Big Bone Lick

Cincinnati Museum Center Heritage Programs have been presenting historical, cultural and architectural tours for over 20 years.  Each month, Heritage Programs offer scheduled tours of unique sites of local or regional interest.  All tours include lunch unless specified.

On Friday, June 4, from 9 am to 3:30 pm, Cincinnati Museum Center Heritage Programs will tour Big Bone Lick State Park.  Cost is $70 for members, $75 for non-members.  The registration deadline is May 28.  Here is a description of the tour:

President Thomas Jefferson asked explorers Lewis and Clark to bring back animal remains from Big Bone Lick, now considered the “Birthplace of American Vertebrate Paleontology.”  Dr. Glenn Storrs, Withrow Farney curator of vertebrate paleontology, leads us through the trails of the Kentucky State Park while interpreting the Ice Age events that have preserved the fossilized remains of mastodons, wooly mammoths and ground sloths.  This tour involves long periods of standing and hiking up hills and through woods on uneven and wet trails, so please dress accordingly.

To register for a tour, call (513) 287-7031.  Please note that payment must be received at the time of booking.  For more information about the Heritage Program Tours, send an e-mail to: heritageprograms@cincymuseum.org.

 Tri-State Shadow Chasers is a non-profit group of paranormal investigators from the Northern Kentucky area founded by Eddie Parks in 2008.  They use scientific methods to investigate ghost and other paranormal activities, collecting evidence, taking photos, and capturing EVP (electronic voice phenomena), which are strange voices that cannot be heard by the human ear but are picked up with digital recorders.

Tri-State Shadow Chasers has teamed up with the park recreation staff for live Ghost Hunts at Big Bone Lick State Park.  These Ghost Hunts are open to the public.  You will learn about and use the various instruments employed during paranormal investigations.  Authentic equipment will be on hand for anyone to use.  You will explore several areas of the park, including the recently renovated 1888 Big Bone Methodist church, Nature Center, Visitor’s Center, the old office building, and several outdoor locations.  The next Ghost Hunt starts Saturday March 20th at 8:00pm.

Following are the Tri-State Shadow Chasers’ results of previous Ghost Hunts at Big Bone:

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The park recreation staff is teaming up with Tristate Shadowchasers to take you on a live Ghost Hunt at Big Bone Lick State Park.  During the Ghost Hunt, you will learn about and use the various instruments employed during paranormal investigations.  Authentic equipment will be on hand for anyone to use.

We will explore several areas of the park during our investigation, including the recently renovated 1888 Big Bone Methodist church, Nature Center, Visitor’s Center, the old office building, and several outdoor locations.

The investigation will start Saturday evening March 20th at 8:00pm.  Everyone will meet at the Nature Center.  To get to the Nature Center, take the second right after entering the park.  The Nature and History Museum is the building right after the Visitor’s Center.

The investigation will last until 3:00 am.  You are able to leave at any time and do not have to stay until the end.  After the Ghost Hunt, Tristate Shadowchasers will review the evidence collected during the hunt.  If any paranormal evidence was captured, a time will be set up for every one to come view the evidence.

Some helpful items to bring to the Ghost Hunt:

• Warm clothing
• Snack, food, and drink
• Digital camera
• Small flashlight
• Any equipment that you have and want to use

Following is a summary of events at Big Bone Lick State Park for the remainder of 2010.  See the official Big Bone Lick website for event details and updates.

The Northern Kentucky Sierra Club (NKY) is hosting a Winter Hike that covers all of the trails in Big Bone Lick State Park, including two trails blazed by the NKY Group in the past few years.  The hike is Saturday, February 27 from 9am-12pm EST.

This hike includes up to 5 miles of trails that climb and descend many hills.  Wear warm, weather-tolerant clothing, especially waterproof hiking shoes or boots with good treads.  Bring your own liquids and trail snacks, as desired.  A restroom is encountered midway on the hike.

RSVP to hike leader, John F. Robbins @ 859-363-0376 or johnfrobbins@insightbb.com by noon on Thursday, February 25, and include email and phone contact information.  Cost: $1 for Sierra Club members, $2 for non-members.

Rating: Easy to moderate, suitable for beginners.  Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Date: 1/21/2010
Start Time: 7:00 PM
End Time: 8:30 PM

Description:

Come listen to Mark Lawhorn of Big Bone Gardens, a 6-acre garden and sales nursery across from Big Bone Lick State Park, speak on heirloom seeds and gardening at the Boone County Historical Society January meeting.

Library: Main Library    Map to Main Library
Location: Meeting Room A
Contact: Pat Yannarella
Contact Number: 859-342-2665 x8113

Big Bone Lick State Park is hosting Halloween Scare-fest on October 21-25, and October 28-November 1. 

Help scare away the evil spirits by bringing all your little ghouls, ghosts, witches and skeletons to the park for our annual Halloween Scare-fest!  Campers will be treated to Halloween games, crafts and special events.  Bring the scariest decorations for the campsite decoration contest where you can win fabulous prizes.  Don’t forget those pumpkins so you can enter our traditional, no pattern, pumpkin carving contest.

Special note: be advised that the Scare-fest has a traditional scary setting and theme, parental discretion is advised.

Open to campground visitors only.  Call 859-384-3522 for more information.

UNION, Kentucky – Big Bone Lick State Park will be hosting the annual Salt Festival during the weekend of October 16-18 at the park in Boone County.

The weekend will feature demonstrations of pioneer and Native American life, salt making, spear throwing, storytelling, music, crafts and more.

Visitors can also see the park’s bison herd and newly-renovated nature center.  Friday, Oct. 16, is set aside for school group field trips from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.  School groups should pre-register by calling (859) 384-3522.

The admission for Saturday and Sunday is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $3 for children.  The Salt Festival is open 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Big Bone Lick State Park is recognized as the birthplace of American vertebrate paleontology.  The area played a significant role in the development of scientific thought regarding extinction and the relationship of geology and paleontology the world over.

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced in January that the park in Boone County had been selected as one of 582 National Natural Landmarks in the country.

The 512-acre park features a bison herd, a campground, a museum and gift shop, and a lake for bank fishing.  The park is located 22 miles southwest of Covington on KY 338, off U.S. 42-127 and Interstate 71/75.

Get into the Halloween spirit during this frighteningly fun day at the park on Saturday, October 3, 2009.  Participants will learn how to turn cheap everyday items into spooky and scary Halloween decorations.  From these hands-on and how-to demonstrations, beginners and long-time haunters alike will absolutely freak out over these clever ideas to spook up your haunted yard or Halloween party.  There will be goodie bags and door prizes for participants.

Make-and-take projects include night eyes, PVC ever-last candles, and cobwebs.  Hands-on demonstrations include corpsing a blucky skeleton and making a cemetery fence.  You will also learn how to find cheap prop material and Halloween party ideas.

Contact Todd Young at (859) 384-3522 or todd.young@ky.gov for more information.

Big Bone Lick State Park is the site of the Fourth Annual Bad to the Bone Duathlon on September 19, 2009 at 8:30 a.m.  Participants will run 3.1 miles, bike 25.3 miles, and run 3.1 miles again.  The race features views of some of the most beautiful scenery in northern Kentucky such as pleasant valleys, peaceful pastures, enchanting woodland trails, and roads and towns along the Ohio River.  Racers will need the tranquil scenery to deal with the physical toughness of the running trails and bike courses.

To promote the history of this unique area, money collected from race fees enable the non-profit organization Friends of Big Bone — sponsors of the Bad-to-the-Bone Duathlon — to help make improvements in the park.  Currently money is being used to upgrade the signage of the main trail.  In the future, the group hopes to help improve the content and layout of the Visitor’s Center.

When racers cross the finish line, they can be proud of completing a grueling race.  They can also realize that they ran where mastodons, mammoths, and giant sloths once stood.

For more information or to register for the race, please visit the Bad to the Bone website.