Explore Kentucky's Appalachia At This Underrated State Park
By Sarah McCosham|Published July 05, 2022
×
Sarah McCosham
Author
I write like it's my job - because it is! I have a Master's in English and love words: crossword puzzles, Scrabble games, Wordle, and, of course, good, old-fashioned books.
I'm a writer and editor at OnlyInYourState, and a contributing writer at Cincinnati Magazine. I love the Great Outdoors and am endlessly awestruck by this beautiful country of ours. Coffee keeps me going, yoga keeps me sane, my kids keep me grounded, and my writing keeps me inspired.
With 45 Kentucky State Parks, it’s easy to play favorites. And, with places like Cumberland Falls State Resort Park that have pretty much everything you could possibly want in terms of outdoor recreation, well, we don’t blame you for visiting the same spots time and time again. Central Kentucky is the land of the Daniel Boone National Forest after all, and there are numerous state parks within this expanse that offer endless opportunities for recreation. But Kentucky is more than gorgeous gorges, subterranean caverns, and resplendent bodies of water; the Bluegrass is also home to majestic mountains and tree-covered knobs, with the Appalachians framing the southern and eastern boundary of the state. Today, we’re exploring an underrated state park in the heart of Kentucky’s Appalachia region: Pine Mountain State Resort Park.
Nestled in the hills of Kentucky's Appalachia, there is a place that's truly magnificent.
The name for Kentucky's first state park changed a few years later so as to avoid any confusion between it and Cumberland Gap National Park, the latter of which would come along in 1940.
Advertisement
The hiking at this Kentucky State Park is phenomenal, traversing through the lush forests and massive rock formations for which the Bluegrass is well known.
As the story goes, once upon a time, some children of Pineville were having trouble sleeping at night because they were afraid that the large rocks that loomed over Pineville on Pine Mountain would break free, come tumbling down the mountain, and smash into town.
So in 1933, 50 local citizens, along with members of the Kiwanians and Boy Scouts, assembled the “Chained Rock Club” with the sole purpose of, essentially, coming up with a solution so the local kids could sleep better at night.
That summer, the club obtained an obsolete steam shovel from a Virginia quarry to assist in this endeavor. The machine’s chain weighed over 2,500 pounds and had to be halved so a four-mule team could pull each portion up the mountain in two trips.
When the mules gave out, the Chained Rock Club’s beleaguered members carried the chains the rest of the way. Atop the mountain, the crew welded the chain back together, stretched it 101 feet across the abyss, and anchored at each end with steel pegs, sunk into the thick rock with hand-drilled holes.
Today, Chained Rock State Resort Park remains one of the most wondrous places in the Bluegrass, with the resort boasting jaw-dropping vistas of the surrounding mounts.
And if you're looking for the best place to revel in the resplendence of Kentucky's Appalachian region, you will be totally captivated by this immensely beautiful, underrated Kentucky State Park.
