Attractions

Levi Jackson Kevin Hays Photography

LEVI JACKSON STATE PARK

The historic Wilderness Road was the main route by settlers for more than 50 years to reach Kentucky from Virginia.  In 1775, Daniel Boone blazed a trail for the Transylvania Company from Fort Chiswell in Virginia through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky.  It was later lengthened, following Native American trails, to the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville. 

The park is crossed by portions of the Wilderness Road and Boone’s Trace, another pioneer trail blazed by Daniel Boone.  It is still open today to hiking and while the Wilderness Road has since been paved as part of Kentucky Route 229.

McHargue’s Mill is a reproduction working watermill with authentic interior works.  It was built on the banks of Little Laurel River by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1939.  Outside the mill is a large display of millstones.  The working millstones in the mill were brought over the Wilderness Road in 1805.  Fresh ground corn meal can be purchased by the visitors.  The mill is open seasonally.

CUMBERLAND FALLS

Cumberland Falls, sometimes called the Little Niagara, the Niagara of the South, or the Great Falls, is a waterfall on the Cumberland River in southeastern Kentucky. Spanning the river at the border of McCreary and Whitley counties, the waterfall is the central feature of Cumberland Falls State Resort Park.

It is believed the current falls formed as the result of erosion from its original starting place at an escarpment far downstream. The site of the falls was occupied in pre-modern times by a variety of indigenous peoples, and more recently has passed through the multiple private owners until eventually being donated, along with surrounding land to Kentucky in 1930.

It is the only site in the Western Hemisphere where a moonbow is regularly visible.

Cumberland Falls Kevin Hays

KENTUCKY SPLASH WATERPARK

The Hal Rogers Family Entertainment Center is home to the Kentucky Splash Water Park. The center includes an 18,000 square ft. wave pool, a Lazy river, a kiddy activity pool, a triple slide complex, a double slide tower, a championship miniature golf course, an arcade, a driving range, and its newest addition of a 18 site full hookup campground with 5 tent sites (without utitilies). Featuring water, electric, sewer, cable, Wi-Fi, and bathhouse. You can now stay and play. You’ll have so much fun; you’ll want to come back again, and again.
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SANDERS CAFE – ORIGINAL KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN

The Harland Sanders Café is a historic restaurant located in Corbin, Kentucky. Colonel Harland Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, operated the restaurant from 1940 to 1956. Sanders also developed the famous KFC secret recipe at the café during the 1940s.  It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 7, 1990.

After moving to Corbin in 1930, Sanders started a service station across the street from the present location of the Harland Sanders Café along U.S. Route 25. Sanders served meals for travelers in the back of the service station at his own dining table, which seated six people.  By 1937, the culinary skills of Sanders became well known and he built the Sanders Café, which seated 142 people. Two years later, the restaurant was destroyed by fire.

The Harland Sanders Café was renovated and reopened in the fall of 1990 as a museum. A modern KFC kitchen was also built adjacent to the café on some of the former motel land, and the two structures attached by an entrance lobby that contains many of the smaller museum displays. The model motel room was restored to its original state as part of the renovation, and modern restrooms added to the back of the original structure. While at the museum, visitors can tour the office of Harland Sanders, see the kitchen where Sanders developed the KFC secret formula, and view KFC memorabilia.