Kentucky Sports & Outdoors

The Kentucky Derby Museum

by traveldave

The Kentucky Derby Museum is one of the most popular attractions in Kentucky. It is the only museum in the world dedicated to a single sporting event. It opened in 1985 to document and preserve the history of the Kentucky Derby, the "greatest two minutes in sports", through interactive exhibits, fine art, and artifacts displayed on two floors of exhibit space. The museum features numerous exhibits about the Kentucky Derby and Thoroughbred breeding and racing. The video entitled The Greatest Race, is shown in a 360-degree theater and portrays some of the best owners and trainers sharing their Kentucky Derby stories, and jockeys reliving their Kentucky Derby moments. It also follows a young foal through the breeding and training processes, and all it takes to reach to the Kentucky Derby Winner's Circle. The Warner L. Jones Time Machine allows visitors to view all of the Kentucky Derby...

The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory

by traveldave

The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory is the headquarters and production facility of the Hillerich & Bradsby Company, the world's largest producer of baseball bats. It is most famous for manufacturing the Louisville Slugger bat, the official bat of Major League Baseball. The company was opened by J.F. Hillerich as a woodworking shop in 1855. At that time, the company specialized in manufacturing wooden stairway railings, porch columns, and butter churns. In 1884, Hillerich's son, John "Bud" Hillerich, slipped away from his job at the factory to see a baseball game. At the game, the star player of the local team, Pete Browning, broke his baseball bat. After the game, Bud invited Pete Browning to visit his father's factory so that a replacement bat could be made for him. Pete Browning later hit several home runs with that bat and referred other baseball players to the company. However,...

Churchill Downs

by traveldave

Churchill Downs hosts the most famous and most prestigious horse-racing event in the world, the Kentucky Derby. It also hosts the annual Kentucky Oaks, and has hosted the Breeder's Cup seven times.Opened in 1875, Churchill Downs is the oldest continuously operated race track in the United States. The track was named after John and Henry Churchill, brothers who leased 80 acres (32 hectares) of land to their nephew, Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark, the grandson of explorer William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame. Along with his father-in-law, an avid thoroughbred breeder and trainer, Clark founded the Louisville Jockey Club and Diving Park which built the track. Initially, the track was a long track, but it was shortened to its current length in 1893 by new ownership. The track is a one-mile (1.6-kilometer) oval which is 80 feet (24 meters) wide. The track surface is made up of sandy loam,...

The Kentucky Antler Company

by traveldave

The Kentucky Antler Company specializes in hunting and fishing packages on two properties in eastern and central Kentucky. Hunters can choose from white-tailed deer, elk, exotic game animals, and upland game birds. The properties also have five ponds stocked with largemouth bass and six other species of fish. Free-range guided and semi-guided hunts are available. Bear Creek Outfitters, which is in eastern Kentucky, features a 10,216 square-foot (949 square-meter) rustic lodge (pictured here) that has 13 private rooms, central air conditioning and heating, a big-screen television in the common area, a pool, table, and a large modern kitchen. Other amenities include an outdoor barbeque pavillion, a three-dimensional archery range, a pistol range, a sporting clays range, and a swimming pool. There are about 3,500 acres (1,416 hectares) of hardwood ridges and valleys with carefully...

All Kinds of Hiking Opportunities

by deecat

Do not just think of Mammoth Cave as "just caverns"; the surface acreage includes large tracts of oak and hickory woodlands, minor wetlands, age-old limestone foundations, and sinkhole-ridden karst topography.There are at least 70 miles of trails that wind through the park, and most of these miles are open to hikers and/or horseback riders.Sal Hollow Trail is nine miles in length, and it winds past a wild cave, springs, and sinkholes.Ganter Cave Trail is an offshoot of Sal Hollow. It leads to the park's longest wild cave on the north side of the Green River. If interested, it's the only chance for small groups to go spelunking on their own!Good Spring Loop Trail is 8 miles long and it follows the park's rolling Oak hills as well as running alongside stream and waterfalls. This quite scenic route also goes past small caves.Mammoth Cave Pamphlet Photo You need plenty of fresh water, a...

Challenging Boating Experiences

by deecat

There are 25 miles of the Green River and 6 miles of the Nolin River, within the boundaries of Mammoth Cave National Park that carry boaters past scenic wildlife, beautiful woodlands, & dramatic bluffs. People are able to boat from Dennison Ferry Campground to Houchins Ferry down the Green River (which is the waterway that shaped the cave system of Mammoth Cave some 300 million years ago!) This is a very popular route with boaters, and it takes six hours.Note that the access at Dennison is quite steep; therefore small johnboats and canoes are the only boats allowed!For those who relish longer, overnight trips, they need to launch at Munfordville which is located upstream from the park boundary. No launch fees in the park.riverside camping requires abackcountry permit.This Green River is really something to see! It averages 200 feet wide & 10 feet deep, and you will see sandbars, islands,...

What a Sporty Nine-Hole Course in Kentucky!

by deecat

Oh, yes, I have such fond memories of playing golf with my Dad in Kentucky. He lived rather close to one of my favorite courses ever--Kenlake State Resort Golf Course in Hardin, Kentucky.Built on the "hills of Kentucky" right next to Kentucky Lake, this sporty little course is quite the challenge. The first hole requires such precision...It's a par 3, and quite short, but as you stand atop the tee and look down (way down) at the small green, you know that you have to be very, very accurate! If not, your ball is gone into the woods or the rocks.I remember one day when Allan, my Dad, and I played on a hot afternoon, and my 65 year-old father insisted that he wanted to walk. Allan and I were smart and took a cart. He pulled his walking cart up and down those hills and did not even "break a sweat"! What a guy!This nine-hole course has 3 par four holes for men, and the rest are par three...

Louisville Slugger Field

by pabertra