With Wildflowers, Wetlands, And Wildlife, The Little-Known John James Audubon State Park Loop In Kentucky Is Unexpectedly Magical
By Sarah McCosham|Published May 17, 2022
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Sarah McCosham
Author
I write like it's my job - because it is! I have a Master's in English and love words: crossword puzzles, Scrabble games, Wordle, and, of course, good, old-fashioned books.
I'm a writer and editor at OnlyInYourState, and a contributing writer at Cincinnati Magazine. I love the Great Outdoors and am endlessly awestruck by this beautiful country of ours. Coffee keeps me going, yoga keeps me sane, my kids keep me grounded, and my writing keeps me inspired.
The Kentucky State Parks are home to numerous opportunities for outdoor recreation, but the oft-overlooked John James Audubon State Park is home to a trail that epitomizes peak Bluegrass beauty. One of the most magical of all the Kentucky State Parks, the John James Audubon State Park is a place with the most honorable of missions: to celebrate our state’s natural beauty and the simple joys of discovering the great outdoors. Within this Bluegrass State treasure, the John James Audubon State Park Loop is a three-mile trek that traverses some of the parks’ most scenic landscapes, including wildflowers, wetlands, and wildlife you’ll only find here in Kentucky.
John James Audubon State Park is best-known for its fairy tale grounds, with the museum and nature center housed in an enchanting, castle-like building that's a Kentucky icon.
But there's so much more to this beautiful park than meets the eye; John James Audubon State Park boasts beautiful accommodations, lush and diverse landscapes, and six miles of hiking trails.
The trails within this Kentucky State Park traverse some of the best scenery the Bluegrass has to offer, from rolling hills and verdant forests to wildflower fields and even wetlands.
The most surprising feature of this trail is the Audubon Wetlands, a 649-acre site with a unique ecosystem that includes a Bald Cypress Tree slough, shrub wetland, and floodplain forest.
There's nowhere in Kentucky that's quite like John James Audubon State Park. It's a total hidden treasure, and the eponymous John James Audubon State Park Loop is a trail that deserves top spot on your Kentucky hiking bucket list!