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Pine
Mountain is often snowcapped in early spring, but local
gardeners are already planting in the valleys and the redbud
trees are in full bloom. Come visit most any
time for music, art, crafts and fun.
a t t r a c t i o n s
Pine Mountain,
the second highest peak in Kentucky. See black bear, deer
and elk as well as a variety of small animals and birds.
Travel along scenic Little Shepherd Trail, a one-lane paved
road, from Kingdom Come State Park to the Pine Mountain Trail
Overlook near Whitesburg. Hunt in the Hensley/Pine Mountain
Wildlife Management Area. Hike the historic Scuttle Hole Gap
wagon road or the Pine Mountain Trail Linear State Park.
Bad Branch Falls
State Nature Preserve. A 60-foot
waterfall is the focal point of this 2,639- acre preserve that
is home to one of the largest concentrations of rare and
endangered species in the state.
Appalshop, a multi-media arts center
that includes June Appal Records, Headwaters Television,
WMMT-FM, nationally acclaimed performing arts company
Roadside Theater, monthly bluegrass music shows and many
other attractions.
Historic
Downtown Whitesburg. The downtown area
is a recently designated National Register Historic District
that takes visitors back in time to 1912, when eastern
Kentucky's first coal boom began. It includes many examples of
the work of Italian stone masons who established their own
Little Italy in Letcher County.
The David A.
Zegeer Coal and Railroad Museum.
Jenkins was a model city built by Consolidation Coal Company in
1912. The museum chronicles the building of the town and the
development of the surrounding coal fields.
The Seco Company
Store and Highlands Winery. This restored company
store was originally built by South East Coal Company. It is
now home to a winery, art gallery and restaurant.
Lilley Cornett
Woods. This old growth forest was
preserved by coal miner Lilley Cornett, whose family passed it
on to Eastern Kentucky University for use as a research station
and living museum of natural history. It's open by
appointment. Call (606) 633-5828.
Carcassonne
Community Center. Built by the Works Progress
Administration during the Great Depression, this former
one-room school now hosts an old-fashioned square dance on
the second Saturday of each month. Musicians include
nationally known banjo master Lee Sexton, a regular at the
square dance which has operated continuously for more than
50 years. Dancers from Carcassonne have been featured at the
Kentucky Folk Life Festival and at the Smithsonian Institution.
Fish Pond Lake. This pristine manmade lake is one mile
west of Payne Gap off U.S. 119. Once the site of a mining camp,
the valley was dammed and flooded in 1961 to create this shining
centerpiece to the 895-acre Little Laurel Park. The lake is home
to freshwater jellyfish and a resident trout population, as well
as bass, catfish and other Kentucky species. Petroleum-powered
boat engines are prohibited, but at 45 acres, the lake is small
enough for boaters to traverse easily with electric motors or
oars. The lake is owned by the Letcher County Fiscal Court and
is open to the public.
Genealogy
Room at the Harry M. Caudill Memorial Library.
People born here and people who have never been here come to the
Harry Caudill Library to find kinfolks amongst the handwritten
family histories and published works in the
genealogy collection. The
library is open 9-5 Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays;
9-7 Tuesdays; and 9-4 Saturdays. It is located at 220 Main
Street in Whitesburg, in the heart of the Downtown Historic
District.
For more information call (606)
632-1200 or while in the area dial the Kentucky Tourism
Hotline at 5-1-1. You may also visit
Tour Southern and
Eastern Kentucky on the web. Come to The
Heart of the Hills and discover Letcher
County.
Contact
letchercountytourism.com
Want to know
where to stay, what to eat and what to do? Click below!
This website is maintained by private
citizens of Letcher County in support of responsible and
ecologically friendly tourism development. |
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