In 2002 there were 12,684,000 acres (5,133,000 hectares) of forested land in Kentucky—50% of the state's land area. Over 90% of the forestland is classified as commercially viable for timber production.
The most heavily forested areas are in the river valleys of eastern Kentucky, in the Appalachians. In 2002, Kentucky produced 691 million board feet of lumber, nearly all of it in hardwoods. The Division of Forestry of the Department of Natural Resources manages approximately 30,000 acres (12,300 hectares) of state-owned forestland and operates two forest tree nurseries producing 7–9 million seedling trees a year.
There are two national forests—the Daniel Boone and the Jefferson on Kentucky's eastern border—enclosing two national wilderness areas. These two national forests had a combined area of 1,415,306 acres (572,774 hectares) in 1999. Gross acreage of all Kentucky lands in the National Forest System was 2,210,000 acres (894,400 hectares) in 2001. National parks in the state include the Mammoth Cave National Park and the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park on Kentucky's eastern border.