Traveling the Cumberland Cultural Heritage Highway is one way toexperience life away from the hustle and bustle of urban areas. Rurallandscapes, small towns, abundant lakes and rivers, and significanthistorical sites combine to make Cumberland Cultural Heritage Highwayan important part of Kentucky's byway system. Recreationalopportunities are never far away on the Cumberland Cultural HeritageHighway, which is a byway made up of different routes in SouthernKentucky.

Lake Cumberland, Dale Hollow Lake, and Green River Lake are thedominant lakes of the area, and they were originally constructed forflood control, but now they serve the public as state or resort parks.These lakes are removed from large urban areas to provide the visitorwith a sense of peacefulness. Remote and wild areas, such as the BigSouth Fork National River and Recreation Area and the Cumberland Riverdraw many visitors each year because of the excellent rafting, birding,camping, and fishing. High quality water and affordability make theselakes and the Kentucky State Park system popular sites in Kentucky.Superb fishing, powerboating, canoeing, and sailing are all availablealong the Cumberland Cultural Heritage Highway.

The Cumberland Cultural Heritage Highway is a now recreationalparadise due to its remote location and rural setting, but it was thisarea that became the site of migrations in the 1700s as settlers pushedwest for new, pristine land. They traveled through the Cumberland Gapinto Southern Kentucky and settled the area. The importance of theseearly settlers is not lost even today, as thousands of people come backto this area to trace the genealogy of their families. A uniqueculture, language patterns, architecture, clothing, and town planscreated an area which would see significant events such as Civil War battles, and an increase in mining and railroading.

Points of Interest Along The Way

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