Visiting Southeast Kentucky

[safetygirl-16]

Hmm, I think the guy from Pikeville is lost. Come through Middlesboro (and stay all nite if you wish - there is a Best Western and Holiday Inn Express), then go through the tunnel (which will take you thru 3 states - TN,KY,VA), then stop be the visitor center on the other side of the tunnel (make sure you don't miss the heart-shaped overlook where you can see all 3 states), then take Route 58 thru VA. to Big Stone Gap thru Appalachia across Big Black Mtn (14 miles) back into KY. You'll come out in Lynch, go thru Benham and into Cumberland (defintely no crowds), then you can travel up US 119 back. This round trip without any stops is about 2-3 hours, but what a wonderful journey.

[EclecticEars]

Eastern Kentucky is a "big small" place. I mean that the eastern 2/5 of Kentucky is a vast expanse of hills and forests, basically. Don't get me wrong, I like hiking, but I find many hillsides in eastern Ky. to be litter-covered, so that coupled with high gas prices prompts me to hike closer to home here in central Kentucky.

Anyway, a "big" town might be Pikeville (pop. 6,300), Middlesboro (pop. 10,500), or the largest city in eastern Ky., Ashland (pop. 21,000). All of these are still very small towns. The only metropolitan area with any presence in eastern Kentucky is the Huntington MSA, which expands into three RURAL eastern Ky. counties.

If you love hiking, you can try Red River Gorge or Natural Bridge State Resort Park, which has a nice lodge. Visit the Colonel Sanders Cafe and Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, in and near Corbin, respectively. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is supposedly where Daniel Boone hiked through to enter the new frontier, Kentucky.

Apart from these things, there's not much to offer east of I-75. Sorry.