Winter Park Events

UPDATE January 8, UPDATE II January 13, UPDATE III January 14

You don't have to wait until spring to enjoy great events both indoors and outdoors at Kentucky's State Parks.

Read a roundup of winter events at Kentucky State Parks here.

Greenbo Lake State Resort Park and The Kentucky Creative Arts Club present the 24th Annual Art Festival Feb. 19-20 at Greenbo Lake.

Fort Boonesborough State Park and the Fort Boonesborough Foundation will be holding a series of “Fireside Chats” with famous characters from Kentucky history beginning Feb. 6.

Barren River Lake State Resort Park will host a Buffalo Night with special buffalo food dishes and entertainment on Feb. 6, 2010.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and ">several Kentucky State Parks are offering special packages and programs in February. State parks offer a great chance for a getaway weekend along with excellent food, entertainment and natural beauty and scenery.

Carter Caves State Resort Park will present a weekend of hiking, canoeing, cave tours, winter survival and other adventures with its first Winter Adventure Weekend Jan. 29-31.

Greenbo Lake State Resort Park will hold a Scrapbooking Weekend Jan. 15-16 designed for experienced and novice scrapbookers.

Family competitions, a hike on the site of the old Central State Hospital, bird watching for beginners and Valentine’s Day geocaching for chocolate kisses are among the activities on the agenda for January and February 2010 at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park.

Natural Bridge State Resort Park will host an Appalachian Heritage Buffalo Night that will include a feast of Kentucky Proud buffalo dishes along with live music and storytelling of the mountain region on Jan. 16, 2010.

Guests at Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park will be playing cards and painting during January. The park’s Winter Rook Tournament is scheduled for Jan. 8-9. The round-robin rook tournament begins at 7 p.m. Friday night and runs through Saturday evening. House rules will apply. Registration fee is $25 per team and a new deck of rook cards. Early bird registration fee is $20 per team and a new deck of rook cards due on or before Jan. 2, 2010.

Carter Caves State Resort Park will host a special Buffalo Night in the park’s Tierney’s Cavern Restaurant on Saturday Jan. 16, 2010, followed by a free Kentucky Chautauqua performance interpreting the Cherokee Peace Chief, Atta Kul Kulla. On this special evening, the chef will be preparing a buffalo buffet including boneless rolled roast of buffalo carved online, buffalo stew, buffalo meatloaf, buffalo chili, fried chicken, catfish and an assortment of salads, sides and desserts. The meal, which costs $17.95 for adults and $8.95 for kids, will be served from 5-8 p.m.

Each year thousands of Sandhill Cranes make Barren River Lake a stop on their journey back home. The park is holding two special weekends for guests to see and get close to these beautiful cranes as they migrate through the area. The weekends -- Jan. 29-30 and Feb. 19-20 -- will consist of educational sessions conducted by Wayne Tamminga, a wildlife biologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, on Friday evenings at 7 p.m. CST.

Carter Caves State Resort Park continues to offer cave tours during the winter season in two caves. Tours of Cascade Cave are offered at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. daily through April 2. Cascade Cave is one of the largest of over 200 caves in Carter County and is noted for its large chambers and numerous cave formations. Highlights of the tour include the reflecting pool in the Lake Room, the unique cave formations in the Cathedral Room, and an underground waterfall over 30 feet high. The tour lasts about 75 minutes and covers a walking distance of about ¾ of a mile.

It’s time for nature lovers to make plans for a Kentucky State Park tradition – Eagle Watch Weekends in January and February of 2010. American Bald Eagles will be gathering around the major lakes of Western Kentucky and South-Central Kentucky as they look for food during the winter. Kentucky State Parks will take you there to observe and learn about these beautiful birds of prey.