9 Most Loved Tourist Attractions In Kentucky
Kentucky may lack oceans, major mountains, and megacities, but that does not mean it lacks attractions. Instead of looking up for entertainment in the Bluegrass State, one should look down. From the titular turf to a natural gorge to a manmade cavern to the largest cave system in the world, many of Kentucky's most loved tourist attractions are ground deep. "Most loved" is hard to quantify, but the following nine picks are highly rated by out-of-staters (and don't worry: not all are underground).
Louisville Mega Cavern
Though too kitschy for some Kentuckians, the Louisville Mega Cavern swallows tons of tourists for a unique experience underneath the Louisville Zoo. It began as a limestone quarry in the 1930s and is now an amusement park and secure storage facility totaling over 4 million square feet.
Visitors can zip around the "world’s only fully underground zip line course," take a tram or foot tour through the cavern's nooks and crannies, and get stopped by security while searching for classified government docs. Despite being subterranean, the Louisville Mega Cavern is considered the largest building in Kentucky.
National Corvette Museum
Since 1981, Bowling Green, Kentucky, has been the sole manufacturer of "America's Sports Car," the Chevrolet Corvette. To commemorate this high-speed history, the National Corvette Museum was built in Bowling Green in 1994. In 2023, BetKentucky named it the eighth most popular attraction in the state (the Louisville Mega Cavern was seventh).
Fittingly, the National Corvette Museum became another Mega Cavern when a sinkhole formed underneath its Skydome in 2014 and swallowed eight Corvettes. The cars were recovered, the hole was filled, and now you can learn about the at-fault geological phenomenon via a permanent exhibit.
Red River Gorge
As a fully natural attraction, the Red River Gorge is like a little Grand Canyon carved into Kentucky. Located inside the Daniel Boone National Forest, the gorge is delineated as the 29,000-acre Red River Gorge Geological Area and contains cliffs, natural bridges, and the "largest collection of sandstone arches east of the Rockies."
It offers hiking, zip lining, rock climbing, canoeing, kayaking, scenic driving, and even eating. Miguel's Pizza is almost as famous as the topography, which has been a place to gorge after exploring the gorge since 1984.
Kentucky Bourbon Trail
The Kentucky Bourbon Trail is not so much one attraction as it is a network of attractions connected by one theme: bourbon whiskey. Bourbon has its roots in Kentucky, which tourists can trace and taste in the present day by visiting the 46 distilleries along the trail. These include the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience in Louisville, Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, and Bardstown Bourbon Co. in Bardstown.
The trail also has eateries like The Kitchen Table Restaurant at James B. Beam and accommodations like the Chateau Bourbon Bed & Breakfast. Over 18 million people have taken the trail since it was blazed in 1999 (~2.5 million people in 2023 alone). About three-quarters of visitors come from outside Kentucky.
Cumberland Falls
Dubbed the "Niagara of the South," Cumberland Falls is a 68-foot-tall, 125-foot-wide waterfall that attracts roughly 1 million people per year. It headlines Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, which also features 17 miles of hiking trails, a pool, campground, gift shop, snack shop, gem mine, and the legendary DuPont Lodge containing the Riverview Restaurant.
The most mesmerizing site in Cumberland Falls is the moonbow, which is a rainbow that forms with water mist and moonlight rather than sunlight. This spot in Kentucky is one of the few moonbow locales in the world.
Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory
Another Kentucky icon in name and reputation, Louisville Slugger, is a brand of baseball bats born in the city circa 1884. Around 140 years later, the Slugger is still produced in Louisville, and its history is preserved as a one-of-a-kind attraction. The Louisville Slugger Museum not only showcases Sluggers used by Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and many other legends, but it boasts "The World's Largest Baseball Bat," a Guinness-anointed Slugger that stands 120 feet tall and weighs 68,000 pounds. After admiring historic bats, big and small, you can see how new bats are made in the Slugger factory, which shares a building with the museum.
Ark Encounter
Though it may not seem on par with secular wonders, Ark Encounter in tiny Williamstown was 2023's most popular Kentucky attraction, according to BetKentucky. This full-scale representation of the Biblical ark is enchanting to those from all walks of faith.
Ark Encounter is 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, 51 feet high, and has three decks full of exhibits, including live animals. About 1 million people visit per year. Many more don't visit but debate online about it and its sister attraction, the Creation Museum, which is located in nearby Petersburg.
Churchill Downs
Louisville's Churchill Downs is home to the Kentucky Derby, an iconic sporting event that has been running annually since 1875. As such, Kentucky is a horse racing mecca. When the race isn't on, Churchill Downs attracts tourists with the Kentucky Derby Museum, which has two floors of interactive exhibits headlined by a 360-degree, 4K movie screen.
Tourists who love the horse part more than the racing part can skip Churchill Downs and visit the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. There you can see horses roaming beautiful bluegrass farmland as well as pulling carriages, carrying customers, and participating in equestrian events.
Mammoth Cave
Kentucky is a cavernous state, so you can't forget about one of the main attractions, Mammoth Cave. Spanning more than 426 miles and counting (new passageways are regularly discovered), Mammoth Cave is the world's longest-known cave system. Cave tours are the main draw of Mammoth, but as part of the larger Mammoth Cave National Park, it also attracts people with three frontcountry campgrounds; 13 backcountry campsites; over 80 miles of trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding; and multiple rivers and tributaries for fishing, kayaking, canoeing, and boating.
Unlike California and New York, Kentucky is an underground tourist destination—both figuratively and literally. Though not the most mainstream choice for a vacation, the Bluegrass State hosts a bevy of beloved attractions, many of which are below the earth. Dig down to the Louisville Mega Cavern and Mammoth Cave for subterranean merriment, play below and above the surface at the National Corvette Museum, Red River Gorge, Kentucky Bourbon Trail, and Cumberland Falls, and stay above ground for fun at Churchill Downs, the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, and the Ark Encounter. You are bound to fall in love with Kentucky like so many have before.
