Kentucky Appalachians, Kentucky travel guide: things to do, food & where to stay

Overview

Kentucky Appalachians is the region where Kentucky, a proud country state, gets country. The wild mountainous areas are more what you would expect from West Virginia, and Kentucky's famous national Poet Laureates Robert Penn Warren and Jesse Stuart called these mountains home, as well as country music stars Naomi and Wynonna Judd, Loretta Lynn, Ricky Skaggs, Chris Stapleton, and Keith Whitley.

Updated from Wikivoyage on 1 October 2026 · Something wrong or missing? Improve it on Wikivoyage

Plan your trip

Best time to visit & weather

Most comfortable: Apr–Oct. Summer highs reach about 86°F; winter lows dip to about 21°F. Wettest: May and Jul. (climate data from nearby Natural Bridge State Park)

Blue bars: average daily high and low (°F). Purple columns: average monthly rain and melted snow (inches).

Getting there

From you: to see whether to drive or fly, and how long it takes.
HTS Tri-State Airport / Milton J. Ferguson Field, Huntington — 30 mi away. Directions
CRW Yeager Airport, Charleston — 72 mi away. Directions
CVG Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport, Cincinnati / Covington — 123 mi away (major hub). Directions

Full “Get in” guide ↓

Sample 3-day trip

Day 1: Morehead — Kentucky Folk Art Center, Cave Run Lake, Poppy Mountain Bluegrass Festival.
Day 2: Ashland — The Highlands Museum & Discovery Center, Paramount Arts Center, Central Park.
Day 3: Paintsville — U.S. 23 Country Music Highway Museum, Loretta Lynn HomePlace, Van Lear Historical Society.

Built from the best-covered destinations in this region; open each for its own day plan.

Places in Kentucky Appalachians

Morehead

City / town · 14 listings

Ashland

City / town · 11 listings

Paintsville

City / town · 7 listings

Pikeville

City / town · 5 listings

Catlettsburg

City / town · 1 listings

Carter Caves State Resort Park

Park

Greenbo State Resort Park

Park

Understand

The name "Kentucky Appalachians" is used only by the state government for tourism promotion. Locals consider almost all of this region to be the northern part of the Eastern Coalfield or Eastern Kentucky, with the state-designated Daniel Boone Country as its southern part.

Mount Sterling lies within the state-defined Kentucky Appalachians, but is locally considered part of the Bluegrass region (not to be confused with the state-defined tourism region of that name). The locally defined Bluegrass is rimmed by a circular chain of hills known as The Knobs, and Mount Sterling is west of the eastern stretch of The Knobs.