Pine Mountain State Resort Park, Pineville, KY

Just a few miles across the Tennessee-Kentucky state line you can find the Pine Mountain State Resort Park, Pineville, KY. This beautiful resort park is part of the western Appalachian Mountains and provides excellent opportunity for sightseeing and other outdoor activities.

The Pine Mountain State Resort Park is part of a single mountain mass that is 25 miles wide and 125 miles in length. Within the park there are elevations ranging from 2,000 feet up to about 3,200 feet in the northeast part. The Pine Mountain State Resort Park was chosen as the first state park of Kentucky in 1924 and it is part of the larger Kentucky Ridge State Forest.

At the top of Pine Mountain is the Pine Mountain State Resort which was built in the 1930's. This elegant Lodge with a lot of stone masonry provides many activities and its secluded place enables people to enjoy the outdoors even more. It has 30 rooms for guests, and 20 cottages that are both one and two bedroom. The dining room will seat 120 people and visitors have a scenic view of the area as they dine. Camping is also available Pine Mountain State Resort Park.

The Lodge also provides visitors with 10 hiking trails nearby and these give the hiker 15 miles of trails which take them through the gorgeous terrain of the nearby hills. There is also a championship 18-hole golf course, too, called the Wasioto Winds, which is part of the Resort. The course lies in a valley between two mountains.

One of the many trails leads to the famous Chained Rock, which was chained back in 1933. Children and some adults of the town of Pineville felt that this rock would fall and do a lot of damage on the town. The 100-foot chain was placed there to prevent it from happening and to bring relief to the young. There is a splendid view from the rock area of the town and region.

Many people consider this park to be the most beautiful in the state. Along the trails, which are being made into a long Pine Mountain Trail, you will find a number of places where you can view the abundant wildlife. You can see many birds in the wild, as well as deer, elk, raccoons, opossum, fox, and more. There are special Elk Viewing Tours for groups in January and these tours usually see more than an average of 100 elk at a time.

Within the Pine Mountain State Resort Park you will find the rather new Pine Mountain State Park Nature Preserve, which is made up of two different tracts of land, each one being about 868 acres. These Preserves protect old forests of hemlock, white oak, and tulip poplar - many of which are over 200 years old. There are also archeological studies going on, because the area was once inhabited by early Native Americans.

The Pine Mountain State Resort Park is also home to the Laurel Cove Amphitheater, which is a natural forest cove made into an amphitheater. It can seat up to 2,000 people. Every year in May it hosts the Mountain Laurel Festival, where the Queen will be chosen and recognized. The Festival has taken place every year since 1931.

Not far from the Pine Mountain State Resort Park, Pineville, KY, visitors can find other activities as well. The Abraham Lincoln Museum is just 15 miles away.