Big Bone Lick

The Friends of Big Bone is holding an important meeting Thursday (8/26/2010) about the future of Big Bone Lick State Park.  The committee will sign up volunteers and plan upcoming events, including the annual "Bad to the Bone" Duathlon, Great Outdoor Weekend, Salt Festival, and renovation projects planned for the park. 

The group will also discuss plans to refurbish the Big Bone Nature Center and turn it into an interpretive center.  In 2006, the Kentucky General Assembly awarded $2.5 million to Big Bone Park for expansion of the park museum.  Most of the money has not yet been spent, so the state agreed to release the money for park upgrades instead.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Boone County Library main branch at 1786 Burlington Pike and is open to the public.

Friends of Big Bone is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote, preserve, research, and memorialize the history and prehistory of the Big Bone Lick Valley.

Story at NKY.com

Hiking is a healthy, low-impact activity that can help you lose weight.  For example, a 175-pound adult can burn 500 calories per hour with regular cross-country hiking, 580 calories/hour backpacking, and 625 calories/hour climbing hills! 

Fortunately, the Kentucky State Park system provides nearly 300 miles of hiking trails.  Along these Kentucky trails you may see waterfalls, lakes, caves, cliffs, natural bridges, age-old fossils, birds, deer, wild turkeys, and many other plants and animals.

Trail Shape is a free program from the Kentucky State Parks that will inspire you to discover these amazing Kentucky sights while getting or staying in shape!  To complete the Trail Shape program, you must hike 16 designated trails in a 1-year period.  The trails total nearly 40 miles and vary in length and terrain. 

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Here is a recent brochure for Big Bone Lick State Park:

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Big Bone Lick is a great place to visit.  The 512-acre Kentucky state park is recognized as the birthplace of American vertebrate paleontology.  The U.S. Secretary of the Interior has also recognized Big Bone Lick as a National Natural Landmark.

Big Bone Lick is significant for its combination of salt springs and late Pleistocene bone beds.  Ancient creatures like the mammoth, mastodon, ground sloth and bison once roamed here through mineral springs and swamps, now grassy plains covered with trees and shrubs.  Your can learn the history of Big Bone Lick in a new museum with displays of fossilized bones and artifacts from the last 18,000 years.

The park features several nature trails, including the Outdoor Museum with Discovery Trail that includes a boardwalk around a marsh bog diorama with recreations of a woolly mammoth and other scavengers feeding on carcasses and skeletal remains.  The Discovery Trail winds through several habitats, including grassland, wetland and savanna, and is accessible to the physically-challenged.  A small bison herd is also maintained on-site.

There are 62 campsites with utility hookups, grills, swimming pool, playground, showers, rest rooms and laundry.  There is a 7.5-acre lake filled with largemouth bass, bluegill, and catfish for bank fishing.  An 18-hole miniature golf course includes a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside.  Nearly 40 acres of picnic grounds with tables, grills and a playground are ideal for family outings.  Tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, softball fields, and horseshoe pits are available for the enjoyment of park visitors.

Things to Do at Big Bone Lick
Big Bone Events

Big Bone Lick State Park is hosting a weekend of pre-historic survival training with its “Lick the Wild: Survival Skills Weekend” on September 10-12, 2010.

Taught from a “no modern tools” perspective, these classes are designed to teach guests how to cope with various challenges when in survival situations.  Some of the skills and demonstrations include making a fire with a bow drill, weapons, flint-knapping and building a shelter.

Registration is required and limited to first-come, first-serve basis until all spots are filled.  E-mail todd.young@ky.gov or call (859) 384-3522 for information.  The cost is $75 per person, with group rates available.

A new sign graces the entrance to Big Bone Lick State Park: NATIONAL NATURAL LANDMARK, EST. 2009.

The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program began in 1962 to recognize and preserve important natural history sites.  It is the only national program that recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in both public and private lands.  Big Bone Lick State Park joined an elite group of only 586 sites across the United States that have received NNL status.  There was a special ceremony in the park on May 1, 2009.

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