’t overlap. You can actually do both of those.

Seth (19:11):

You can do both. Yeah. And there’s always stuff going on in parks. Our team is doing a really good job about getting their stuff online so people can plan ahead if they want to. But just looking through here, it’s certainly every weekend, several weekdays, a lot of our parks have gotten into a regular concert routine. I know Rough River Dam does concerts throughout the year. They’re very popular. And then after February rolls around, then it’s start time to thinking about our campgrounds opening back up. Our camper appreciation weekend happens in April every year. And then before you know it school’s out, memorial days here, and it’s just nonstop.

Rachelle (19:43):

Yeah, beaches are open.

Seth (19:44):

Beaches are opening, fingers crossed, pools are going to be opening back up. We’ve had issues with this one here at Baron River, but they’ve got it worked on and I think it’s going to be ready to go next year. So I know that’ll be a welcome addition for all of our guests coming back. It’s a big deal for families coming with kids for them to have things like that to do. So we’re working to make everything, to get everything ready. Because like I said, winter is our slow season. So what I mean by that is just double check. If you’re looking to go to a restaurant. We talked about the number of parks earlier, Tony, 44. We have 17 resort parks with restaurants, the lodge rooms, some of them may be closed a couple days a week, so just check ahead. But they’ll be open throughout the weekends. But again, if the restaurant’s closed, the park’s not closed. You can still come out, you can go hike, you can go sit outside, you can go drive down to the beach area. Now you can’t see this on camera, but we’re looking at Barren River Lake down here right now. It is a great time to get out, even if not everything is open at every park, every day, check online, find out what is, and still make plans to get out and see what you want to see.

Rachelle (20:46):

And even the parks are closed. You all have some of the nicest cottages and cabins really. One thing I haven’t said is that we’ve also gone to a lot of state parks in other states. We’ve gone to several state parks in Minnesota. We’re inching closer to getting all the Tennessee State Park scene. But really there is nothing and they’re great, but there is really nothing that compares to the Kentucky State Park system. It is really, truly top notch.

Seth (21:18):

It very unique because Tennessee, they have about the same number of parks we do somewhere in the mid forties, I think you all, but they only have six resorts. They operate. We’ve got 17.

(21:30):

So that is, it can be a challenge. There’s a lot to take care of at a resort park, no doubt. But that’s a real, that sets us apart that we can offer that kind of experience. Just so many different people throughout the state. And so the other thing that really sets us apart is increasingly more states are starting to charge entrance fees to parks. And we’ve not done that yet. Kentucky is one of, I think six states that are left that have no entrance fees just to get into a park. So people ask us sometimes how many people come to state parks. It’s a hard number for us to track because of that reason or a theater, the parks that are charging entrance fees, they can get a hard count on exactly what their visitation is. So that can be a challenge in some ways when we have to go make a case for why these things are important for just how many people we affect. But it’s something I believe we’re all pretty proud of that these parks are here for everybody. You don’t have to pay. You want to come out here and enjoy the trails, enjoy the grounds picnic, just see all the different things. All of our different state historical sites, learn about why those places are historical sites. That’s all free and it’s something we’re pretty proud to be able to offer if you can be challenging at times. But it’s something that makes those unique in Kentucky still.

Tony (22:38):

Yeah, state parks are a great place to pull in and take a nap too. n a long trip. We’ve done that. We’ve pulled the quilt out on the lawn and took about a 30 minute nap and

Rachelle (22:51):

Reset recharge on a road trip. We can do that. But your staff speaking to free and so much to learn your interpretation. Staff really does a lovely job. We’ve been to several state parks this year and just listening to them and they are genuinely excited about telling us what makes their park special. You do. So just listening to the staff, I mean, I know you have lovely exhibits also in various places, but everyone seems to be really sold on what there is to know and they want to make sure you know why that area has been preserved and protected as a resource and a treasurer for Kentucky.

Seth (23:44):

Yeah, you all are exactly right. Each park has a story and that’s really one of the main things our team, our naturalists, our park recreation supervisors try to do is to tell that story. And we have such a great team. I couldn’t be more proud to work with those folks. And this is a line of work that you don’t get into this line of work if you’re not passionate about it. So this team that’s out across the state, they love what they do. They have challenging days, no doubt. And we’re here to support them and help them do what it is they want to do and then they do such a great job. We’re very blessed to have such a good group. And it’s fun too because we’ve got several folks who have been around for a while, they’ve made a career out of state parks

(24:24):

And we’ve hired on some newer team members here in the last few years just since I’ve been in state parks that are younger. They’re more recently out of school and you see the energy they’ve got and this blending of technology, even things like that that the newer generations are coming up with and how we’re able to bridge that gap and make programs for everybody. Couldn’t be more proud of the work that they do. And if you’re visiting a park, get the recreation schedule, get the program schedule, see what’s going on. Some of that stuff may not show up on the website because in addition to these special events we do, that’s the stuff you’ll learn about online. That’s the stuff we’ll post about on social media. Get a copy of the program schedule when you get to a park and see what’s going on that week.

(25:01):

There’ll be activities all week long. Some of them may have a small fee. There’s some different Christmas ornament events coming up where the naturalist is going to teach you how to make some pretty unique Christmas ornaments. There may be a small fee with that. It’s not much. It’s not to prohibit anybody to cover the cost of materials, but check out what all’s going on on park when you get there. And if nothing else, just go find those people and talk to ’em. Ask them what their favorite things to do are. Ask them what their favorite trails are. They know they’ll know

Rachelle (25:26):

And they really do have opinions. We were at one state park this year and they were like, okay, well definitely do this trail and hopefully today will be the day. But there was an albino deer and they were like, we sure hope you can get a photo of that, but if not, maybe next time. But they know the stuff and they’re excited for you to find the hidden treasures in the park that they care about. So it’s exciting to be out there and their excitement is part of what makes it worth visiting.

Seth (26:05):

Yeah, absolutely. You all mentioned exhibits earlier and so that’s another, this just came to me, but another good idea to do if the weather’s bad, we’ve got some world-class exhibits and even museums on some of our parks. John James Audubon up at Henderson, that Audubon Museum. It’s a gorgeous building. It was built by the CCC, which is cool in and of its own right. We have several CCC structures spread out throughout the state park system, the Civilian Conservation Corps. But that museum is a world-class museum and it’s got, if I’m not mistaken, the more Audubon artifacts than any other place. Another project with that friends group out there at John James Audubon, they have been a tremendous help to that park. And so if it’s a nasty, rainy, snowy day and you’re really, really struggling to find something outside to do, go check out one of our museums. Several of our historic sites have great museums and interpretive exhibits where you can still have a really great day.

Rachelle (26:55):

Big Bone Link has a great museum.

Seth (26:57):

Yeah, Big Bone Link does have a great museum.

Rachelle (26:58):

I mean, yeah, lots of good history there

Seth (27:01):

Earlier in the fall. It makes me think about an event they do. Salt Fest. They’ve been doing that event for over 40 years. It’s always the third weekend in October.

(27:09):

And we were able to bring back the school kids this year. So we did, I don’t know how many kids, I think over a thousand kids on that Friday, been open to the public on Saturday and Sunday and they have living history demonstrations going on. They’ve worked with some of the native tribes because that area is, the history of that area goes back eons. And there have been several different fossils and important archeological finds there. And it talks about how the salt lakes there, how early European settlers of that area would make the, there’s just tons of stuff to do. The point is one of our longest running biggest events of the year, and that happens up at a big bone lick. They have got that phenomenal museum. They’ve got their own bison herd up there and they’ve got a great little campground all the way on top of that hill.

Rachelle (27:51):

We haven’t been to the campground.

Seth (27:53):

Go check out the campground by footprint. I’d say one of our smaller parks, I don’t know what their total acreage is, but it’s not a resort park. They don’t have a resort, but there’s still a ton of good stuff to do out there. Easy to get to from northern Kentucky, from Louisville. It’s not hard to get to at all. So that’s a great little park.

Rachelle (28:08):

Do they have a restaurant there?

Seth (28:09):

No ma’am. No restaurant there.

Rachelle (28:12):

Yeah, I think we kayaked at the river by Big Bone Lake.

Tony (28:19):

I can’t remember the name of it.

Rachelle (28:20):

I can’t remember the name of the river or creek. But anyway, lovely adventures everywhere. Very affordable. As you have mentioned before.

Seth (28:29):

And you all talk about road trips. Another fun thing to do too is on the website we’ve got an interactive map. So some parks are really remote. We’ve talked about buckhorn, we’ve talked about Pennyrile. Those are very remote and that experience is kind of, you go immerse yourself in that. And that’s something as people, as we spend all our time, you’ll see me here with my laptop and cell phones. We need to do more of that to talk out of both sides of my mouth. We’re improving wifi, all the parks so you don’t have to be totally disconnected. So you can still check in, but lean into the idea of getting out, getting outdoors, spending some time disconnected from the things that drive us down every day during our busy days. The other thing to do is, one of my favorite little tours is go stay at one of our resort parks in western Kentucky, Kentucky Damn village, Kenlake, Lake Barkley, those are huge parks with lodges, cottages on those beautiful lakes out in western Kentucky. But make plans to take a day trip and go to places like Columbus, Belmont State historic site up on one of the bluffs that overlooked the Mississippi River, a hugely important Civil War site that was held by the Confederates at First General Grant saw some of his first action as general in the Civil War down there when the union came in and moved the Confederates out of that area. And then right up the road from there is Wickliffe Mounds on state historic site and park manager there does a phenomenal job interpreting that park. It was actually opened as a private park in the middle of the 20th century I think Then the state acquired it and it’s got artifacts that they backed thousands of years to these ancient Mississippian Native American cultures that lived there, that traded with other cultures and other communities around that area. The drive is fantastic. Each one of those parks are amazing. They don’t have the resorts, but again, you can stay more than the ones just down the road and make an awesome little mini road trip. Just take it in places like that.

Rachelle (30:10):

Let the state park be kind of your hub.

Seth (30:13):

Yeah, absolutely.

Rachelle (30:13):

And speaking of things like that, a lot of your, we’ve talked about the remoteness again of the state parks, but a lot of them are around really thriving like trail communities too. And you all have a trail town system here in Kentucky or we have a trail town system here in Kentucky where there’s a lot to do in the little communities nearby as well.

Seth (30:35):

Yeah, I’ve worked on the Trail Town program for a number of years. It’s been a lot of fun. It is been fun to see the towns that have really leaned into this. The idea being these are communities located not just next to state parks, but located next to outdoor destinations.

Rachelle (30:51):

Absolutely.

Seth (30:52):

The Red River Gorge, the Daniel Boone National Forest, some of our great river. We’ve got more, I used to always hear the statistic that Kentucky had more miles of navigable water than any state except Alaska. I’ve heard the same thing about Alabama and Minnesota, so I don’t know what’s true, but the point is we’ve got a lot of it, right?

(31:07):

And so there’s phenomenal canoeing, kayaking, there’s some whitewater rafting. Anyway, these trail towns are places where after you’re done with your adventure, go get something good to eat, go get a beer, go get a bourbon, go get something, a good local coffee shop, go check out a local museum, local cultural center, find out what makes these places unique. And that’s what the Trail Town program is all about. And I think we’ve got tons of great trail towns all over the state that have really done a good job. But I think the best example, and one that a lot of people will probably be familiar with would be the community of Slade and the Red River Gorge and Miguel’s Pizza. If you’ve been to the Gorge, you’ve been to Miguel’s Pizza. And so that was around before Trail Town. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to take credit for that. But that’s the idea is you’ve got these local places because that’s what you all, I assume y’all are like me and most of the people watching or listening to this are too, when I travel somewhere, I don’t go to chain restaurants or I try not to.

(32:00):

You want to go to something that’s unique. And so that’s what Miguel’s is. That’s one of a kind place. And we’ve got little hidden gyms like that all over the state. And so it’s not the end all be all. There’s tons of great places to see even outside trail towns, but it’s a really good starting point to get out and find some of our hidden gems or places that are just one of a kind that you’re not going to find anywhere else. And part of the fun to traveling is to me.

Rachelle (32:24):

And with a little planning and a little map like your interactive map online, you can kind of put together a, Wickcliffe is close to Lake Barkley and we can take in the Land Between the Lake, which is not a state park, but it is a US

Seth (32:41):

National recreation area. Yeah, yeah. A whole podcast about that in and of itself at LBL. It is a phenomenal budget there. We partner with them on a ton of stuff. Yeah. Sorry, I didn’t mean to cut you off.

Rachelle (32:52):

With just a little planning. Like check, check, check. And then oh my gosh, we couldn’t get it all done. We really do have to go back over there.

Seth (33:02):

There’s this huge effort out there. I’ll give a plug to this group. It’s called the River Lands Alliance, and it’s basically a collaboration of two states, Kentucky and Tennessee, the far western reaches of each state. And it’s trying to brand and promote primarily the outdoor offerings in that area because we’ve just talked about some of the biggest recreation destinations really in the southeast US. Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley, there’s the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge, Clark River National Wildlife Refuge, all the state parks in both states there, the Mississippi River, the Great River Road, which is a scenic highway that stretches all the way the entire Lincoln of the Mississippi River and includes western Tennessee and Kentucky, of course. There’s just so much to do out there and that whole Jackson purchase region of Kentucky, it’s its own separate kind of cultural identity out there and it’s phenomenal. I grew up the entire opposite end of the state and I love to travel out there any chance I can. And you see a lot of similarities. The hospitality is great, there’s great things to do outdoors, but the scenery may be different and it’s just a remarkable part of the world. So

Rachelle (34:07):

I agree and all very accessible for anybody who wants to take a Kentucky Road trip or a Tennessee Road trip. There’s so much to do.

Tony (34:16):

I mean there really is. You could plan the next 20 years of vacations right here in the state of Kentucky.

Seth (34:23):

You could

Tony (34:23):

Just going to state parks and small communities and there’s a lot to do.

Seth (34:30):

Hit the high point. Hit the big stuff too. Go to the Derby, go on the BourbonTrail.

Rachelle (34:34):

Yes.

Seth (34:34):

Go see Keenland is my favorite race strike in the state. It’s an amazing experience.

Rachelle (34:39):

It’s quintessential Kentucky.

Seth (34:40):

But you’re right, Tony, if you just did thinking, all right, my family’s going to take a vacation every year. You can go to the beach, beaches are great, but if you start looking around, you could have several years worth of different experiences here in Kentucky that each one would be different and each one would be amazing.

Rachelle (34:53):

Yeah, it’s taken us decades to achieve going to every state park.

Tony (34:58):

Kentucky it has,

Rachelle (34:59):

But not one mile or day we’ve begrudged. I mean it’s always been

Tony (35:05):

No, and like you said a little while ago, some of these state parks, you can actually get a couple of them in a day.

Seth (35:12):

Make it like a base camp. Yep.

Rachelle (35:14):

We could literally talk on it.

Seth (35:16):

Yeah, I could ramble for a long time.

Rachelle (35:17):

I mean, I just think that the wisdom that Kentucky started out with a hundred years ago to set aside these places, we’re thankful. We’re thankful for people like you who continue to protect and preserve these places. What hidden do you want to share with us? A couple of things people may not know just on a regular day that you could go do.

Seth (35:49):

That’s a hard thing.

Rachelle (35:50):

It know.

Seth (35:51):

It’s hard to pin down. Let me think.

Rachelle (35:52):

It’s hard for you. I think too because so much about so many of the places, it’s kind of an unfair question. I think that, for example, I’ll go first. Everybody knows about the amazing main waterfall at Cumberland Falls, but we always make sure we go to Eagle Falls too as well.

Seth (36:18):

Dog Slaughter Falls is down there too, I think.

Rachelle (36:20):

Yes. So it’s things like that that we know the highlights of so many state parks, but I think every state park also has a little something that maybe not everybody, oh, let’s talk about the moonbow, since we’re talking about Cumberland Falls for a second, that calendar comes out every year. It’s always a hot topic on, I know the blogs that we put out want to look at those dates and it’s always, even though we’ve got dates, there’s still so many variabilities as far as visibility and what the skies are going to be doing that night. But that’s a lot of people know about it. But still that’s something not everyone is aware of that. It’s one of the only moonbows, consistent moonbows in the world.

Seth (37:19):

Yeah, I got it. Right. One of only two naturally occurring moon bows that happened on a consistent basis.

Rachelle (37:25):

Yes.

Seth (37:25):

The other one’s in South Africa.

Rachelle (37:27):

Yes, I think really

Seth (37:28):

Far away, but it’s every full moon. If the skies are clear and the moon moonlight hits and refracts,I think I got that right, off the mist coming off the moon bow, you can see a naturally occurring rainbow. And in years past, I think we’re tentatively planning on doing this again. We’ve done some special events around it where you can get really good shots of it. If you’re a good photographer, you’ve got the right camera equipment and the right setup. You can get better views of it even than you can with a naked eye, but definitely go see the moonbow. If you’ve not seen the moonbow, it’s a must. And if you don’t get it the first time, then enjoy everything else there is to do at Cumberland Falls, if it’s too cloudy, or rainy come back again. It took me three times to get it before I was able to see it. So it is part of the adventure. And you go down there and sometimes there’s a crowd of people, especially if it’s warm outside. So again, another plug for wintertime, the crowd may not be that, but you can get on one of those viewing platforms and everybody’s trying to talk and see and you’re watching clouds to see if there’s going to be a break in the sky. Absolutely. And the moonbow is amazing.

Rachelle (38:23):

It becomes like a crowd atmosphere almost like you’re at a game except you’re on this rock, not cliff, but on this rock face over the falls. Have you ever been to Acadia?

Speaker 4 (38:37):

No.

Rachelle (38:37):

Okay. So Acadia National Park on Cadillac Mountain, you go up and everyone is standing in the morning waiting for the first break of day and it’s like the first sunlight that touches North America, and all of a sudden you and 200 of your new friends are all, it kind of reminds me of waiting for the Moonbow

Seth (39:04):

I can see that. Absolutely. Yeah.

Rachelle (39:05):

At Cumberland Falls.

Seth (39:06):

Absolutely.

Rachelle (39:07):

And then it’s like, there it is. And of course, sometimes on Cadillac Mountain, you’re so far up, you have the shroud of the clouds and you don’t see it great either. So I like the way you said it’s part of the fun to chase it. It took you three times.

Tony (39:24):

It really is. I remember we loaded the kids up one night about eight o’clock.

Rachelle (39:31):

Yes.

Tony (39:32):

And we’re what, three hours away?

Rachelle (39:33):

We’re three hours.

Tony (39:34):

And we drove to try to get a glimpse of the Moon Bow

Rachelle (39:38):

Did you see it that night?

Tony (39:40):

We did not.

Rachelle (39:41):

We did not.

Tony (39:42):

And it was cold, but we had a great time and we loaded back up and went back home.

Seth (39:47):

That’s a must-see for anybody in Kentucky. You’ve got to go down there and see that if you’ve not.

Rachelle (39:51):

And just so we’re giving everybody the information, the moon rises at different times throughout the year, so sometimes the window might be from one to 3:00 AM. Sometimes the window might be from 10 30 to 1230. And I think that affects crowd times as well.

Seth (40:09):

It does. We will have the peak viewing times on the website too, on the Cumberland Falls website, on the Cumberland Falls webpage within our parks website for sure. But you’re right, A lot of people know Cumberland Falls. A lot of people know Natural Bridge, Pine Mountain, but there’s so much more beyond that. I always, and this is not just a specific experience, Rachelle, but I always plug the Breaks Interstate Park whenever I can.

Rachelle (40:28):

Oh yeah.

Seth (40:29):

I grew up close to there. It was one of my playgrounds growing up when we went off to school, brought friends back over the summer. That’s where we took them. They started doing elk tours up there. It’s been one of the more popular things they’ve done in recent memory is to take people over into Virginia and see this phenomenal elk herd on this great piece of property that they’ve partnered with. There’s a new waterpark up there, they just opened up last summer. They’ve renovated their lodges, they’ve got great cottages. There’s a lake up there and the main drop, at least in the world I came up in, is the Russell Fork River that comes out of Virginia and cuts through into Kentucky. And that is world-class whitewater. And every October, there’s a dam over in Virginia when they start to lower the level of that lake, the water comes through the Russell Fork and there are sections of the river that if you’re not a very experienced paddler, you don’t need to be on.

(41:18):

But there’s other stretches anybody can do. It’s more class two, class three stuff. There’s some rafting companies that have put you on a guided rafting trip up there, but you can see all of it. And people will descend from all over to come down. And that’s kind of just fun in itself to see that scene and all these, I mean, they’re really world-class athletes in their discipline in whitewater paddling, and I’ve never done that. I’m not that good of a paddler, but I have friends that have, and every fall in the weekends, that’s where they’re at guaranteed. I’ve already talked about Columbus Belmont. That’s another one of my favorite little places that not as many folks know about because again, it’s the exact opposite end of the state. But sitting up there on the bluff, there’s this enormous anchor in chain that the Confederates stretched across the river to try to prevent union boats from making it any farther downstream.

(42:01):

And they’ve got up there on the park. It’s got two, I think, civilian Conservation Corps structures there, a picnic shelter. And the little camphouse that sits right beside that campground is a CCC building. But just walking around the ground is a beautifully maintained park. We’ve got a new park manager there who’s worked there for several years. He does a phenomenal job. But you can see the old earthworks where they dug in to the hills there and made those earthworks. And you can just see all that Adam walk through that. It’s pretty amazing. Wickliffe Mounds is another one of, I know I’ve already mentioned. Greenbow Lake up in northeast Kentucky. Greenbow Lake State Resort Park. That’s actually the largest park we’ve got in terms of acreage.

Rachelle (42:40):

I didn’t realize that.

Seth (42:41):

Yeah, I think it’s 3000 acres. So there’s over 30 miles of trails there that we maintain. It’s multi-use trails. They got a campground. Greenbow Lake itself, it’s a great fishing lake. It’s an idle speed only lake, so you can put big boats in there, but you can’t run your big outboard motor. But that means it’s also a great lake for people in canoes or kayaks. You can get out and not have to be worried about any kind of conflicts with motor boats. But the Jesse Stewart Lodge is the name of that. And Jesse Stewart, a former Kentucky poet laureate, his home place is just up the road from there and it’s now in Kentucky State Nature Preserve. So that’s another great little day trip to go up there and see that nature preserve. And they’ve got tons of artifacts, exhibits, information about Jesse Stewart there at that lodge. They’ve got a public pool there in the summertime, so it’s not just for lodge gas like some of our pools. Anybody can come up there. Got a big water slide, really just a great park that not as many people to start familiar with. It’s not far from Carter Caves.

Rachelle (43:35):

We actually had loaded up our kayaks one summer and did kayaking at Carter Caves and Greenbow at the same time. So kind of what we were talking about, you can really do more. And that made a great trip for us to hit those two parks at one time. Green Bow Lake was beautiful.

Seth (43:57):

I mean

Rachelle (43:58):

To paddle

Seth (43:59):

Grayson Lake’s another good one up there too. And there’s an outfitter called Sub Kentucky who do standup paddleboard tours up there. I don’t know if they do kayaks and canoes. I think they may also do that, but I know they do standup paddleboards and there’s some awesome rock formations in the upper stretches of that lake that are really cool to paddle up into. Nolin Lake State Park, which is just up the road from us here, great campground. Their team there does a phenomenal job with interpretation, different recreation programs. And they’ve also got phenomenal mountain bike trails in that park. The Brier Creek Trail System. They’ve partnered several years ago with the Bowling Green chapter of the Kentucky Mountain Biking Association to build, I think it’s 10 miles, maybe even a little over 10 miles up there. And right here where we’re sitting, there’s not mountain bike park, there’s not mountain bike trails in this park yet. Fingers crossed. Maybe you could have me back in the future to talk about something like that. But just down the road from here, there’s two newer trail systems, one over at the dam at Barren River and one just out past the entrance of the park here. Phenomenal mountain biking. So again, this could be your hub. You come here and stay and you’ve got access to county. What’s also down in Bowling Green County, what’s out of Mammoth Cave National Park? 30 plus miles of good quality single track mountain bike trails. Really. It’s hard to cover it all. Don’t forget a lot of good stuff.

Rachelle (45:17):

It really is. I mean, again, your website is a great resource for people to find all of this, but there are so many, depending on what you’re most interested in, they’re great hubs for you to just plant yourself at a state park and experience communities. Other smaller state parks that may not have cabins and cottages and campgrounds and such. And the trail systems. The trail systems in Kentucky are just truly phenomenal.

Seth (45:51):

I think we manage over 350 miles just on state park property and that doesn’t count. So many of our parks will be adjacent to a nature preserve or a national forest or whatever else in those trail systems. You can expand just beyond that and it’s a lot to take care of. But again, to talk about our team out there, that’s part of their roles too, is taking care of these trails. And if you’re interested in trails, maybe you want to come help out, that’s a plug. Get up with your park, see if there’s a forensic group or see if you can come out, maybe help do some trail work. Sometimes we have a lot of good volunteers. One trail we’ll talk about that’s relatively new back at John James Audubon at Henderson for that John James Audubon Museum is, there’s a series of trails there kind of on the upper areas of the park.

(46:35):

But state parks through a partnership with the friends group and some other agencies were able to acquire, I think it was like 600 acres of bottom land adjacent to the river there on the lower side of that park. And we’ve put in a fully a accessible boardwalk trail through that wetland area. It’s awesome. The gentleman that designed it was in a wheelchair and he made sure that it was fully accommodating the folks who have mobility issues. And that’s an area that we’re trying to improve on across state parks is to be more accommodating, welcoming and accessible for anybody with any kind of challenge. It doesn’t just have to be mobility issues, parks are here for everybody. But that’s one good example that we’ve got on the ground that’s done. That was a partnership that anybody in the world can go out there and enjoy. And so that’s relatively new too. So if you go to Audubon, make sure you go down there and explore that wetlands border. Totally different habitat. It’s amazing down there.

Rachelle (47:26):

We have seen it, but we haven’t been yet. And excellent point. Kentucky does have some very thoughtfully created trails that are accessible for people who need a variety of accessibility. I’m thinking about the National Park Service that also has the kiosks that we’ll read to you, the braille boards that you can look through. So a lot of thoughtful things in Kentucky have been done. Accessible canoe launches and things like that.

Seth (48:10):

Yeah, I’m excited to see more of those come online. I think we’re going to have a few more here in the next few months too. It’s state parks and it’s some of our trail town communities. We know we’ve got a lot of work to do, but it’s something we’re absolutely focused on and working to make better

Rachelle (48:24):

And that’s exciting. Kentucky thinking about water, Kentucky’s also home to the, well Kentucky has one national water trail.

Seth (48:33):

Yes, we do. The first and only national water trail in Kentucky.

Rachelle (48:36):

Yeah. So we are

Seth (48:39):

Credit to you right here.

Rachelle (48:41):

Well, we are nationally recognized for the beauty of our waterways, I think.

Seth (48:45):

Yeah.

Rachelle (48:46):

And there’s so many that the Green and Nolin are certainly, of course, dear to our hearts, but there’s so many beautiful waterways to be experienced in Kentucky. So what else?

Tony (49:01):

Well, I mean, I think we’ve talked a lot about all the adventure that can be had at the state parks across the state, but they’re also a good place just to come and chill out,

Seth (49:14):

Relaxing in one

Tony (49:16):

Experience, some peace and quiet and tranquility and kind of get reset.

Rachelle (49:21):

Good point. You don’t have to get out on a trail.

Tony (49:25):

You don’t want to hike, bike or paddle.

Rachelle (49:27):

Drag a kayak anywhere.

Tony (49:28):

Just come eat and sleep and rest.

Seth (49:35):

Working on updating a lot of our accommodations to make the rooms more comfortable. Our food service team does a phenomenal job. We’ve got such good chefs and the team that helps them out of Frankfort. They’re really dialed in. And we do big holiday meals. I know it’s past Thanksgiving now, but most of our resort parks do big buffets on Thanksgiving. I came down here last year at Thanksgiving and there was one family that had been coming here for Thanksgiving for 40 years.

(50:03):

Mother’s Day is another big one. I believe we do Easter also, but outside of that, just good bite to eat. Get a good, comfortable place to stay. Enjoy the opportunity to unwind and if you want to get even more secluded, like we talked about earlier, go to the naturalist, go to somebody here on park, be like, Hey, what’s a good quiet spot on park where I can go? Just kind of chill out, maybe put a hammock up or something like that. Get a good bench, enjoy the lake. Whatever it is. They’re great places to just take a breath, step away from everything for a while, which we need. We all need. It’s good for a lot of things. And so they’re great places to do that. Absolutely. For all

Rachelle (50:39):

For all ages.

Seth (50:40):

For all ages. Yes ma’am. Absolutely.

Rachelle (50:42):

From families to those of us who may be a little bit older. Okay. Thank you so much.

Seth (50:50):

Thanks for having me guys.

Rachelle (50:51):

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Seth (50:52):

No. No, I don’t think so. I think we’ve covered everything. That was on my little list of things to talk about. Mainly just get out and see us get online, check the website, follow us on all our social media. We’re on. Definitely Facebook and Instagram or put some more stuff on YouTube now. Trying to be more interactive there. And get online, check out a park close to you, or better yet, check out one that’s not close to you. Right. Go somewhere else and see what all there is to see.

Rachelle (51:14):

I will do one more plug for gift giving because we love state parks, national parks. We have been given for years, state Park gift cards, and those are always appreciated and make such a nice gift for anyone. And I’m sure they’re available at any one of your state parks.

Seth (51:37):

Yeah. I think every park will have somewhere where you can get one either in the lodge, the gift shop, some may be able to be purchased from the golf course, some of our museums. Yeah, just call the park you’re going to and see where to get ’em at. They make a heck of a good gift. You’re absolutely right.

Rachelle (51:51):

They can cover accommodations or a meal or whatever you want to do at the park, so thank you so much, Seth.

Seth (51:58):

Thank you guys.

Tony (51:58):

Thank you. Appreciate it.

Seth (51:59):

Can we do it again sometime, maybe?

Rachelle (52:00):

Let’s do it. Let’s do it.