9 Adorable Small Towns In Kentucky
Whether you like drinking bourbon and whiskey or want to enjoy the outdoors, the state of Kentucky is home to beautiful destinations that offer both in abundance, especially in the most adorable small towns to visit. In towns like Bardstown and Danville, you can purchase some of the most delicious bourbon and whiskey in Kentucky. In other destinations like Harrodsburg and Paducah, the past is well preserved and promoted through friendly museums and interpretive sites. Many will also find Harrodsburg’s Shaker Village an adorable place to tour, just as Danville’s Dollhouse Museum gives you a quaint time in miniature ways. Visiting each of these cute small towns in Kentucky will make for a memorable and fulfilling experience in a state famous for its Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Harrodsburg
Harrodsburg is an adorable small town about an hour away from the big city of Lexington. Considered the oldest permanent settlement west of the Alleghenies, Harrodsburg was founded in 1774 on the Wilderness Road and has maintained some of its original landmarks and features in the Old Fort Harrod State Park, including the Lincoln Marriage Temple, which was removed from Springfield and was where Abraham Lincoln’s parents were married.
The Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, home to the third-largest Shaker community in the US, contains over 34 original Shaker structures and beautiful agricultural fields that are both adorable and admirable. Meanwhile, the nearby Peninsula Golf Resort (in Lancaster) beside the winding Dix River is an excellent and adoring spot for golfers to play their favorite sport in a friendly and welcoming environment.
Paducah
The Ohio River feeds and nourishes one of the most adorable small towns in Kentucky: Paducah, a beloved destination with a number of historic and artistic landmarks to tour. Those of you curious to know about the American Civil War that occurred in Kentucky can pay a visit to the Lloyd Tilghman House & Civil War Museum, a 19th-century Greek Revival house that once belonged to General Lloyd Tilghman.
On the other hand, the National Quilt Museum exhibits an interactive array of textile and quilting art, and since Paducah is widely considered Kentucky’s UNESCO Creative City, you can also participate in lively workshops and classes that teach you how to make quilts and other art forms at the museum and in the Paducah School of Art & Design. To appreciate more of Paducah’s artistic spirit, you can admire the Paducah Wall to Wall, a colorful mural displaying the town when it underwent its Atom Age fame. More importantly, you can enter one of many art centers, galleries, and studios dotted all over Paducah, such as the Yeiser Art Center.
Berea
For diverse outdoor or historic experiences in Kentucky, the adorable small town of Berea offers all you want and more in surprising ways. Before undertaking any outdoor excursions and walks in the surrounding woodlands, you ought to first visit the Berea College Forestry Outreach Center at the Pinnacles for a comprehensive and insightful guide on the best treks and trails to walk across. Once you have all the information you need, you can walk in the footsteps of early pioneers and frontiersmen along the historic Boone Trace Trail, which goes through the Cumberland Gap.
In the month of July, the town shines with color and enthusiasm during the annual Berea Craft Festival, when over 100 artists and craftspeople showcase their amazing pieces to a spirited community. Also in the summer is the Berea Festival of Learnshops, a helpful and community-building series of workshops where instructors and local artists can teach you how to create unique masterpieces to reveal.
Greenville
Greenville might be a quiet and laid-back small town at first glance, but when some of its best yearly festivals occur, the town becomes a thriving and bustling destination to celebrate Kentucky’s adorable community spirit. Among its most beloved festivals you can participate in and watch is the Squash & Gobble Arts & Crafts Festival, held in September, and over 200 craft, artisan, and food vendors selling unique handmade goods, adorable festival treats, and unique finds and wares to purchase.
For more permanent places to visit and photograph, the Beaux-Arts-style Muhlenberg County Courthouse is a special historic building in Greenville’s historic downtown square, serving as the county’s third permanent courthouse since it was built in 1907. Lastly, you can venture beyond Greenville’s limits and head south to Lake Malone State Park, where you can go fishing and trekking in a serene setting.
Bardstown
So named after the pioneering Bard brothers who helped found the town, Bardstown encourages newcomers to see some of its amazing attractions and adorable architecture to photograph, including several working bourbon distilleries in and around the community. One of these historic buildings to enter is the Oscar Getz Museum of Bourbon History, containing a collection of 50-year-old, rare American whiskey and other precolonial artifacts. Meanwhile, the Women's Civil War Museum champions the feminist cause through exhibits and memorabilia that highlight the women who took active roles in the American Civil War, including nurses, spies, soldiers, and writers.
Since Bardstown is most notably a town that honors its bourbon heritage and bourbon-making industry, have fun and adorable time celebrating this culture during the annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival in September, when more than 60 distilleries and over 200 brands and expressions pour samples for attendees to try.
Grand Rivers
Grand Rivers is a grand convergence point for three bodies of water. Here, the Tennessee River and the Cumberland River flow into Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, respectively, and both bodies of water are ideal places to go fishing, kayaking, and lounging by the pristine shoreline. In the town itself, you can tour the Thomas Lawson House Historic Site, a Queen-Anne style frame residence that was once the home of Thomas Lawson, a Boston industrialist and founder of the Grand Rivers Company. The main attraction in Grand Rivers is the neighboring vastness of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, where around 170,000 acres of camping grounds, hiking areas, and wetlands are sandwiched between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley.
Cave City
One of the most amazing things about the adorable town of Cave City is that its small-town setting contains or is close to some of the biggest attractions in Kentucky. One of these big and admirable destinations to visit is the Mammoth Cave National Park, largely regarded as the world’s longest cave with statuses as both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Region, where aboveground and underground adventures can be experienced.
On the other hand, closer to the town is the Crystal Onyx Cave, one of Kentucky’s premier show caves with a spectacular array of growing cave formations for which you can conduct a one-hour, one-half-mile tour. Last but not least, you can immerse yourself in a prehistoric adventure at Dinosaur World, a kid-friendly and mostly open-air theme park boasting life-sized dinosaur replicas and other prehistoric activities to make your experience in Cave City an adorable vacation for you.
Morehead
Morehead, home of Morehead State University, offers an adorable array of locations and destinations worth visiting. When entering the Rodburn Hollow Park, find a peaceful environment brimming with several hiking trails and routes, beautiful campgrounds to spend your days and nights, and a playground to rest at in your long journey in the outdoors.
For those of you who like art and creativity, you will find an abundance of adorable artworks at the Kentucky Folk Art Center, sponsored by Morehead State University and containing a gallery with permanent and temporary exhibitions of Kentucky folk art pieces. To cool down and play about, the Sheltowee Falls Splash Pad more than soothes you with its water-themed playgrounds and activities in the heat of the day. Best of all, the Twin Knobs Campground is one of many lush and lovely camping sites beside Cave Run Lake to savor your time in Morehead’s rural countryside.
Danville
For more adorable and lovely experiences in Kentucky’s small towns, Danville delights visitors thanks to its charming and kid-friendly locations. One of its best and most adorable places to enter is the Great American Dollhouse Museum, which will open once again on March 4 and showcase over 200 dollhouses, miniature buildings, and room boxes furnished with doll-themed features and unique depictions of American social history in miniature.
At the Pioneer Playhouse, meanwhile, you can explore a compelling and admirable historic outdoor theater, often hosting live performances amidst indoor accommodations and campgrounds to stay at. For anyone who likes to sample some of Danville’s delicious whiskey and bourbon, you will want to head over to the Wilderness Trail Distillery, where an accommodating staff can take you on a tour through the methods and techniques of distilling. Undoubtedly, the most adorable place to venture in Danville is its town center, where the Constitution Square Historic Site holds an open-air museum detailing Kentucky’s early political history through interpretive signs.
Adore The Present And The Past In These Adorable Small Towns in Kentucky
Anyone looking to have a fun and meaningful vacation in the most adorable small towns in Kentucky can find all that they need and more in these cute locations in the countryside. From Cave City, you are within walking and hiking distance to one of the great natural wonders of Kentucky, deep underground. From Grand Rivers, you will have a splendid experience in the lands and rivers that define Kentucky’s outdoor scenery. Best of all, places like Bardstown pay homage to Kentucky’s historic contributions with a bourbon festival and museum that you will no doubt find adorable.
